🚀 go-pugleaf

                            THE BLIND NEWS DIGEST

                                 Issue # 957

                            Monday, June 28, 1993

Today's Topics:


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                    Re: Magic Screen enlargement program
                           Re: Arkenstone Question
                          Speech output vs braille
                                Re: New Here!
             National Talking Express Address Correction--slight
                          Re: braille code changes.
                       Windows magnification software
                          Re: Braille code changes.
                             Address book wanted
                            Upgrade, then trouble


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Subject: Re: Magic Screen enlargement program
From: Sam.Fulton@p0.f266.n163.z1.fidonet.org (Sam Fulton)
Organization: FidoNet node 1:163/266.0 - Vision Information , Ottawa ON


[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]

Hi Richard:

I use Magic, and got hooked on it through the demo.  The demo works
well however has only the ability to give 2x enlargement.  The full
copy has the entire range up to 10x (I think)

The latest version I have seen on the boards is 1.27, however I read
somewhere that the latest is 1.29

Hope your friend finds it useful.  Works well with Wordperfect, however
have run into some problems using it with Lotus 123.

Sam

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Uucp: ..!uunet!bunker!hcap!hnews!163!266.0!Sam.Fulton
Internet: Sam.Fulton@p0.f266.n163.z1.fidonet.org




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Subject: Re: Arkenstone Question
From: John.Sanfilippo@p0.f89.n129.z1.fidonet.org (John Sanfilippo)
Organization: FidoNet node 1:129/89.0 - BlinkLink, Pittsburgh PA


[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]

Hi George, I'm holding on to 2.22, but i must say i've been
giving OBU a run for my money and i haven't really had to run
back to 2.22 for anything. OBU has lots of growing room, and
like others, I don't care for the Windows bit (like maybe
Arkenstone made a little deal with MicroSoft ...), but i'm
discovering that OBU does work and there some advantages to how
it works. For example, if each scanned face is a separate file,
you can go back later and extract what you don't want and edit
descrete pieces of the whole before you go and put it all
together into one big textfile (export). And it's pretty
flexible when it comes to stopping scanning right in the middle
of a batch.

ciao
jjcs

... In every work of genius we recognize our rejected ideas!

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Uucp: ..!uunet!bunker!hcap!hnews!129!89.0!John.Sanfilippo
Internet: John.Sanfilippo@p0.f89.n129.z1.fidonet.org




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Subject: Speech output vs braille
From: John.Sanfilippo@p0.f89.n129.z1.fidonet.org (John Sanfilippo)
Organization: FidoNet node 1:129/89.0 - BlinkLink, Pittsburgh PA


[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]

Hi Connie,

Speech vs braille? Here's my answer in a nutshell:

Because speech is hands off, it tends to be fast and even convenient.
If it were less expensive, i think i would prefer braille. But I
can certainly deal with speech and do quite a bit. In a noisey
situation, speech looses.

But, I am a braille music user, and for that purpose,and for
tables and math and things of that nature, I think braille has
it hands down!

Hope this helps,
jjcs

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Uucp: ..!uunet!bunker!hcap!hnews!129!89.0!John.Sanfilippo
Internet: John.Sanfilippo@p0.f89.n129.z1.fidonet.org




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Subject: Re: New Here!
From: Samuel.Bushman@p0.f89.n129.z1.fidonet.org (Samuel Bushman)
Organization: FidoNet node 1:129/89.0 - BlinkLink, Pittsburgh PA


[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]

Hi Al.
The next version of Q read
will talk with any screen reader and have the file manajment
 you ask for.
Keep your eyes out it's coming soon.
With your help we intend to create the best text reader
for the blind.
But, we need all your help.
sam

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Uucp: ..!uunet!bunker!hcap!hnews!129!89.0!Samuel.Bushman
Internet: Samuel.Bushman@p0.f89.n129.z1.fidonet.org




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Subject: National Talking Express Address Correction--slight
From: Sam.Troia@p4.f203.n2603.z1.fidonet.org (Sam Troia)
Organization: FidoNet node 1:2603/203.4 - The BATcave Mail On, Brooklyn NY


[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]

Hi Everybody,

A couple weeks ago I posted the addresses and so on for the British
tape magazine for the blind called the National Talking Express--or
NTE.  Problem:  when I copied the information I wrote down the zip
(or, as they call them, postal codes) using the letter "o" where
there should have been a zero.  The reason was that Phil, the mag's
producer, always says "oh" when he means "zero".  As I pointed out
to him this causes serious problems when you have postal codes
using both letters and numbers.  Anyhow, to make this very simple
I'll repost the now corrected information below in this message.
So if you've saved the info, replace it with the following:

NTE:  The National Talking Express
Addresses:
(For print correspondences only)

The National Talking Express
93 Pevensey Road
Forest Gate
London, England E70AR

(For Braille Correspondences only)

The National Talking Express
9 Bignold Road
Forest Gate
London, England E70EX

Phone:  011-44-81-555-6771
This number has an answering machine if noone is available.

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Uucp: ..!uunet!bunker!hcap!hnews!2603!203.4!Sam.Troia
Internet: Sam.Troia@p4.f203.n2603.z1.fidonet.org




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Subject: Re: braille code changes.
From: Al.Gayzagian@p0.f460.n101.z1.fidonet.org (Al Gayzagian)
Organization: FidoNet node 1:101/460.0 - VI/BUG, Holbrook MA


[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]

I originally received some material from Fred Foulkes at APH describing
the proposed Braille code changes being proposed by the Project II team,
working on literary Braille.  I'm sure lots of others were selected as
evaluators as well, but I have no idea as to how the selections were
made.  In any case, I later received some sample texts incorporating the
proposed changes, with each text accompanied by a discussion of the
particular changes incorporated, which of the proposed rules governed
the changes, etc.  I then sent back my letter evaluating the
changes.  I have had no response to my letter, but I didn't really ex-
pect one, as I imagine that they received many responses and can't
acknowledge each one individually.  Anyhow, that's how I became involved
and got to see the Project II proposed changes.  My recollection is
that there are something like 7 project teams, each concentrating on a
particular area, but my memory may be a bit off on this.  If so, someone
here can probably straighten us out.

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Uucp: ..!uunet!bunker!hcap!hnews!101!460.0!Al.Gayzagian
Internet: Al.Gayzagian@p0.f460.n101.z1.fidonet.org




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Subject: Windows magnification software
From: Carl.Zebooker@p1.f304.n2604.z1.fidonet.org (Carl Zebooker)
Organization: FidoNet node 1:2604/304.1 - The Sugar Free BBS, Hackensack NJ


[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]

Hello, All!

I'm back after a long absence.

My return is motivated by my second job interview at a FoxPro/Windows shop.
I was able to satisfy their Technical Manager's concerns regarding my ability
to use a mouse within a GUI.  I installed and configured ZoomText (ZT) to run
under Windows and load from AUTOEXEC.BAT, but it did not load, so I was not
able to determine how well it works under MSWin or how big a task window I'd
be able to run in that environment.

For three-and-a-half years, I've been using ZT, running it under QEMM/DV for
more than two years.  So far, I've not found a way to load ZT in the memory
between 640K and 1024K (UMB).  As a result, the largest DESQview window I am
able to run while using ZT is 515K.

Those 515K task windows are ample for my needs at home, but I'm concerned
that they may not suffice for the work place.  What other Windows-compatible
text/graphics magnification software is out there?  I'm looking for something
with a SMALL load size, so I can put it in the UMB and run a larger task
window.  I am registered with the New Jersey Commission For The Blind, who
may pay for adaptive software.

My thinking is that I may have two or three weeks betweem gettomg hired and
starting work.  I'd like to have my adaptive software and other configutation
stuff as close to working well as I can get it for my first day on the job.
First impressions count!

Carl Z.

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Uucp: ..!uunet!bunker!hcap!hnews!2604!304.1!Carl.Zebooker
Internet: Carl.Zebooker@p1.f304.n2604.z1.fidonet.org




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Subject: Re: Braille code changes.
From: Stew.Bowden@f270.n271.z1.fidonet.org (Stew Bowden)
Organization: FidoNet node 1:271/270 - VA Data Exchange, Newport News VA


[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]

Hi Cherry: there is still another problem with changing the braille
codes. How about older folks who learned braille a certain way? Are
they expected to suddenly change to the new system? I doubt that.
Finally, why would they consider changing the code anyway? God!
computer braille is tough enough to read, at least for me. Stew

... 100 YEARS OF THERAPY AND THE WORLD IS GETTING WORSE

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Uucp: ..!uunet!bunker!hcap!hnews!271!270!Stew.Bowden
Internet: Stew.Bowden@f270.n271.z1.fidonet.org




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Subject: Address book wanted
From: Peter.Scialli@f432.n109.z1.fidonet.org (Peter Scialli)
Organization: FidoNet node 1:109/432 - The Idea Link, Wheaton MD


[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]

Eric,
  I don't know what screen access program you use, however ASAP (perhaps
  others) has a dial command built in.  For a simple address book, you
  could just use a word processor file: that way, you could use the text
  search feature to find the name you want and the dial command to dial
  the number.  A nice piece of shareware I have seen is something called
  Memo Master which is a free-form data base that is very easy to use.
  However, I'm not sure if it has dialing built in to it.

     Peter

 * JABBER v1.1 * ShrinkWrap Computer Products: 800-377-0774
===
 * KMail 2.94g - The Idea Link -

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Uucp: ..!uunet!bunker!hcap!hnews!109!432!Peter.Scialli
Internet: Peter.Scialli@f432.n109.z1.fidonet.org




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Subject: Upgrade, then trouble
From: Rick.Alfaro@f8.n369.z1.fidonet.org (Rick Alfaro)
Organization: FidoNet node 1:369/8 - The Catwalk BBS, Davie FL


[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]

Hello Steve!

Monday May 24 1993 06:47, Steve Matzura wrote to All SynPhonix Users:

 SM> If you're a SynPhonix user--not an ARTIC 210 or 215 user, but the old
 SM> SynPhonix (pre-210) board--then I need your help!

 SM> But that's OK, because I was able to get a used 386 33 megahertz mother
 SM> board to replace it with!  Now I have a "real" computer!

 SM> Now here's the problem:  Ever since the upgrade, my SynPhonix board has
 SM> been making strange un-SynPhonix-like sounds when it talks, like the kinds
 SM> of sounds the old Apple 2 Echo board made sometimes.  I'm wondering, is it
 SM> because my machine is now so fast it's feeding the SynPhonix board too
 SM> quickly?  So, I dropped my machine's speed down from 33 to 25 megahertz,
 SM> same thing.

Boy, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the sonix sp200,
along with the Votalkers will not work properly or reliably in a
machine running at over 10 MHZ.  They will behave exactly the way
you just described, making them totally unusable.  I'm afraid your
only solution is to try to pick up another synth somewhere at a
good price.  The sonix and votalkers are the only 2 that I know of
that can't handle the higher speeds of today's machines.  If you
are used to the voice of that particular speech chip, then I would
suggest you go for a Sounding Board as they sound very similar to
the sonix cards, but have their own onboard clock and are not tied
to the speed of the machine at all. Another synth to check out in
my opinion would possibly be the double talk, but it sounds very
different from the sonix or soundingboard...

Regards,
Rick

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Uucp: ..!uunet!bunker!hcap!hnews!369!8!Rick.Alfaro
Internet: Rick.Alfaro@f8.n369.z1.fidonet.org




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                 End of Issue # 957 of the Blind News Digest

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