Announcement from HumanWare

Greetings. I received the following announcement from an email list. Well, it was only a matter of time before this kind of announcement came from them. No matter how much a company may want to have more than one version of their product out on the market, sooner or later, they will yield to the more recent version and drop support/development for the older one. Granted, HumanWare's still going to support the Classic models of BrailleNote and VoiceNotes, but how long will that last? There may come a time when that is dropped too. Anyway, enjoy the following. And, if you still own one of the classic models, its probably about time you upgrade to the newer mPower, or even better, a PAC Mate, :) As always, please excuse any formatting errors.

SUPPORT FOR BRAILLENOTE AND VOICENOTE CLASSIC

In June 2005, HumanWare released the next generation of information
management systems for the blind, BrailleNote and VoiceNote mPower. To thank
our loyal customer base for their support, we made two commitments.

Firstly, because we appreciate that funding for assistive technology may
only be available to an individual once every few years, we undertook to
release new versions of Key Soft for the BrailleNote and VoiceNote Classic
for as long as possible.

Secondly, we introduced our extremely popular transplant programme, allowing
BrailleNote Classic customers the chance to have our latest technology for
around a third of the cost of a new unit in the case of those owning 32-cell
models.

The transplant programme will continue into the foreseeable future , giving
customers access to the many benefits available exclusively on BrailleNote
and VoiceNote mPower. However, as we start to plan for exciting future
enhancements to KeySoft, it is becoming clear that many of the features we
wish to add are not technically possible on the Classic platform. On that
basis, HumanWare is giving notice that KeySoft 7.2 will be the second to
last upgrade available for the Classic family. There will be a final update
for BrailleNote classic released next year. For this reason, once KeySoft
7.2 is released, software maintenance agreements will no longer be available
for the BrailleNote and VoiceNote Classic.

We wish to stress that technical support and servicing will still be
available for BrailleNote Classic, which continues to be a powerful
information management tool.

Please also note that should you take advantage of the transplant programme,
any counts remaining on your Software maintenance Agreement will be
transferred to your BrailleNote mPower.

Should you have any queries, as always, please don't hesitate to contact
your nearest HumanWare office.

Jonathan Mosen
BrailleNote Product Marketing Manager
HumanWare
Christchurch New Zealand

For Those That Download Music

Greetings. I came across this in my daily blog reading. The following is submitted for all those that either downloaded or thought about downloading music from artists. This is the contribution by Weird Al on his mySpace page. Enjoy.

http://www.myspace.com/weirdal

Feeling Sick and Working

Greetings. Well, it turned out that my sickness lasted into yesterday. I had a soar throat and congestion, which is not a pleasant combination for a teacher to have. I decided Sunday evening to stay home yesterday, just to make sure I was over the illness. I’ve been taking various medications and drinking fluids, the usual stuff, for the past several days, and I think that really made a big difference. What also helped was a hint a good friend from Dallas gave me to get rid of the congestion: to stand in a steamy shower for 15-20 minutes, or more, and take deep breaths. I had never heard of that before, but figured, “Why not?” So I tried it and the next day the congestion started loosening up.

By yesterday afternoon, I felt 100 percent better and was able to get up and around my apartment and do some things. It was a good decision to stay home that day.

However, staying home presented me with another set of emotions—how to fill the time away from work. I’m the kind of person that doesn’t get sick very often. Usually, when I do get sick, I’m really sick. Thankfully that wasn’t the case this time around. In other words, I rarely take sick days. So, while I was taking my meds and sleeping off the stuff yesterday, part of me kept wondering if I should be somewhere and doing something besides sleeping. I also worried a lot about how the other teachers were going to cover my classes, in addition to any other absences, of which I know at least one other guy was out due to sickness. I’m usually one of the people that covers other people’s keyboarding class when they get sick or are out for whatever reason. But, at least until now, I’ve never been the one that’s been out and needed people to cover for me.

Yesterday and today were complete opposites in the feelings of the day. Yesterday I was wondering how they would get along at work and what I should do. Today, I was so grateful to be back at work and doing things I enjoy, seeing students and coworkers, and accomplishing things, teaching people, etc. It would be a stretch to say that I know everything about my job at this point. But I was certainly glad to be back in an environment where I could contribute to my job and grow, verses sick at home. That will likely be my only absence from sickness this year, or I hope so anyway. Interesting how yesterday and today were complete opposites though.

First Test Results

Note: I wrote this post yesterday, but haven't been able to publish it until now.

Greetings. Well, I can happily report that all of my students got A's on the first test this past Friday! Considering that I was told that, at least in the past, students haven't done as well on the first test and have had to do a retake, I'm quite pleased and proud of them.

For the first time since I've been working in Austin, I had to go home Friday afternoon due to a failing voice and otherwise not feeling like myself. I felt like quite the teacher when I put my students' floppy disks in my backpack to take home to grade. That was a weird but cool feeling.

Now on to the next batch of Windows material: dialog boxes. This is arguably the hardest part of the course for students. Try explaining the different controls of a dialog box, much less what a dialog box is, to someone who has never used them before. But, all that's tomorrow. For now, I'm enjoying the moment, and patting myself on the back for a job well done.

PAC Mate 4.1 Released

Greetings. If you have a PAC Mate with version 4.0, the free PAC Mate 4.1 Update came out yesterday. This update was mainly put out to fix some reported problems with FS Edit in terms of saving files. Its good to see FS fix problems like this right away, instead of pushing the fixes back to the next update or upgrade. Version 4.1 also introduces some new minor features, such as giving the PAC Mate Help the appearance of big JAWS help. In other words, you can use JAWS Key+W for Windows related help, and JAWS Key+H for PM specific hotkey help. Read more about the update on the page above. Note that if you don't have a compact flash card, you can get the update from Freedom Scientific for a slight fee. So, if you don't have one yet for some reason, I'd advise getting a compact flash card for updating your unit, as well as for storing files and other things on. A card between 16-512 megabytes is recommended. I've heard of problems where people with a 1 gig card or larger were not able to update their units, for whatever reason. Enjoy.

Can You Feel It?

Greetings. Can you feel it? Can you smell the the astroturf, the freshly mowed grass? Can you hear it, the clatter of helmets and pads as they collide?

Yes, its almost that time of year; football season. Or, just time for football in general. Can you feel the anticipation of Sunday night football on NBC? I can. Sure, it will be different having Sunday night football on NBC, verses Monday night football on ABC. However, all things must change, hopefully for the better. It was cool though to hear Madden and Michaels talk about the game in particular and various teams and the upcoming season in general.

As I was watching the opening moments on NBC tonight, and as I've been going back there from time to time, I can feel the anticipation of another great season. And why not? Its pre-season for goodness sake, when everything looks bright and promising; when all teams (except the Raiders and Eagles, since they're playing tonight) are undefeated. When hopes and dreams are planted and nurtured, and the goal of getting into the playoffs, and dare I say even the Superbowl, look brighter than ever.

Ok, so you're not a pro-foot ball fan. So you're into college ball. How 'bout them Horns? Defending a national title and starting over with a new promising season and a new quarterback. That's one thing that will be fun to watch this season, to see the Texas Longhorns as they go through their games, from the city of the Horn, Austin, Texas.

Or, perhaps you're into high school football. How about that new series on NBC called Friday Night Lights, which will start on October 3 at 7pm Central time. Just like the book and movie of the same name, this show will follow the season of a Texas high school football team as they try to get the state title.

Any way you slice it, its going to be a great season, for whatever team you like.

Let me ask you one more question: "Are you ready for some football?"

First Week Reflections

Greetings. Well, as the title says, I had my first week of teaching a class. I'm still doing keyboarding--everyone does keyboarding--but, I got another class. This past week marked several significant points for me.

First, last Tuesday, August 1, I officially hit the 6 month mark since being at my new job. Which meant that I moved off the new employee/probation period, to a regular full time employee. That felt pretty good to go to work knowing that. However, as if that weren't enough, a class was starting for me to teach that day. That class was a nice layer of icing on my work status change.

So, the new class is: Windows, tada! The first day had me, oh, slightly nervous, :) But I got through it fine.

I must say though that it felt kind of weird to walk in the room with several disks and hard copy Braille outlines, and then realize that I was the only teacher there. This wasn't another class I would be observing, but rather one where I would be doing the teaching.

It also felt weird, but good, to hand out the disks and outlines to the students. After years and many hours of classes of getting outlines and other papers about those classes, I was the one to hand out the papers and go over the material for them for once. I was still nervous, to be sure, but as I went through the class, reviewing material from the keyboarding class and segwaying into the Windows material, I gradually relaxed and even started enjoying myself. This was what I came to Austin to do: to teach group classes. Even the thought of group classes would, and did, scare me when I started back in February, but I've come a long way since then. And here I was with my own class. Can we say pride?

Thursday and Friday went well and helped make things gradually easier for me. I still get a little nervous the day of a class, but as I said before, that will probably always happen. I would be worried if it didn't happen, especially at this point in my group class teaching. By the end of class on Friday though, I felt pretty good about things. I was able to inform my students, with confidence, that we would shoot for this coming Friday for our first test, which seems to fit with the material we're covering and what's ahead.

So, this is the satisfied and proud Wayne, signing off until next time.

First 6 Months

Greetings. Today is a significant day for me. Six months ago, I started working at my new job here in Austin. In some ways, it doesn't seem like its been 6 months, and in others, it does. Since I see my coworkers and the students on a daily basis, instead of only two or three times a week, it seems like I've been here forever.

Today was a significant day on another front: I tought my first real class. I've been overseeing, some would say "tought" but I see it as more monitoring or overseeing, a keyboarding class for several months now. I say overseeing, since I'm helping students along who are working at their own pace. I'm there to answer questions, troubleshoot computer and equipment problems, and teach them as they get into the latter portion of the class. For the most part though, I'm more of a monitor than a teacher. However, today I was given a Windows class of three students, which is a good number to start out with. Over all, I think I did pretty well. There are things I can improve on, but then again, there likely always will be. In my opinion, even the teacher that's been teaching for many years has things they can work on.

I don't know how long I'll be at this job. I hope for a long time. I've always seen this as a hard thing to answer, when someone asks you, "Where do you see yourself in your career in 5 years, in 10 years, etc?" I'm not sure. There's a large part of me that is still very much grateful to have the job I do and to be where I am. Thinking about where I see myself in 5 years, ..., well, I hope at the same job and doing much the same thing. Time will tell though. I don't have any plans of going anywhere any time soon, if that answers the question.

There's one final significance of today: since I hit the 6 month mark, I'm off the "new hire" probation. In other words, there has to be a good reason to get rid of me, :) That's a good feeling. Then again, its also a good feeling to, when finished with the lesson and getting ready to give out the homework, say, "I want you to go to lab tonight and work on, ..."

One of the neat things about teaching these classes is that very often, you follow the students from when they start keyboarding or Windows to when they graduate. Granted, this is not always how it happens. When the people in my Windows class graduate from the training center, I can take more pride in actually having tought them.

Graduation Thoughts

Greetings. On this eve of graduation for ten or so of the students from the training center I work at, I have some deep thoughts on graduation and what it means.

First off, of the graduations I've attended so far at the training center, I've thoroughly enjoyed myself. It's easy to conclude and accept that the act of graduating from the center is not a big deal, especially if you get in a pattern of teaching the same students for several weeks or months. However, in my humble opinion, once an instructor passes the line of indifference, they lose sight of what graduating from a rehabilitation center really means. For the student, it means saying to the world, "Hey, I did it! I achieved my goals and now I can go back to my normal life and live as a blind person." For the teacher, it gives you a since of pride, to see someone who came into your classroom not knowing how to turn a computer on, and to leave being able to surf the web, write a report with tables in Word, and the other skills that we teach. Sure, some students might not achieve as much as others. When I sit and watch students gratuate though, it reminds me of my duties as a teacher, and of how it felt to graduate from a center; to complete that portion of my life. I've been on both sides of this particular fence and can better appreciate them.

I have a special feeling towards this group graduating, since in this case, graduation not only signals their completion, but it also means I'm moving from observing and co-teaching instructor, to a full instructor. Though I haven't been told this yet, I fully expect to get a "real" class next week when the new cycle of 6 week long tech classes start.

Back in February and March, when I was in immersion, I was a "student" along side several of the students graduating tomorrow. I went to the train station with some of them, to the Irish pub, went through the keyboarding lessons and materials, and other things. After my immersion, I sat in classes with them, observing the way the instructor handled different situations, and practicing my own teaching skills and "instructing" on them. They were partly responsible for helping me get broken into teaching at the Center. Even though my methods won't be perfected an honed into some sort of shape for another cycle or two of classes, it was some of these same students that were tought by me to use tables on the web, use mail merge in Word, and other things. Due to these various experiences, I've felt like I've bonded on a certain level with these students. Perhaps in a different way from a normal student to teacher relationship.

So, congratulations and cheers to those graduating tomorrow, for completing your time in training, and to me for completing my training and moving into a full instructor role!

Let's Try Again

Well, I guess it didn't work. So, you can go to the KXAN home page, and look for the news story with the similar name as the video listed below. If its not on the home page, then look in their video archives. I regret to say that I haven't been around the KXAN site a lot, so I cannot really direct you where to look when the link is taken off the home page. Nothing a little computer savvy searching can't turn up, :)

Listening to that video reminds me of my drop off route, in Denver, Colorado, on the side of a highway in the middle of nowhere. This student from the story this morning had it easy compared to me, grin. Let me tell you, you really don't know where the middle of nowhere is, until you really are out in the middle of nowhere, :) Enjoy.

Video on Future Graduate

Greetings. The story Hundreds of people training to be blind, was first broadcast on a local morning news program on an Austin TV station this morning. Since this is a video, its recommended for people with a fast Net connection. It's good to see positive stories about blind people on the news, instead of the other kind.

Article on a New Free Screen Reader

Greetings. I received the following article from an email list. I'm not sure how good this proposed screen reader is or will be. Especially considering the competition with JAWS, Window Eyes, and Hal, among others. However, it very well might contribute to the over all screen reader market, which can be a good thing. I'm not sure I'll give up JAWS right off, but its good to know that there's an option out there for those that may not be able to afford a program like JAWS. It will be interesting to see how this new screen reader develops, like if it gets more complex and can do more things. Enjoy.

Peterborough Today (UK)
Friday, July 21, 2006

ACCESSIBILITY: Hi-tech aid for blind on a roll
By Sarah Gunthardt

A CITY company has successfully launched the world's first
free-talking
computer software - Thunder - which is likely to be a
storming success for
blind
and partially sighted people worldwide.
Thunder was launched by Screenreader.net, run by blind city
couple Margaret
and Roger Wilson-Hinds, from their home in Orton Wistow,
Peterborough.
The pair, who have been running Choice Technology, which
specialises in
products for blind and partially-sighted people since 1992,
were runners-up
in
Peterborough Enterprise Centre's first-ever competition to
find the region's
Best Business Idea for 2006.
They are delighted to have achieved their ambition to launch
the software,
which will help bring computers and the internet alive for
the blind and
partially-sighted.
The Thunder screenreader turns a normal PC into a talking
computer by
reading out loud what's on screen.
It will enable them to listen to internet sites, shop
on-line, hear their
e-mails and, with the software reading out to them as they
type, they will
be
able to create letters and other documents with ease.
Screenreader.net is a not-for-profit community interest
company, which
developed the software in partnership with Manchester-based
Sensory Software
Ltd.
The software was launched at the Sight Village Exhibition in
Birmingham this
week.
Mr Wilson-Hinds said: "At Screenreader.net, our mission is
to deliver free
talking software worldwide so that blind people everywhere
can benefit from
the computer, the web, and e-mails.
"We see the talking computer as the modern Braille -
providing a gateway to
learning, work opportunities and a measure of financial
freedom and
independence."
Thunder is set to create a real storm as talking computer
software is
currently available, but at a price, with the cheapest
system, Windows Eyes
costing
about £380, and the most widely used system, JAWS, costing
£800.
Thunder is entirely free to individuals, with multi-user
packages available
to organisations for an annual subscription, which also
includes training.
Thunder has already received the backing of a number of
organisations,
including the National Blind Children's Society, the Royal
Blind Society and
New
Zealand Association for the Blind. Chief executive of the
Royal Blind
Society Graham Booth said: "This is a simple, easy-to-use
product that's
going to
bring huge benefits to blind people and greatly enhance
their quality of
life.
"We wish Screenreader.net every success with this exciting
and important
venture."
All that is needed to use the Thunder screenreader is a
computer running
Windows 2000, Windows XP or Vista, plus speakers or
headphones. For more
information
and to download Thunder for free, visit
www.screenreader.net.

Article by Business Editor Sarah Gunthardt.

Oops!

Greetings. I got a call this morning from the person known as Ranger 1138, who has a blog called The Ranger Station, informing me that I was mentioned in the weekly email of Top Tech Tidbits (TTT). Apparently, it was said that I was at the NFB convention in Dallas (which I was), gave a presentation on the upcoming Microsoft Vista operating system, and commented on various vendors in the exhibit hall, which I did not do. Ranger states it on his blog, and I want to repeat here for those that might have seen this reference in the email of the TTT, that Ranger 1138 and Wayne Merritt are most definitely two different people. We lead different lives, though we kind of work in the same industry of sorts, of assistive technology; he does things that I probably couldn't do and vice versa, or at least I'd like to think so, :)

Sure, I talk about technology, adaptive and otherwise, on this blog, but it also has a personal spin and journal aspect to it. Those that have read this blog for any length of time, or if you simply look through the post titles, you'll see that there's a lot here that isn't part of the tech world.

All that said, its kind of cool to be mentioned in a popular and well read outlet like the Top Tech Tidbits weekly email. Ranger said he'd link to my blog here, so who knows. I might get more readers here, which would be cool. I know Ranger personally, and in his words, "No harm, no fowel."

The Barbershop

Greetings. Today I had an experience unlike any other. I went to a barbershop.

I should say right off that my hair grows very slowly. Whereas many people get their hair cut every 3-6 weeks, I get mine cut every 2 and a half to 3 months. Up until now, I've gone to one of those chain hair styling places, like Super Cuts or Pro-Cuts. Since moving to Austin though, I've been looking for a new place to get my hair cut. The couple that usually take me to and from church each week, suggested their place this past Sunday. When they said it was an old fashion barbershop, I agreed but didn't really know what I was getting into.

When I went for the cut, which was at a flat rate of $12, I got great treatment as well as a great cut. The place had the feel of an old timey barbershop, I suppose because it was. There were a few barber chairs, a TV going, and the room had an over all different feel to it than Super Cuts. My $12 also got me an offer for a shoe shine, which I'm not sure if the man who offerred the shine worked there, or just hung out and offerred it to customers. Oddly enough, I probably could use a shine on my older pair of dress shoes that I've had for 3 years. However, today I was wearing a newer pair. Perhaps when I go next time, I'll purposely wear my older pair and cross my fingers for that shoe shine offer. The flat rate also got me a manual shave, some thinning of my hair, and a great cut and personal attention. It made me wish the cut cost more so I could show my appreciation. As if all that weren't enough, my ride had called ahead and asked the barber if they would wait for me before they closed shop, since I was going after work. We got there before they closed, but the cut wasn't actually over and done with for another 5 or 10 minutes after closing. I'm inclined to think that this would not have happened at a franchise like Super Cuts.

They've definitely got me as a returning customer, flat rates, great cuts, and personal treatment and all. In other words, though this was my first barbershop cut, it won't be my last! I don't know if all barbershop cuts are like this one, but if they are, then I'd definitely recommend someone look around for a barbershop. It might be the best cut you've ever had.

Transportation and Accessible Signs

Greetings. The following email was sent by Tommy Craig to some NFB of Texas email lists. Please consider taking the necessary actions. I have. Enjoy.

accessible signage

Hi all,

        The transportation board is awarding nearly two million to a transportation system in order to study the effectiveness of talking signs. Transit
systems must apply for the funds within the next couple of weeks. If you are interested in getting your transit system to apply you can go to the following
link:

http://accessiblesignagenow.org


        When you go to this page you will find more details about the funding and a link to send a letter. If you follow this link you will be asked to
fill out a very short form. Upon doing so a letter to your local transit system asking them to apply for funds will be generated. This is a time sensative
issue so don't put it off.

2006 NFB Convention Summary

Greetings. Well, now that I'm somewhat rested after my whirlwind of activity over the last few weeks, going directly from work to the NFB convention last week in Dallas, staying a weekend with my parents, and then back to Austin and work, I'm ready to offer up a summary of events during convention. I won't say that I'll write more later, since I've said that before, and only a few times have actually done it, :) Hopefully this weekend will find some more posts on the convention though, because it was a great one. By the way, for those hoping for some convention coverage, my apologies. I thought I was going to do some, but then I decided I'd just take some notes and fill in the gaps later. With that, here are but a few highlights or memorable things:

The hotel. As many may know, we stayed at the Hilton Anatole, used to be the Wyndham Anatole. It was definitely nice--and large. It was said that from heel to toe, the distance between the two ends of the hotel measured a quarter mile. That's a lot of walking. Because of this distance, and the wide open feeling of walking across the various portions, with little if any reference points, there were more than a few times when I ended up staying on one side of the property, just because it took too long to navigate back to the other side. Walking was one thing, but navigating was something totally different.

There were two things I quickly learned from that experience though. First, canes, and people, can appear at any time, even if you think you're in the middle of nowhere. For instance, you can be walking along, minding your own business, and suddenly find a cane between your legs and someone running into you, even if you had not heard them approach. The other thing I learned was that even if you're standing against a wall, you will be hit by someone.

The Kurzweil-NFB Reader. This will probably be given a larger area, or even its own post, since it was really neat seeing all the things that surrounded this new device.

Dancing at the night club. This might be given its own area too. Then again, as the saying goes, "what happens in Dallas, stays in Dallas."

Texas registration. Texas registered 400 people at convention. In the annual convention attendance competition, Texas beat out Maryland. This has happened before I believe, but never by such a large margin. I think by the end of the week, Maryland had around 225 registered. That's quite a jump from that to 400. Total convention registration was 2,885, and that's not counting anyone who decided not to register.

Opening general session. The first general session is always very fun and exciting, since its the start of the general session part of the convention, or when everyone gathers in a ballroom and hears from various people on topics of interest to the organized blind. This year was particularly notable and fun. Look for more on that later as well.

Changes in the National Board. After nearly 30 years, both Diane McGeorge and Joyce Scanlyn stepped down from their respective positions on the national board of the NFB. They both got standing ovations, as they should. Diane's move was especially note worthy for me, since it was the Colorado Center for the Blind that I attended for 7 months back in 1999, that Diane started in 1988. It was at the 1998 national convention in Dallas, where I made contact with Diane and she returned a series of calls from me, and invited me up to Denver to visit the CCB. In other words, Diane had a big role in helping me get more from my rehabilitation, practice some much needed skills and confidence, and, not the least of which, kept me going to the NFB conventions. I might have gone to the CCB if I had not met her, but the chances of that happening would have certainly been a lot less if we had not met. I have a running line that I say to her whenever we talk, occasionally at these conventions, partly kidding but always serious: "Thanks for calling me back."

Nana's bar and restaurant. Nana's is a 5-star restaurant at the top of the Anatole, on the 27th floor. Adjacent to the restaurant is a bar with comfortable chairs, a nightly jazz band, and is probably the best kept secret of that hotel. I only went there once, but in talking with a coworker, we both agreed that not many people were there when we went.

Taking pictures. Since I've got the Nokia 6682 cell phone, I've also got a great camera. There were a couple of times when I wanted to take some pictures, once at the Nana's bar and the other when at the Sensory Safari. If I can figure out how to do so, perhaps I'll put them up on my website. For those that don't know, the Sensory Safari is an exhibit put together by Safari Club International, of stuffed and mounted animals that they've collected. I try to go to this every other year to see what they have for that year. This year, they had a lot of animals I've never heard of before, such as a golden takin from China. Another thing they had was the head of a black rhino. That was quite interesting as well. There were also the usual animals, such as an elephant's foot and tusk, a chicken, some bears, and others. The Safari Club always does a good job at the Sensory Safari, in their selection of animals, and in getting plenty of their own volunteers to walk around with you and tell you what the animals were. Or, in my case this year, to help you take some great pictures.

I'm sure there are other highlights, or lowlights, but I'll save them for next time. Until later.

New iPod Might Open Up Opportunities

Greetings. The new iPod model might just open up some new and exciting opportunities for consumer electronics. The following is taken from an email from the Gui-Talk list, from the NFB Net group of lists. What's most interesting about the article is that in no place does it mention the benefits for the blind or low vision population that has struggled to use, and in many cases wanted to use, the iPod. The fact that it doesn't mention us means that the sighted designers of this new model probably weren't thinking of us. That could be good or bad, but I'm hoping its good. Since if they're not thinking of the blind, and they're making a mainstream device audio accessible to sighted users, we very well might benefit too. Consider Tell Me (800-555-8355). That's a totally audio service that was made for the general public but that the blind can benefit from and use just as well. Hopefully, this trend will spread to other products. I'm not saying we shouldn't be apart of the design of products. Rather, if the sighted can design a device that is accessible to us as well as the sighted user, then why not jump on board?

At any rate, here's the article. As always, my apologies for any formatting errors. Enjoy.

This article is taken from
http://news.scotsman.com/scitech.cfm?id=999772006&format=print.

Scotland on Sunday
Sun 9 Jul 2006
Alive and clicking: the latest iPod will talk...

Alive and clicking: the latest iPod will talk the listener through
the songs and
bands on the menu.

Apple pips its rivals with the iPod that talks
RICHARD GRAY SCIENCE CORRESPONDENT (
rgray@scotlandonsunday.com)


FROM Walkman to Talkman. Not content with changing the world's
music-listening habits,
Apple has come up with another innovation: the talking iPod.

A new generation of machines will use sophisticated software to
convert the names
of bands, albums and individual tracks into recognisable speech.

The new iPod will tell you what it is about to play, removing the
need for users
to look at the screen while selecting music, and making the device
safer and easier
to use while driving, cycling or in badly-lit locations.

Crucially, the talking machines could give the iPod a badly-needed
new competitive
edge in the hotly-contested digital music player market.

The iconic machines were last week reported to have lost some of
their sheen, with
consumers following a series of technical problems and controversy
surrounding the
working conditions of those who make them. To make matters worse,
software giant
Microsoft is said to be working on its own iPod-bashing digital music player.

Apple has flatly refused to comment on the design, but a patent
lodged by the company
in the United States makes clear the sixth generation of iPods will
be able to convert
those famous text menus into speech.

The ingenious system will rely on home PC processing power and clever
software. The
computer being used to download tracks will analyse each album title,
song name and
artist and convert them into sound files. These will be loaded into
the iPod, along
with the song files.

Users of the music players will still operate the Clickwheel as
normal, but hear
the names of songs and bands through their headphones.

The patent reveals the idea is driven largely by safety considerations.
It states: "A user will have difficulty navigating the interface in
'eyes-busy' situations.
"Such activities include, for example, driving an automobile,
exercising and crossing
the street."

The patent also makes clear that text-to-speech technology is likely
to spread to
other hand-held electronic devices such as mobile phones and palm-top
computers.

The move is expected to spark a new digital player war as competing
manufacturers
attempt to cram more and more features into their digital music
players in a bid
to keep up.

iPods have recently begun losing favour with consumers, amid claims
of poor working
conditions at a Chinese factory where the devices are made.

Microsoft is reported to be planning a digital music player with
wireless internet
capabilities, removing the need for a PC to download music.

The firm is believed to be keen to break Apple's stranglehold on the
download market
with its iTunes software.

The iPod and iTunes enjoy market share of about 80% in the US and the
UK, as well
as more than half the online music market in Europe as a whole.

Sony is also believed to be working on a wireless product that can
download music
and video broadcasts in venues such as concert halls and even shops.
The firm filed
a patent in 2004 which states that compressed files could be sent to
concert-goers
with footage from the concert they had just seen.

Converting text into speech has been a major goal of the computer
industry for decades,
but early versions of the technology struggled with difficult words and names.
It also requires formidable computer processing power to carry out
the difficult
conversion.

But Apple says its system will break down words in a new way that
makes it possible
to pronounce perfectly even the most obscure song titles and artist names.
It also proposes using "voice talent" - such as famous actors - to
make the speech
more human and add in the celebrity factor.

The patent also proposes using different voice "characteristics",
such as gender,
for different sections of the iPod menus.

Professor Steve Renals, a speech technology expert at Edinburgh
University, said:
"It is possible to create very high quality text-to-voices these days.
"We have seen some already used in mobile phones, but it has
struggled in the past
with difficult words and names. The technology is much better now and
can cope with
most things."

Safety experts have raised concerns over cyclists, pedestrians and
motorists being
involved in accidents when they are distracted by their digital music devices.

Last month, a teenager from Preston was killed while listening to his
iPod on his
bike when he collided with a tractor. Another teenager, Kathryn
Thomas, caused a
fatal road accident last year when she took her eyes off the road to
show a friend
how to use her iPod. Roger Vincent, spokesman for the Royal Society
for the Prevention
of Accidents, said: "If people don't need to take their eyes off the
road and hands
off the wheel then there are clear benefits to that.

"Provided there is a sensible approach and the technology is used in
a way that it
is intended, it could make using such devices far safer.

"There are concerns, though, about the isolation from surroundings
that wearing earphones
creates, and this can cause serious accidents, particularly among cyclists."

Another Article on the Kurzweil-NFB Reader

Greetings. The following article appeared in the Austin American Statesman, from the Associated Press. Enjoy.

Hand-held device helps blind people read

New reader has advantage of portability for restaurants, planes.

By Jamie Stengle
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Monday, June 26, 2006

DALLAS — A whole new world opened up for Tommy Craig in the past few months as he tested a new hand-held device for the blind that converts print to audio.

With its help, Craig was able to "read" everything from menus to cooking directions by positioning the reader over print and taking a picture. In seconds,
the printed message is heard.

"The reader provides access to materials that a lot of times you just didn't read," said Craig, 51, of Austin, who was one of about 500 people with blindness
who tested the device. "It certainly makes you more independent."

Today, the rest of the world will know about the device when it's unveiled by the National Federation of the Blind.

"It's not quite like having a pair of eyes that work, but it's headed in that direction," said James Gashel, executive director for strategic initiatives
at the Maryland-based federation.

Developed by the membership organization of more than 50,000 people with blindness and inventor Ray Kurzweil, the device combines a personal data assistant
and a digital camera.

"This is really the hottest new technology to be developed for blind people in the last 30 years," said Gashel, who calls it "the camera that talks."

About three decades ago, Kurzweil came up with the first invention that converted text into audio. That gave way to software that could be paired with a
computer and scanner and perform the same function. But the latest device has a big advantage: portability.

The federation expects the reader, which costs about $3,500, to be a big hit at the organization's annual meeting, which will begin Saturday in Dallas.

It will be sold though through Kurzweil Education Systems Inc. and will be available via the Internet and in stores.

For now, those who have tested the reader have been able to read items they never have before, such as the magazines in the pockets of airplane seats.

Marc Maurer, president of the National Federation of the Blind, points out another advantage: "Sometimes you get something that you want to read that you
don't want anyone else to read."

Amusing Poem

Greetings. Here's an amusing and thoughtful poem about the wonders of spell checking. Enjoy.

ODE TO THE SPELL CHECKER.

Eye halve a spelling chequer,
It came with my pea sea.
It plainly marques four my revue,
Miss steaks eye kin not sea.

Eye strike a key and type a word,
And weight four it two say,
Weather eye am wrong or write,
It shows me strait a weigh.

As soon as a mist ache is maid,
It nose bee fore two long.
And I can put the error rite,
Its rare lea ever wrong.

I have run this poem threw it,
I am shore your pleased to no.
It's letter perfect awl the weigh,
My chequer tolled me sew.

KeySoft 7.2 Thoughts

Greetings. The following information came into my Inbox today and I thought I'd pass it along, with my thoughts on the content. Here's what HumanWare has to offer in the upcoming KeySoft 7.2 release:

KEYSOFT 7.2 IS COMING! 

HumanWare will be releasing KeySoft 7.2 early in the
4th quarter of 2006, making your BrailleNote or VoiceNote even more useful
and efficient.
Whether you have a BrailleNote or VoiceNote mPower, a BrailleNote PK, or a
BrailleNote or VoiceNote Classic, there is a version of KeySoft 7.2 that
will be available for you.  KeySoft 7.2 takes one count from your Software
Maintenance Agreement (SMA).  An SMA allows you to receive two major
versions of KeySoft for the price of one.  Remember, an SMA can only be used
for a version of KeySoft if it is purchased prior to the release of the
software concerned.  So if you are not yet an SMA holder, ensure you get the
best deal on KeySoft 7.2 by purchasing your SMA now.  Contact HumanWare or
your local dealer for KeySoft 7.2 pricing.   What's in KeySoft 7.2?
Working with Files Is Easier (available on all models)

KeySoft allows extensive manipulation of files from any file list.  Anywhere
you can see a list of files, you can copy, erase, move, protect, unprotect
and rename a file.  Now, it is possible to mark files for action.  Move
through a list of files, mark those files that you need to take action on,
and the file manipulation commands can be applied to the group of files.
Now, when you look through a file list using the Directory option in File
Manager, pressing ENTER on any file will launch its associated application.
Pressing ENTER on an mp3 file for example will immediately cause it to start
playing in the Media Player.  In any file list, it is now easier to get it
sorted.  You can still sort files alphabetically as you have always done,
however you can now also sort by date and by size.  Sorting by size is a
great way of finding those pesky large files that are consuming FLASH Disk
space.  Sorting by date makes it easier to trace the progress of a project
whose files are contained in their own folder.  e-mail Signatures (available
on all models)  KeySoft 7.2 adds the ability to set up two e-mail
signatures.  Configure an e-mail signature for messages you generate, and
another for messages you forward or reply to.  You can see the text of the
signature right in the body of any e-mail message you create.  Statistics
Support in the Calculator (available on all models)  KeySoft 7.2 offers
intuitive, powerful statistical functions in KeyPlus.  Create data sets
within the Calculator using a special data entry mode.  Enter your data into
a KeyWord document, and paste it into data entry mode from the clipboard.
Import data sets from many common applications.  Save data sets for later
use, and export them for use by other applications.  Perform a wide range of
statistical functions on a data set using an intuitive KeySoft menu, or with
hotkeys.  DAISY Support (available on BrailleNote and VoiceNote mPower, and
BrailleNote PK)  Your BrailleNote or VoiceNote is about to become your
digital book player.  HumanWare is the world leader in DAISY playback
technology, through our Victor Reader products.  Now, we have incorporated
Victor Reader technology right into KeySoft.  Listen to DAISY audio books,
with the flexibility to speed up and slow down the narration and change the
tone of the audio.  Set bookmarks, create text notes, and jump to any time
in the book.  Text only DAISY books are instantly translated into your
preferred grade of Braille.  With books that offer both text and audio, you
have the best of both worlds.  Choose to read in Braille for detailed study,
and let the narrator read to you when it suits.  Move through DAISY
elements, or use the familiar KeySoft sentence and paragraph navigation
commands in text DAISY books if you prefer.  Get ready!

Make sure you have a current Software Maintenance Agreement so you can
download your copy of KeySoft 7.2 when it is released.  KeySoft 7.2 from
HumanWare will change the way you work, learn and play.

Now, as promised, my thoughts. First off, after reading over this the first time, I immediately had the thought of, "Well, it looks like they're still playing catch up to the PAC Mate." The PAC Mate has the ability to do all of these things, and more. I'm sure this will be a step up for BrailleNote people though, mainly because they haven't had the ability.

Second, as for the manipulation of files, it's about time they got around to doing that in KeySoft. I was a BrailleNote user for about a year and a half to two years several years ago, so I feel I can comment on this. Even as far back as 2002 or 2003, people were requesting some way of associating files, or having them open in their respective applications. As well as the ability to rename and otherwise manipulate files. That's quite a gap from 2002 to mid 2006.

Finally, from the numbering of the update, you would think it was a minor update. If this is true though, then why are you charged an SMA count for getting the update? And, is it even called an update or an upgrade?

However, this last area can be considered to be peddy speculation. The fact remains that only a few months ago, they were distributing and promoting KeySoft 7. Now they're promoting version 7.2. Its good to see the development cycle and promotion of new versions decreasing from before. After all, it took them a full year to promote, and finally release, version 7.0.

Bottom line though, as a biased PAC Mate user, KeySoft still hasn't done anything that makes me go, "Wow!" Oh well; perhaps in the next update or upgrade.

JAWS 7.1 is Out

Greetings. Just in time for the summer conventions, JAWS 7.1 is out. It is a free update for those with version 7. Read more about this release and download your copy from the JAWS 7.1 page at Freedom Scientific.

After promoting this update for several months and going through 5 different beta cycles, this should be a good release. The next task will be to get JAWS working with Vista. FS will have additional time on that front though since the new Microsoft operating system is not set to be released, in consumer form, until early next year. For now, enjoy the current update of JAWS with lots of bug fixes and enhancements.

Descriptions of NFB Convention Areas

Greetings. Here's a description of the exhibit hall and grand ballroom for the upcoming NFB convention. I've placed 3 stars between the sections for better navigation. Enjoy.

2006 NFB Annual Convention, Exhibit Hall "Verbal Map"

OVERVIEW: The Khmer Pavilion Exhibit Hall is a perfect rectangle, which will make finding one's way around the 146 tables an easy shot for the power shopper.
There are tables around the 4 walls, with the east and west sides being the long sides. There are 3 rectangles of tables covering the middle space. These
are called A-Square, B-Square, and C-Square. A and B and C Squares have their short ends facing the east and west walls, their long ends parallel with
the north and south walls, and A-Square is nearest to the entrance.

ENTRANCE: When you enter the ballroom through the east wall you will be at the southeast corner of the room in a vestibule. Coming out of the hotel hallway,
you will enter the vestibule, turn right, and in a few steps enter the Khmer Pavilion. (By the way, there is a water station set up just inside the vestibule
to your left as you enter.)

Upon entering the Pavilion, Information Tables 1 and 2 are on your right. Pick up your room map (print only) and exhibitor lists with table numbers (in
Braille or print) here, or ask directions to a specific vendor's location. Left of the doorway you will find the Kurzweil-National Federation of the Blind
Reader tables (62-64), but let's continue straight north, (keeping the entrance behind us, the east wall on our right) to check out East Wall tables 1
through 20. Some of the notable vendors along the wall are NFB-NEWSLINE® (6, 7), Independent Living Aids (9, 10), and Guide Dogs for the Blind (12).

Turn left or west after table 20, passing a water station, and peruse North Wall tables 21 to 34. Need cash? Diebold's accessible talking ATM machine (with
real money in response to your credit card) and the Diebold (sample) accessible voting machine are at space 21 (straight ahead of the entrance).

The West Wall tables 35 to 52 are next. If shopping makes you thirsty, the NFB Merchant's Division is midway at tables 41-44 with their snack packs and
free sodas. The interesting exhibits from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center are at tables 49 to 51, followed by the Jernigan Institute National Center
for Blind Youth in Science at 52.

Turn left again to check out the South Wall tables 53 to 64. Optelec at tables 56 to 61 has the most tables in this stretch. And now you are back to the
Kurzweil-National Federation of the Blind Reader tables, beyond which is the vestibule.

To get to A-Square after examining the new handheld reader, put your back to the south wall and cross the aisle. You have arrived at HumanWare (A65-A71,
and A90-A92) on the A-Square's east end. Go left to find Sendero Group at A87-88, about midway on the square's south side, or to the end of the side to
find "ifbyphone" at A82-83. On the other hand, if you wish to find table numbers in ascending order, travel counterclockwise around each square.

B-Square is in the center of the room, with Freedom Scientific taking up its entire east end at tables B93-B99 plus B118-B120. National Industries for
the Blind (NIB) is at B116 midway on the B-Square's south side.

C-Square is furthest north in the room, with tables C121 through C146. As with the other squares, only 2 or 3 tables are on each end, and 11 tables are
on each of the long sides.

***

GRAND BALLROOM
a verbal map for the 2006 convention

These four functions will be in the Grand Ballroom: book-signing area (limited hours); free NFB literature; NFB aids and literature for sale; and the Accessible
Home Showcase, an exhibit and lecture area (limited hours). Be sure to check your agenda for the functions with limited hours.

You will enter the Grand Ballroom from its north wall. Inside the door to your left on the east wall are the four tables for NFB authors doing book-signings.
Straight ahead of you is a large rectangle of 16 tables full of free literature. To your right is a larger square of 27 tables for the NFB Store. The
Accessible Home Showcase is located all the way to the right back corner of the Grand Ballroom. You will find the large free-standing appliances next
to a dozen chairs set-up for the demonstrations listed in the agenda. From the Ballroom entrance, you may turn right and follow the 3 inside walls until
you arrive, or you may want to travel between the free NFB Literature tables and the NFB Store tables all the way to the back of the room, then turn right
and continue walking until you arrive.

The NFB Store offers you your best chance all year to examine many aids and appliances before you buy. Ask for a free lesson if you would like to take
a long white cane for a test drive before buying, or ask the folks demonstrating Braille products for a beginner's Braille lesson, or how to use the templates
for letter-writing. Examine the NFB literature which is sold (not given away). Our fellow members serving as volunteer demonstrators are there to show
you how each product works. Each product (except canes) has an attached Braille-print label and stapled to it, small print tickets with ID numbers. As
always, you need to hand the shopkeepers one print ticket from each product you wish to buy so that they will know exactly which product it is. A large
paper clip attached to the Braille-print label signifies that this item can be examined at convention but must be shipped to you from Baltimore after convention.

The side of the NFB Store area closest to you (its east side) begins with NFB canes. Follow the tables to your left (clockwise) and on the beginning of
the fourth side (its north side), you will find two parallel tables sticking out into the aisle to help organize two lines for the shopkeepers. They are
ready to take your tickets for products and your money to pay for them. Beyond the shopkeeper's counter, please note that there are five more tables of
products for sale so you may want to check them out before getting in line. After those five tables is the corner that puts you back at the cane tables.
When you are ready to exit the Grand Ballroom after your purchases at the sales counter, put your back to the shopkeepers, walk straight ahead to the
north wall, and follow it to your right (eastward) until you find the entrance on your left.

This completes your tour of the Grand Ballroom.

Books, Books and More Books

(Please excuse any weird formatting; enjoy.)

Free chapter added to saga of e-books that canobe
By David Mehegan, Globe Staff I June 2, 2006

For much of the past decade, the publishing world
has been trying to
figure out how to make money selling books in
electronic form. Now a
private project wants to give e-books away for free.

Project Gutenberg, a 35-year-old nonprofit based in
Urbana, Ill.,
announced yesterday it is putting as many as 300,000
books online, where
they will be available for free download. Called the
World eBook Fair,
the program will last a month - July 4 to Aug. 4 --
and will be repeated annually.

The catalog of available works will include fiction,
nonfiction, and
reference books, mostly those that are no longer
protected by copyright.
"It will include the oldest books in the world,
including every author
you have heard of in your life, other than current
ones," said Michael
Hart, Project Gutenberg's founder. The fair also
will offer classical
music files, both scores and recordings, as well as
films.

About 95 percent of the books are in the public
domain and not subject
to copyright law, Hart said. The copyright holders
of the remaining 5
percent have given permission for use of their
works. Copyright law
generally protects a work for 70 years beyond the
death of its creator.

Roughly 20,000 of the books have been scanned by
thousands of Gutenberg
volunteers -- and are already available at
gutenberg.org -- but the
majority will be loaned to Gutenberg for the month
by more than 100
e-book libraries, including the World eBook Library,
which normally
charges a fee for temporary access. As many as
100,000 of the 300,000
books will remain available permanently. Gutenberg
plans to offer
500,000 books in next year's fair, 750,000 in 2008,
and 1 million in
2009. Still, even these numbers are a fraction of
the tens of millions
of books that have been published throughout
history.

"Our stuff is all free," Hart said. "We want people
to take these books
and use them, to keep them in their PDAs. Our
mission is to help break
down the walls of ignorance and illiteracy."

Efforts to establish a commercial e-book marketplace
have stumbled.
Attempts to sell hand-held readers failed because
they were clumsy and
delicate, downloadable books were few, and fees were
high. Google
recently announced a plan to make millions of books
searchable online,
but the company has faced opposition from publishers
outraged over
potential copyright infringement. Attempts to reach
publishers and
booksellers last night were unsuccessful.

In the World eBook Fair, the books can be downloaded
and read on almost
any kind of computer - even a cellphone or PDA . The
idea is not merely
to lend or rent access to the book but to give it
away so that it can be
kept in a library, copied, or shared with friends.

Hart said the major flaw with previous attempts to
sell e-books was the
device. "Those readers were dinosaurs before they
were bom," he said.
"This generation grew up on Game Boy. The screen of
a cellphone is fine
for them. The iPod had been out only a week when
someone wrote a program
so you could read our books on it."

Hart, 58, has been the dedicated visionary behind
the project since its
inception in 1971, working out of his basement in
Urbana since
graduating from the University of Illinois. In a
phone interview, he
spoke in evangelistic tones about the social virtue
of the project. "We
want to increase literacy and education from the
bottom up," he said. "I
think of this as a blue-collar project. Our target
is not the erudite
professor of Shakespeare -- it's everybody, as many
people as we can
encourage to read."

Gutenberg volunteers -- who have been typing and
scanning books into
computers for 35 years, well before anyone had heard
of the Internet --
have the passion of Wikipedians. "I have 40,000
people to help," Hart
said. "There are no universities or corporations
involved, just a lot of
people in attics banging on their computers. We have
one workaholic
insomniac who has scanned 2,500 to 3,000 books by
himself. He buys

1 of 2 6/2/2006 6:26 AM
Free chapter added to saga of e-books - The Boston
Globe

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/06/02/free

chapt...

Mem, scans them, and proofreads them."

Though Hart is the project's conceptual force, the
unpaid CEO of Project
Gutenberg is Gregory Newby, acting chief scientist
of the Arctic Area
Supercomputing Center at the University of Alaska in
Fairbanks. While
more low-key than Hart on the phone, he was no less
fired with
conviction.

"As we see it, if e-books are to succeed, readers
have to be allowed to
do everything they can do with a real book," Newby
said. "If you use
Google Book Search, you can search text, but after a
few pages you can't
read any more. If you try to use it like a book, you
encounter a lot of
barriers."

Newby said he sees free e-books as the way of the
future for classic
works.

"It breaks my heart to go into Barnes & Noble and
find Jane Austen for
sale in a trade format," he said. "Where does that
money go? It's close
to profiteering. No author is getting any money for
it. I feel sorry for
schools, where kids are now reading Canterbury Tales
or Huckleberry
Finn, and the schools are spending millions of
dollars from their
budgets to buy the books. We're giving the stuff
away for free."

A&E Networks Presents ... Superblind!

Greetings. Here's an announcement about a broadcast of the movie on Erik Weihenmayer, the blind mountain climber who summetted Mt. Everest in May of 2001. Among other things, there's information below on how you can download a described version of the movie from the A&E website. Enjoy.

A&E Network's Touch the Top of the World to be Accessible to Viewers who are
Blind or Visually Impaired

Film Based on Erik Weihenmayer, First Blind Climber to Summit Mt. Everest

Boston, MA A&E Network and the Media Access Group at WGBH announce
availability of a descriptive narration track on the A&E Web site for TOUCH
THE TOP OF THE WORLD, which premiers on A&E Network on SUNDAY, JUNE
18, 2006 at 8-10PM ET and PT / 9-11PM CT.

Audio description of the visual elements of TOUCH THE TOP OF THE WORLD will
be available via A&E Network's Web site,
http://www.aetv.com/touchthetop/.

At the site, visitors can access an audio stream that includes
moment-by-moment descriptions of the action in the movie, including
gestures, costumes, settings, who is speaking and text that appears on
screen. The described track will be available for three months from the date
of the film's debut on A&E, June 18, 2006.

A behind the scenes look at how description was created for this film will
be posted and available next week at
http://club.aetv.com/
(sign in necessary)

Touch the Top of the World - The Film Peter Facinelli (Six Feet Under,
Fastlane, The Scorpion King) portrays Erik Weihenmayer, the first blind man
ever to climb Mount Everest in the suspenseful, action-packed adventure
film. Bruce Campbell (The Adventures of Brisco County Jr., Homicide,
X-Files) co-stars as Erik's father.

In 2001, Erik Weihenmayer began his ascent up the tallest mountain in the
world, Mt. Everest. This was a journey that began very early in life when
he was diagnosed with a genetic disorder that ultimately led to total
blindness by the time Erik was 13. With the support of an amazing family,
Erik never allowed his handicap to hold him back. In the wake of the sudden
death of his mother, Erik and his family began taking treks into remote
mountain areas to keep their lives intact. Soon Erik was taking on greater
challenges, including rock climbing, while finishing college and starting
his teaching career. While teaching, Erik met and fell in love with a
colleague, Ellie. They married and moved to Denver. After conquering
numerous major peaks, Erik decided to confront his biggest challenge yet --
Mount Everest, the world's highest peak. Along the journey, Erik and his
team faced unbearably treacherous conditions and witnessed the frozen
remains of those who had failed in similar attempts years earlier. Finally,
Erik and his colleagues made it to the top of Mount Everest, quite literally
the top of the world.

Video Description Video descriptions make television programs, feature
films, home videos, and other visual media accessible to people who are
blind or visually impaired by providing descriptive narration of key visual
elements in programs that a viewer might otherwise miss. When described,
these elements- including actions, costumes, gestures and scene changes -can
fully engage a blind or visually impaired viewer with the story. A carefully
written script is prepared by a trained describer, read by a professional
narrator, and mixed in a professional audio production suite for
broadcast-quality results. A full Descriptive Video Service/DVS® mix
consists of the main program audio combined with these narrated
descriptions.

WGBH, Boston's public broadcaster and a pioneer in the field of assistive
and accessible technology developed description for television, home videos
and feature films. A&E and The Media Access Group have worked together for
years to make a variety of A&E programs accessible via closed captioning to
viewers who are deaf or hard of hearing. Touch the Top of the World
presented the first opportunity to work together to make an A&E film
accessible via video descriptions to blind and visually impaired A&E
viewers.

Film Credits TOUCH THE TOP OF THE WORLD is based on Erik Weihenmayer's
memoir of the same name. The screenplay is by Peter Silverman, multiple
Emmy-nominee who credits include Something The Lord Made, We Were The
Mulvaneys, and Hill Street Blues. The executive producers are Howard
Braunstein, Michael Jaffe and Mark Sennet. The director is Peter Winther,
who directed The Librarian, the top-rated cable movie of 2004 and worked on
a number of major Hollywood blockbusters, from Independence Day to Godzilla
to The Patriot. The film will be distributed by Sony Pictures Television.

About A&E Network Now reaching more than 90 million homes, A&E Network
brings viewers a diverse mix of high quality entertainment; ranging from
critically acclaimed original movies to the very best dramatic series, the
most successful justice shows on cable to the Emmy Award-winning BIOGRAPHY®
series. Not to mention, the A&E Network's powerhouse Real-Life Series
franchise. In 2005, A&E Network holds the distinct record for the most
Primetime Emmy nominations (10) for a basic cable network. The A&E Network
web site is located at
www.aetv.com
and the Biography® website is located at
www.Biography.com.
The A&E Club is located at
www.aetv.com/club.
For more information and photography please visit us on the web at
www.aetvpress.com.

About the Media Access Group at WGBH: The Media Access Group is a nonprofit
service of Boston public broadcaster WGBH, with offices in Boston and Los
Angeles. The Group includes DVS, which has made television, film and video
more enjoyable to audiences who are blind or visually impaired since 1990,
and The Caption Center--the world's first captioning agency--which has made
audiovisual media accessible to audiences who are deaf or hard of hearing
since 1972. The third branch of the Media Access Group, the WGBH National
Center for Accessible Media (NCAM), is a research, development and advocacy
entity that work to make existing and emerging technologies accessible to
all audiences. Members of the Group's collective staff represent the leading
resources and experts in their fields. For more information, visit
http://access.wgbh.org.

Interesting Amazon Department

Greetings. I was reading through my daily round of blogs last night and saw that Amazon has opened a new Store for the blind and visually impaired. While I'm a big supporter of Amazon and have shopped there for the past 5 or so years, I was a bit puzzled by this announcement. What could have caused them to open this department? Who knows. I was really puzzled when I browsed through the short list of products to be offered. Granted, these are by no means the only things offered. They included: the Braille and tactile book on astronomy called "Touch the Sun"; quite a few products for the low vision population, such as magnifyers, large print books, and more; and one that jumped out at me and made me groan: under the software section, there was a listing for the Dragon Naturally Speaking program. For those that don't know, Dragon is a speech recognition program. The reason I groaned when I read this, is the following.

For the past few years, whenever someone in the general public hears that I use computers, one of the first questions more often than not is if I use, or a statement that I should use, a speech recognition program. I think the thinking here is that I wouldn't have to worry about typing in information and just sit back and "talk" to my computer. I then calmly explain to them that the problem for blind people is not putting information into the computer, but getting it out. This usually satisfies most people, however I did have one woman who persisted and said that I really could benefit from it. After several tries of convincing me, I finally held my hands up and said, "Well, I don't use that software because I have no problems using my hands," and I wiggled my fingers viggorously. This seemed to satisfy her, that is after her husband repeated what I said to her in a quiet tone. I kid you not. Ug!

Anyway, getting back to the topic at hand, its my speculation that someone at Amazon, who I'm guessing had no idea how a blind person really does use a computer, figured that this would be a great thing to offer. After all, those blind people wouldn't have to worry about typing. I hesitate to ask that, if typing is such a high priority here, how are we going to go online and buy things from their site on the Web, or had they thought of that? I have no doubt that some blind people, and those with other disabilities, might get a great deal of use out of Dragon, but at first glance, it doesn't strike me as the necessary software that we can use for computer access. To be fair though, in recent years, some people have brought Dragon and JAWS together so that is possible to use a dictation software package and still have a screen reader. I haven't used this package though, so I couldn't offer any opinions on it.

On a larger scale, as I browsed through some of the more higher priced products from Amazon, I saw a couple of Braille displays from Freedom Scientific. Though there was no listing of JAWS. Hmm. Anyway, it appears that Amazon is getting some of these more tech related items from some of the low vision and daily living aids distributors, such as Maxi Aids and others I didn't recognize.

The other big question that came to my mind when I read of this new department is, why? Why do we need another specialized store, much less from Amazon? I'm all for integration, but if I need a Braille watch (which they may or may not offer, I'm just using it as an example), I'm going to buy from a place like Independent Living Aids first before I go looking at Amazon. I suppose they're trying to reach out to include everyone, even the blind and low vision populations. Interesting point though: they're new store is just as cluttered with the typical Amazon stuff as their other pages. In other words, on first glance, they didn't reduce the amount of unlabeled graphics and links that take up quite a bit of space on their regular pages. If I were to be critical, I'd ask why they didn't put this specialized store on the accessibility site, or at least clean it up a little, for the populations they're attempting to serve? But I won't be critical.

This won't stop me buying from their other stores though. It will be interesting to see what other kinds of products they offer though, and if they increase the number of blindness products they have. I realize that the low vision population is a large part of this market, but its not the whole market.

Time will tell I suppose.

C.A.R.S. Activities in Dallas

The below email announcement comes from a new division in the National Federation of the Blind. These activities will take place during the upcoming NFB convention in Dallas in a couple of weeks. Enjoy.

Greetings

As some of you may know, and for those who don't, The NFB has a new
division for those who have an interest in motor vehicles. The C.A.R.S
Division of the NFB, which stands for,Classic,Antique, Rods, and Special
interest, was formed last year in Louisville at national convention for
those who are interested in vehicles. We would like to invite you to come
and check out our activities, and join us in our love of all things
automotive.

Below you will see what we have planned. We've put a lot of work into this
and hope you'll come and enjoy what we've done. Even if you only have a
passing interest in vehicles, I hope you'll find something of interest
here, and help support the NFB's new division. So without further
ramblings, Here's what we have planned so far.

We will be selling 10 different models. 5 different cars that are about 6
inches long (1/32 scale). There will be a 51 ford crestline, 48 Lincoln
continental, 31 ford model A roadster, 25 model T, and a 49 ford woody
station wagon.
These will sell for around $12. and there will be 25 of each model. They
are very detailed for the price with opening doors hoods and in some cases
trunks.
We will also be selling 5 different models that are about 12 inches long.
(1/18 scale) These will be, a 1917 REO touring car, a 38 Cadillac sedan, a
38 Buck century convertible, a 50 GMC pickup, and I can't remember what
the last one was. The larger cars will sell for between $35, and $50. There
will be 25 each of these too. All of these are really nice models. I have
several of them in my collection. These are super detailed with engine
wiring, spare tires in the trunks when needed, opening doors hoods and I
think in a couple of places, even opening glove boxes, and such.
In fact I'm the one who supplied the contact info for getting them, so you
know they're quality units.
On sunday we'll be having a Harley Davidson club come and display their
motorcycles for all to see, and give a presentation at our meeting sunday
night. This isn't a biker gang, they're older owners of Harleys. hehe
On Wednesday afternoon we'll be having an antique car show with over 40
cars from various antique car clubs, including a Cadillac club, the antique
car club of America, the veteran car club of America and 2 model A clubs.
we'll have gloves for people to wear so they can touch the cars and really
get a chance to look them over. some of these folks will give a talk to us
at our meeting on Tuesday night, along with a rep from Ford motor company.
We'll also have newspaper and TV coverage of the car show. We're also going
to make a video of the events which will go into the NFB records. Blind and
a car lover? well, we're here to tell ya. hehe Even Mrs Jernigan is excited
about all the things we're doing. Not bad for a brand new division eh?
We're very enthusiastic about this. I hope you'll come and join us gear
heads and take a trip down Memory Road.
Well, these are the details as far as I know them. If I hear any more, I'll
pass it along. Hope to see you in Dallas.
Rick W Canode
2nd vice president
C A R S Division
National Federation of the Blind

My Mavs Theory

Greetings. As we get ever closer to game 2 in the NBA Finals, I'd like to offer up my theory on why the Mavericks will win it all.

Granted, Dirk, Stack, Harris, Avery and the rest are the best around at what they do; granted, the Mavs have depth; granted they have proven that they can match up against any sort of setup any team has (go back and consider the teams leading up to the Finals); we've got all that as sound sports reasoning as to why the Mavericks will win the Finals. However, my reasoning is a lot simpler than all that. They'll win because I'm not living there anymore.

In 1999, when the Stars won the Stanley Cup, I was in Colorado getting training at the Colorado Center for the Blind. Now, I'm in Austin at a new job, and I think they'll win. As for the Cowboys, when they won their 3 Superbowls, well, I was growing up in Dallas at the time, so that doesn't count. Besides, I was still in high school. I'm counting the time after high school graduation, :)

And anyway, even though my personal theory might seem flemsy, which it very well might be, consider the sports reasoning mentioned above, and that balances it out. Hey, I had to offer up my own spin on this. After all, one of the Dallas teams is that close to winning another championship! And it couldn't have come to a better or more deserving team. I can't think of a better cap to a 60 and 22 season, much less to a team that's never won it before. I just wish I were still in Dallas to witness the chaos and all the stuff that surrounds an NBA Finals series. Then again, I might jinks them if I were.

One more thing: if the Mavs do win it all and bring another championship to Dallas, hopefully that will help reduce the Dallas sports bias that has hung around the past number of years. It seems like whenever a Dallas team is good or in a playoff run, there is some sort of bias among the media where the particular team is not mentioned as much as the competitive team. Or, that they are looked down upon, for whatever reason. Perhaps its because JFK was shot here, but that was more than 40 years ago. I don't know where the bias comes from, but I hope that it goes away soon. Dallas really has some great tallent which deserves attention. If you need further proof of a bias against Dallas, consider the number of Cowboys that have gotten into the NFL's Hall of Fame during the Superbowl, verses those that have been up for consideration.

Anyway, go Mavs!

Austin Cab Company and the Blind

The Austin Chronicle
Friday, June 09, 2006
Blind Leading the Sighted: Yellow Cab of Austin has become an employment option for people who are visually impaired
By R.U. STEINBERG

King the dog may be the eyes, but not the ears for his owner, Denime Sadler, a Yellow Cab call center worker who can answer phones and communicate with
cabbies as well as any sighted person. photo by Jana Birchum
Ever wonder what it's really like at a taxicab company? If you're old enough to remember the TV series Taxi, you can probably imagine Louie De Palma in
his cage, barking out orders to Reiger, Nardo, and the others.
If you never watched Taxi, it's just as well because that kind of cab company is history. Over at Yellow Cab of Austin, they use computers with mapping
and geo-positioning software to track customers and drivers. The garage is immaculate, with seven bays, and they have their own body repair shop. The only
one barking - well, he barks once in a while - is King, the seeing eye dog. No surprise, since five of the current 25 or so call-center staff members are
visually impaired.
Louie would be positively livid. But not Tomas Smith, who, as communications manager at Yellow Cab, manages the call center and computer equipment. "One
of our guiding principles is that we be an active participant in the community," says Smith, who has been in the cab business since 1978 (the year Taxi
premiered on TV).
A little over a year ago, Smith received an unannounced visit from Denime Sadler, who has been completely blind since age 7. "I had no idea he was coming.
I didn't have any want ads in the paper. But he decided that I needed to hire a blind man to answer telephones," Smith said. He convinced me he could get
help from the Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services. ... My intuition was he could handle the stress and excel. So I hired him."
Sadler, who prefers to say he is a person who doesn't have "physical sight," moved to Austin in 2004 from Mississippi where he had been attending college.
"I had a friend here already, but it was a rocky start. My first service animal and I were in an accident with a tow truck. Although we both survived,
the dog had to retire. But from tragedy came triumph: I got help from the state and a job here." Sadler says he got the idea for working at the cab company
because Capitol Metro contracts with Yellow Cab to provide transportation for people with disabilities. "I kept asking the cab drivers if there were any
openings here, and one day they suggested I check it out myself."
Sadler said he recently helped form a coalition to help increase public awareness about issues for people without physical sight. "The blind need to be
taught they can be independent and businesses need to be shown we can work just as well - if not better - than 'normal people.' Our unemployment rate is
70 to 80%, which is a disaster."
How hard is it to integrate people with disabilities into the workforce? Employers may complain about all the difficulties associated with the Americans
with Disabilities Act, but a recent study by Cornell University says one of the obstacles to hiring people with disabilities is the negative attitude of
supervisors and co-workers. Smith says he's spoken with people in state government, as well as with area-employment specialists about what Yellow Cab has
done. "The toughest thing is to come to the realization that there really isn't a difference between a sighted and unsighted person. We all have our shortcomings,
abilities, and disabilities. Once you can shed the prejudice, you'll find a body of very willing, able, and motivated workers."
Smith said Yellow Cab had to make sure door handles had levers. The company also had to mark the bathroom doors with braille, make sure nothing was protruding
into hallways, and install screen-reading software called Job Access With Speech (JAWS) on call-center computers. "Fortunately, we were already moving
into a new building that was ADA compliant," Smith said.
Chad Nezat, who has been visually impaired since birth, came to Yellow Cab in July 2005 after being laid off from his previous job. "Computer people at
some companies don't like messing with JAWS or claim it has security issues. Then there are times when JAWS doesn't always work - that's been my experience
with other customer-service jobs."
Unlike many of his sighted co-workers, Nezat has been touch-typing since the fourth grade and was ready to work with Yellow Cab's computer system. "Most
blind people
learn how to type from an early age because we have to communicate in written form," he said. Everyone may not realize it, but all computer keyboards are
"braille," Smith added. "If you look at the 'F' and 'J' keys, there are little raised areas - that's basically all they need to get oriented."
Hugo Sanchez, who has only worked at Yellow Cab for a short time, also brings a skill some of his sighted co-workers don't have: He is bilingual. "Speaking
Spanish is not only a good asset for me, I also think it will help generate revenue for the company, because we can provide something for a segment of
the population that might not get served otherwise." Sanchez, who at age 44 is the most senior of the visually-impaired staff members, says there are more
opportunities for younger people with visual impairment today than there used to be. When he is not working, he is a proud father of four (his oldest is
in the Marines), a ham-radio operator, and plays on the Austin Blackhawks, a world championship-winning baseball team for people with visual impairments.
(For more information, visit the
National Beep Baseball Association).
Although other businesses have been blind to Yellow Cab's success thus far, Smith is happy to report that the Yellow Cab franchises in San Antonio and Houston
are also working toward hiring people who are visually impaired.
"When we went into this, it was a learning curve. None of us had ever done it, but I got help from Ed Browning at DARS. Our San Antonio branch is currently
moving forward with implementing the hiring of blind call-takers, and Houston is not far behind. And there's been an added bonus. We had to make a pretty
big technical jump from old, dumb monochrome terminals to modern PCs so we could install the JAWS software. We liked the PCs so much better that we moved
all of our software to them. Now, all of our call-takers have access to the new map software. This has helped the entire company."
--Despite negative recommendations by both City Staff and Urban Transportation Commission, Austin City Council has approved the Roy's Yellow merger. Some
"African" companies may apply for the newly created franchise and Austin Cab will receive twenty new permits. We may have a few jobs, but we will have
fewer options with respect to transportation until the new franchise comes to fruition.

A New and Bizarre Net station

Greetings. Below is information on a new and interesting Internet broadcasting station. Remember earlier I was talking about mental photo albums? Well, this station takes that to a new level, combining sound effects and creating chaotic results. When I listen to it, I can imagine a dog attacking a car, then the car's alarm goes off, and the dog starts whining. You too can get these same images, and many others like it, by tuning in below. The addresses given are not links, since you will need to paste them into your media player's open location dialog. Write privately or through the public comments feature if you would like instructions on how to do this. Enjoy.

What is FX Radio? Well, it's a concept that Derek Lane and I came up
with last summer when we were both rather bored.
Basically, it's the result of what happens when you load three
instances of winamp equipped with crossfaders, then load a whole ton
of high quality sound effects libraries into each winamp, making
sure, of course, that everything is randomized.
The sequence of events that can happen as a result of this are
rather strange, and many interesting things can happen to your mind
as a result of listening to the random combinations of odd things that occur.

Have you ever seen a bird driving a car under water, all the while
being shot at by a telephone? Or, perhaps, little kids playing in
underwater construction sites? How about frogs that make things
explode, sheep making things blow up, or machine guns blasting
through a calm cafe, all the while everyone seems to be oblivious to
the fact that they are being shot at, and, in fact, don't seem to
mind very much?
All these things can and have been known to happen on FX Radio, all
sound effects, all the time, 24 hours a day!

To tune in, you will need a streaming media player compatible with
AAC+ streaming, such as Winamp (5.1 or higher, except 5.22 which has
a bug that breaks AAC streams), VLC Mediaplayer, or Foobar 2000.

If you have a compatible player, go to one of the following addresses:
shoutcast:
http://fx.pdaudio.net:80

icecast:
http://tbrn.net:8888/fx.aac


Note: If you are using the Thompson mp3 pro decoder for Winamp, the
shoutcast stream will not work unless it is disabled. The icecast
feed will, however, since the .aac extention will not be passed off
to the mp3 pro decoder.

The bandwidth is low enough such that you can listen with either a
dial-up or broadband connection. Either way, you'll still get the
same great quality that AAC+ streaming provides.

Also, as the shoutcast server is on port 80, this means you can
listen to FX Radio behind any proxy server that only allows access
to http, such as universities and other institutions. Yes, a nice
distraction during class might be good, don't you think?
Why not freak out your friends, classmates or co-workers while
you're at it? Maybe all of the above?

Close your eyes, put on some headphones, tune in, and get ready for
a very strange, and altogether different experience!
It's FX Radio! No, really?

Mental Photo Album

Greetings. Its kind of unusual for me to be this coherent on a Saturday morning, since I'm usually barely awake or catching up on sleep. Make no mistake, after this is posted, I'll probably head back to bed. However, I felt somewhat reflective earlier and thought I'd submit this.

I was reading over the blog entries for my friend from Houston One Graham's View, looking for a particular link he had put up some time ago, and getting caught up in the memories.

I'm sure some blind people have photo albums, but by their nature, photo albums don't seem like the kinds of things that a blind person could get something out of. Oh sure, I'll probably have the obligatory album at some point, with pictures of myself and hopefully my family in them. However, for me at least, I get more enjoyment out of reading about things rather than looking at them. Besides, when you read something, you can create your own picture in your mind of how you think it should look, rather than the way it might actually look in the photo. As I was reading over the entries for OGV, I was remembering.

Though he hasn't made an entry in about 2 months, due to his new full time job no doubt (and I certainly know how that goes; I feel fortunate making these weekend posts as it is), it was cool reading over his past entries. That's a trip down memory lane, as they say, to read over entries from as much as a year ago and read what was happening and what people thought at the time. Indeed, the same emotions well up in me if I read over my own blog entries, remembering the highs an lows of a given time period.

So, in closing, even though I might not have a photo album, I think I've got something better in this blog. I have no idea how many people might read this on a daily or weekly basis. While that information might be neat to know at some point, that's not why I write this blog. No, I write it to chronicle my life and things I think are interesting. Hopefully they are interesting for the reader as much as they are to me. And, I suppose, I also chronicle them for myself, so I can go back and read a written record of what happened at certain points.

Quite reflective for this time of day, :) Well, I've got a couple of other ideas for posts later today or tomorrow. We'll see what develops until then. For now though, enjoy reading this blog or any other blog and going through that mental photo album.