🚀 go-pugleaf

                            THE BLIND NEWS DIGEST

                                 Issue # 963

                           Tuesday, June 29, 1993

Today's Topics:


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                                 Re: DOS 6.0
                            Re: twin-vision books
                          What ever happened to...
                            Portable synthesizers
                        HP Scanners and Portable PCs
                                Re: Watches?
                              Re: General Bull!
                           Braille Greeting Cards
                            MIDI Music and Speech
                      Is the Etext project in trouble?


                                ******


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Subject: Re: DOS 6.0
From: Mike.Freeman@f107.n105.z1.fidonet.org (Mike Freeman)
Organization: FidoNet node 1:105/107 - Don't Panic, Vancouver WA


[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]

On <22 Apr 93 13:46>, William Wilson spake unto Jeff Bishop these words:

 > JB> The "/r" switch fixes the problem by eliminating regional
 > JB> scrolling. That is what I was told by MS.

 WW> Jeff,
 WW> Ok, now then, wanna tell me what "regional scrolling" is?

Yeah, I'd like to know also.  I know what it is on, say, a VT100
terminal but wouldn't think DOS would keep that close track of
where the cursor is at all times.  On the other hand, since we're
dealing with ANSI.SYS, maybe that's the point -- to be able to
scroll like a VT terminal (i.e., have the capability for only a
certain section of the screen to scroll).  But this then implies
to me the question:  will ANSI.SYS with /R emulate a VT100
satisfactorily enough such that most applications expecting this
will act properly?

 WW> Also, I am curious as to who else this
 WW> was affecting besides us
 WW> speech users, for I have my doubts
 WW> that MS put this in there just for
 WW> us!

Good question.  I'd doubt it, too.  On the other hand, maybe
they're anticipating Mother ADA breathing down their neck.  Who
knows.

Mike Freeman
... ... I doubt, therefore I might be.
    CRR QWK 1.50a-

--
Uucp: ..!uunet!bunker!hcap!hnews!105!107!Mike.Freeman
Internet: Mike.Freeman@f107.n105.z1.fidonet.org




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Subject: Re: twin-vision books
From: Mike.Freeman@f107.n105.z1.fidonet.org (Mike Freeman)
Organization: FidoNet node 1:105/107 - Don't Panic, Vancouver WA


[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]

On <22 Apr 93 20:24>, Eric Smith spake unto Jeff Bishop these words:

 > -=> Quoting Jeff Bishop to All <=-

 > JB> Hello All!

 > JB> I have a little boy and a new baby
 > JB> comming in about 3 weeks.  I would
 > JB> like to buy some twin vision books
 > JB> to read to my children.  Any ideas
 > JB> where to get them?

 ES> Jeff, call your NLS.  They have a ton
 ES> of them.  Wish I had known when mine
 ES> were that age.

He can also get twin-vision books from the American Action Fund
for Blind Children and Adults (formerly known as the American
Brotherhood for the Blind).  The books are on loan; I forget
whether they may be purchased or not.  I cannot lay my hands on
the California address to which he should write but he may obtain
it by calling NFB headquarters at (410)659-9314.  They'd know it.

Mike Freeman
    CRR QWK 1.50a-

--
Uucp: ..!uunet!bunker!hcap!hnews!105!107!Mike.Freeman
Internet: Mike.Freeman@f107.n105.z1.fidonet.org




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Subject: What ever happened to...
From: Mike.Freeman@f107.n105.z1.fidonet.org (Mike Freeman)
Organization: FidoNet node 1:105/107 - Don't Panic, Vancouver WA


[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]

In a message to Bill Koppelmann dated
20 Apr 93 19:33, Steve Matzura commented:

 >BK>i was about to say the same thing.  do you remember paul
 >BK>Clark?  i
 >BK>really liked him a lot and actually
 >got to meet him when mom
 >BK>and I
 >BK>went to see aph one time.

 SM> Oh yes.  If I remember correctly, he
 SM> had a really deep velvety voice, and he
 SM> read the C.S. Lewis "Narnia" books as I remember.

Hi, Steve.

He did, indeed, have a very deep voice.  He read many books from
the '50's well into the 1970's or even '80's.  He used to read
Newsweek (was one of the readers along with Milton Metz and
Livingston Gilbert) when it was on 33-1/3 rpm records (now *that*
goes back a way).

However, I don't remember him reading the Narnia Chronicles.
Maybe he did on 16-2/3 or 8-1/3 rpm discs.  However, Milton Metz
read them when they came out on 33-1/3 rpm discs in, I believe,
1958.  I read them when they had just been recorded.  I believe
"The Witch and the Wardrobe" comes to mind.

Re Paul Clark:  the earliest book I remember him reading (1954)
was Jules Verne's "Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea".  As I
say, he read many, many books, fiction and nonfiction.

Mike Freeman
    CRR QWK 1.50a-

--
Uucp: ..!uunet!bunker!hcap!hnews!105!107!Mike.Freeman
Internet: Mike.Freeman@f107.n105.z1.fidonet.org




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Subject: Portable synthesizers
From: Jeff.Belina@f5297.n3603.z1.fidonet.org (Jeff Belina)
Organization: FidoNet node 1:3603/5297 - Henter-Joyce Techni, St Petersburg FL


[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]

Peter Scialli wrote in a message to Eric Smith:

PS> You might consider the LiteTalk synthesizer.
...
PS> I don't know if JAWS will support it though. It has the
PS> DoubleTalk speech and is quite responsive, like the
PS> Doubletalk itself.

Just thought I'd let you know JAWS supports the DoubleTalk and the
DoubleTalk LT (external) internally with JAWS 2.3 no more need for
dtprn.com, and JAWS also supports the serial mode for the
LiteTalker.  You just run their setup batch file before running
JAWS and tell JAWS whichever COM port you are using.

Bfn,
Jeff Belina
Technical Support
Henter-Joyce, Inc.

--
Uucp: ..!uunet!bunker!hcap!hnews!3603!5297!Jeff.Belina
Internet: Jeff.Belina@f5297.n3603.z1.fidonet.org




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Subject: HP Scanners and Portable PCs
From: Stephen.Baum@p0.f460.n101.z1.fidonet.org (Stephen Baum)
Organization: FidoNet node 1:101/460.0 - VI/BUG, Holbrook MA


[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]

It is possible to connect the HP IIP or the HP IIC scanner to a
laptop PC if that PC has a ASPI compatible SCSI port, or a
bidirectional parallel port. Someone just did that successfully
with The Reading AdvantEdge, so I thought I'd describe it here.

He used a parallel to SCSI converter box from Trantor, and a piece of
software from Danmar called SCSISCAN. That software emulates the HP
Scanner driver, but supports any ASPI compliant SCSI interface,
including the Trantor.

If anyone is interested in this kind of configuration, I can dig up

the phone numbers and pricing for Trantor and Danmar.

Steph

--
Uucp: ..!uunet!bunker!hcap!hnews!101!460.0!Stephen.Baum
Internet: Stephen.Baum@p0.f460.n101.z1.fidonet.org




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Subject: Re: Watches?
From: Isaac.Obie@f625.n101.z1.fidonet.org (Isaac Obie)
Organization: FidoNet node 1:101/625 - Five Point BBS, Boston MA


[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]

>> Quoting from Norm Gezik to Samuel Bushman on 22 May 93 00:38:15 <<

NG> -=> On 16 May 93  23:35:19 Samuel Bushman said to Norm Gezik <=-
NG>
NG>  SB> Clock reply.
NG>  SB>
NG>  SB> Hay I agree.  I have had to replace watches every 2 months
NG> until
NG>  SB> I got this little clock.  I have had the same one for about 9
NG>  SB> months now.  YOu  will like it I'm sure.
NG>
NG> Hi Sam,
NG>      Monday I picked up one of the little clocks at Radio Shack,
NG> for $12.95.  I also picked up a

I bought this seiko braille watch and it has been sensational! I've
had it now for six years and only need to replace the battery every
three years. I used to buy watches from aFB and they were the worst
watches I ever had. furthermore, AFB couldn't fix them for a dime!
They just didn't know their Ee's from their AA's when it came to
repairing watches. This seiko is a gem! I paid a hundrd for it and
it's been worth every penny. Clocks are nice, but they can fall out
of one's pocket when one bends over to pick up something. Or
they're forgotten when undressing. everything has it's advantages
and disadbantages.  Isaac

--
Uucp: ..!uunet!bunker!hcap!hnews!101!625!Isaac.Obie
Internet: Isaac.Obie@f625.n101.z1.fidonet.org




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Subject: Re: General Bull!
From: Carla.Campbell@p0.f89.n129.z1.fidonet.org (Carla Campbell)
Organization: FidoNet node 1:129/89.0 - BlinkLink, Pittsburgh PA


[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]

MM> Have you discovered the joy
 MM> of NN, trn, or some other program similar in nature.

I use NN (used to use RN, but switched a year or so ago and find NN
easier to use.)  I don't read as many newsgroups as I used to-- I can
easily lose a whole day that way if I'm not careful-- but it's still a
lot of fun to have all that info out there, available, free for the
searching.

MM> also, try
 MM> typing telnet consultant.micro.umn.edu
 MM> It will give you access to the university of minnesota  gopher
 MM> server. In there, you will find the united press newswire, the
 MM> project gutenberg files, and more.

Cool. The UPI wire would be very nice to prowl through from time to
time and I always enjoy exploring new sites. I'll look through my list
of "neat places to visit" and post a few of my favorites here later.
Keep 'em coming and happy net-prowling.

                                                           --Carla

... Read what I mean, not what I write!

--
Uucp: ..!uunet!bunker!hcap!hnews!129!89.0!Carla.Campbell
Internet: Carla.Campbell@p0.f89.n129.z1.fidonet.org




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Subject: Braille Greeting Cards
From: Carla.Campbell@p0.f89.n129.z1.fidonet.org (Carla Campbell)
Organization: FidoNet node 1:129/89.0 - BlinkLink, Pittsburgh PA


[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]

I found the following brochure in a pile of stuff on my desk yesterday.
I haven't seen these cards, so have no idea what they're like or even if
the company is still making them, but this might give you some place to
start, anyway.  The info is about a year old.

Another possible source is your local "Lighthouse for the Blind."  Most
large cities have one, and most Lighthouses have shops.  Some of these
are actually decently stocked and at least have Christmas cards.  Maybe
your local Lighthouse also has standard greeting cards or a service to
Braille a regular, print card which you select and bring in to them.
I've known of such services-- a friend once had a card Brailled for me
in Houston.  That way you can select the card and greeting, yourself, so
it can be as religious, secular, funny, serious or personal as you want
it to be.  I prefer this method, as my tastes and those of most of my
friends tend to run more toward the secular and humorous than do the few
Braille greeting card manufacturers I've ever heard of, including the
one whose catalog I've re-typed below.

But here it is, for what it's worth to you.  Good luck.

                                                        --Carla



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Prophecy designs
P.O. Box 84
Round Pond, Maine  04564

Braille Embossed Cards
Everyone will love these greetings that can REALLY be felt!

A very special feature of our line is Braille embossing.  Thirteen of
our designs have been imprinted on a Braille press, making greetings
available to visually impaired and blind friends.  (Braille embossing on
front and inside of each card!)

Note: in this catalog, items appear in this order: card title, content
and order number.

Best Wishes
Best wishes to you on this very special day.
RV19 7--B

Hello
Just a note to say "hello" and that I'm thinking of you...
IS35 3-B

Graduation
Wishing you all the treasures of your heart todayand in the future.
Happy graduation!
MT10 8-B

Happy Day
May your day be filled with sunshine.  Happy birthday!
IS60 1-B

Well Wishes
Rest a while... and be well soon...
PL4 13-B

Thank You
The whole world of a kind deed lies in the love that inspires it. --The
Talmud
MT18 18-B

Bless You
Bless you on your birthday and throughout the coming year.
IJNI 1-B

Friendship
A friend like you comes along once in a lifetime.
GNI 14-B

Peace
He has given His angels charge about you, to guard you in all your ways.
--Psalm 91 11
PS91 11-B

Happy Birthday
With love to you on your birthday...
MT6 33-B

God Bless
With God, everything is possible. --Mathew 19 26
MT19 26-B

With Love
The best way to know God is to love many things.  --Van Gough
DN3 24-B

Joy
May this day bring you joy.
IS57 18-B
Price List
All cards $1.50 each.
Six card birthday assortment (3 designs): $7.50 (save $1.50)



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... Read what I mean, not what I write!

--
Uucp: ..!uunet!bunker!hcap!hnews!129!89.0!Carla.Campbell
Internet: Carla.Campbell@p0.f89.n129.z1.fidonet.org




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Subject: MIDI Music and Speech
From: Ralph.Scowden@f42.n203.z1.fidonet.org (Ralph Scowden)
Organization: FidoNet node 1:203/42 - FrogStar, Sacramento CA


[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]

 JS> I think you were basically asking if MIDI gear such as the
 JS> Rolland D10 or the Yamaha PSR500 or any MIDI keyboards can be
 JS> made to talk so that you could set their parameters the way you
 JS> want them set.

 JS> As far as I understand the current technology, the short answer
 JS> is no. These devices cannot be made to talk without lots of
 JS> technical hardware revisions!

Most keyboards I've seen have menu-driven controls and would be
very difficult to use without feedback from the display. The Yamaha
PSR-500, though, has everything right out in the open on dedicated
buttons -- no menus -- and could be used without knowing what's in
the display, once you learned where everything is (that could take
a while). The page-recall keys make it easy to put everything back
to a known state.

It's a low-end piece of MIDI gear, but it's inexpensive, easy to
learn to operate, and easy to move around. I've had one for eight
months and I like it. I got it to learn to play. Other experienced
performers have used it, though, and they were quite pleased with
it as a portable keyboard that can go just about anywhere, sets up
in a minute or two, and doesn't even require external power.

A speech interface would be a better solution, though. If you could
somehow convince keyboard manufacturers to add an option to
transmit the display data as text events, a MIDI-based speech
synthesizer would be possible. It wouldn't add anything to the
hardware costs of a keyboard, and with some special software a PC
already attached to the MIDI port could serve as the synthesizer.

--
Uucp: ..!uunet!bunker!hcap!hnews!203!42!Ralph.Scowden
Internet: Ralph.Scowden@f42.n203.z1.fidonet.org




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Subject: Is the Etext project in trouble?
From: Larry.Higgins@p0.f6.n315.z1.fidonet.org (Larry Higgins)
Organization: FidoNet node 1:315/6.0 - Greeley Com Net BBS, Greeley CO


[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]

Hello all!

I received my Quarterly Disk Catalog from RFB yesterday and noticed that
there were only about ten new titles in the E text portion of the catalog.
and most of those were books on one software program (Brief) This makes me
wonder rather the E text project is not hitting some snags
along the way?

Maybe I should write to RFB to ask them directly, but I would like to get
input from some of you on this matter.

Thanks

Larry

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Internet: Larry.Higgins@p0.f6.n315.z1.fidonet.org




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                 End of Issue # 963 of the Blind News Digest

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