The week s news is usually light before an upcoming Apple event, now set for Sept. 12th by the way, so J.J. and Joe decided to put their feet up with a few games to pass the time. We have a listener submitted tip, a fashion statement in "Sound Off" and an odd combo for "Last Word".
In the News:
Freedom Scientific releases their August 2018 update for JAWS, Fusion and ZoomText
Dolphin 17 update adds more browser support beyond Internet Explorer
The August issue of Access World looks at OrCam and the summer conventions
Mystic Access has been adding more content to their free offerings
This Apple Vis page contains an interesting discussion about the price of audio games
Demo: APH Crosswords
7 letters down starting with the letter "P" with the clue being "audio entertainment". That clue could suggest that the answer is the word "podcast". For years the idea of doing a crossword puzzle independently was a dream for some who rely on a screen reader for access. Now, thanks to the still in beta APH Crossword
you can import these word puzzles that contain a .puz file format. J.J. shows off this new web browser based tech that can provide hours of entertainment for you and your friends.
Demo: Dusk
Last week we spoke about Dusk
in the news section. However, we weren't sure about how the multi-player component worked. Joe asked Ricky Enger
to install the iPhone app and take up the challenge in playing the various party games with him. Listen in to hear the pair try out "Bubbles", "Ping Pong" and more.
Tip: Filtering by file type in Windows
'Alex Hall' submitted this tip via feedback@blindbargains.com
"Hello,
I have a tip for you. I don't have the means to easily record Windows, or I would have given you an audio file. Instead, I'll explain the tip, and hope one of you can record it in action. Sorry for the bother.When you're in a Windows 10 dialog prompting you to choose a file, you can type in the path to a folder rather than browse to it. For instance, you can type
c:\users\alex\downloads
to get to your downloads folder, rather than tabbing around to find the list of places and locating the folder there. This is even more convenient for obscure folders you might be using.But that's not the tip. I discovered yesterday that, once you're in the folder or as you're typing it, you can use the asterisk to search for files. I had to attach a spreadsheet to an email, and I couldn't remember the name of it. It was among a bunch of other files, so I didn't want to arrow through them all just to find the one spreadsheet. In the text field where you can type the path and/or file name, I tried this:
*.xlsx
(note the asterisk before the period). It worked, showing me only folders and .xlsx files in the current folder.I also found that I can use this for partial name matches. If I want to open "products for September.doc", I can type something like
*September.doc
to find only .doc files ending in September.Putting all this together, it is now way easier to find files of certain types and/or names. I type or browse to where I want to be, type my filter, press enter, shift-tab twice, and am given a list of only the matching files. It's great!
I'm using Windows 10, and I don't know whether this trick works in previous versions of Windows. I'd guess it does, and I just went the last 20 years not knowing about it. Hopefully we can help others to not live without this time-saver like I had been. That was a terribly-constructed sentence, but you know what I mean. smile
--Alex Hall"
Sound Off:
Orko had a question about something said in episode 153.
"During the show, you mentioned something called what sounded like wayround and compared it to granimals kids clothes from Sears. Do you have a link to that, or did I misunderstand what you were saying?"
Okay, we guess this could be two questions. Answer one, here is a link about "Garanimals"
And, answer two, WayAround
was one of our 2018 Summer Convention Coverage interviews.
Next, here is an email from Marcus.
"Hi! I'm Marcos Miranda, a US citizen in the Philippines. I'm completely blind since April 2018, a month before my 48th birthday. The eye doctor here in the Philippines claims I've Diabetic Retinopathy and says I need $3,500 (equivalent from Philippine Pesos) for surgery on my right eye as my left eye is dead. I disagreed with the doctor because I know my blindness was caused by long-term clinical stress from psychological torture beyond my control. Since mid-June, I'm taking herbal medicine and my vision is slowly returning in both of my eyes. If you would like to know more, please feel free to ask me.
Prior to becoming completely blind in April 2018, I've completed 35 years of computer science. On July 21, 2018, I ended working the Linux operating system after 21 years.
What frustrates me at being blind, is the fact that I know how all this assistive technology is built and I can't use any of my knowledge for my benefit! For example, I had been doing speech synthesis projects since 1986 and artificial intelligence projects since 1988.
Prior to moving to the Philippines, I was born in Massachusetts and grew up in Seattle. I've been SSA disabled since 2003 and awaiting "upgrade" due to doctor's certificate of my blindness.
I am strictly an Android user. I'm typing this message on a Bluetooth keyboard linked to my LG phone. I listen to your podcasts using TuneIn Radio Pro that I purchased almost 5 years ago.
Is Blind Bargains focused on wealthy blind people? I can't afford any Apple devices and most of the products you talk about are technology I will never experience in my lifetime. If I still had vision, I could build the stuff I cannot afford! Most of your podcasts are mostly iOS-centric, making me feel depressed because I only have Android.
For me to stay positive as a completely blind computer geek, I am actively posting into my Twitter account as @FilAmScientist. Due to change of focus, on August 21st, I deleted my tweets, changed my name & bio. I have zero moral support.
Thank you for reading my message. Other than my wife, I have zero moral & financial support! I wish I had money to buy the Braille tech you talk about, but like I said, it'll never happen in my lifetime. It's hard to be happy after complete loss of vision. Thanks for reading my mail.
Sincerely,
Marcos Miranda"
Thanks for writing in and we're glad you asked this question. A lot of U.S. based podcasts that focus on Blindness and Low Vision will be Apple iOS driven due to the mindshare and the size of the install base for that Os. Strangely enough, J.J. and Joe are known for Android accessibility because this month marks their 8th year of being Android users. The BBQ Crew feels strongly that to discuss the tech that is out there, it requires us to research it by various means. We ask for review devices from A.T. Makers, we travel to conventions for hands on demonstrations and we do outright purchase much of the tech you hear about on the show. We try to be as transparent about this as possible because we believe that our listeners should have a base of reference of our involvement with a product before they choose to make any buying decision from remarks made on the podcast. Many of our BBQ Hosts have been in the A.T. Industry for a long time in one capacity or another. And this helps us be able to gain access to many voices you have heard over the past many years we've been recording our voices. But, we can't stress this enough, it is our amazing audience that powers this show most of all. Without your support we could not bring you much of what you hear from us week after week. Thanks to you for all your downloads, recommendations to others and promoting us on social media. It does a lot to keep the lights on this thing we enjoy doing for you!
Last Word:
Words and traffic safety are the two things we found fascinating on the web this week.
What If English Were Phonetically Consistent?
Alligator uses crosswalk to cross South Carolina road
We may have an interview slated for episode 156. Then, for 157, it seems that we'll discuss what Apple has planned for the holidays.
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Category: ShowsHi guys! I used to listen to a variety of accessibility and assistive technology podcasts, but I guess I got tired of them or something because I stopped listening to all of them, but I still look forward to and enjoy each of your podcasts. Keep up the great work! Joe, you aren't the only one who's old, I not only remember Granimals, I also remember the Winnie the Pooh collection, and the Peanuts collection, and others. As it turns out, I did hear you wrong, I thought you had said wayround, but your link showed me that you had actually said wayaround, thanks! I'll blame it on the little bit of tinitus my 60 year old ears have. I finally got the new Horizon glasses from Aira, man what a difference! Those Austria glasses I used to have, or was it the MyFi, I don't know, just plain didn't work. I discovered that the microphone in the controller is sensitive enough that if you clip it to your belt or waistband it can hear you and you can hear the Aira agent, but I prefer using the Bit Boom speaker instead, I just clip it to my shirt collar just below my left ear and I'm good to go. A T Guys aught to carry those things, I like it a lot better than headphones. JJ, I thought the APH Crossword browser game was interesting. Solving crosswords is one of my favorite passtimes both before and after I lost my vision. However, what I use is Spoonbill Software's Crosswrd program, it's fully accessible, supports a variety of puzzle file formats including the *.puz format, and is a stand alone program so no internet connection or specific type of browser is needed. Well, that's enough for now, have a great week, tell everyone I said Hi! and I'll be listening...
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Joe Steinkamp is no stranger to the world of technology, having been a user of video magnification and blindness related electronic devices since 1979. Joe has worked in radio, retail management and Vocational Rehabilitation for blind and low vision individuals in Texas. He has been writing about the A.T. Industry for 15 years and podcasting about it for almost a decade.
