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                            THE BLIND NEWS DIGEST

                                 Issue # 970

                          Wednesday, June 30, 1993

Today's Topics:


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                      Re: HP Scanners and Portable PCs
            Re: ADVICE NEEDED ON HARDWARE & SALES TO BLIND PEOPLE
                   where are those bns programs available
                              IBM ScreenReader
                                 re: New Dog
   Re: Speaking of upgrades on things...how about a basic Braille and Spea
                              Re: New guide dog
                            Re: Science products
                              Need information
                                 re: New Dog


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Subject: Re: 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]

To connect an HP Scanner to a PC which does not have a spare slot for
the HP SCSI card, you need two things: a SCSI to parallel convertor
which is ASPI compliant, and a scanner driver which mimics the one
supplied by HP, but which can use ASPI compliant devices. You can get
the latter from Danmar. The product is called SCSISCAN, and it sells for
$89.95. The phone number is (305)-222-6450. There are a couple of
companies that make SCSI to parallel convertors, but the one I know
about is Trantor. The product is called MiniSCSI, or MiniSCSI Plus. I
don't know its price, and I don't have a number for Trantor. I believe
the Danmar people could give you that information if your interested.
This combination has been tested with the Reading AdvantEdge, and seems
to work well.

Its good to hear about your experience with Window Bridge and AdvantEdge
- that is not a combination I've tried. I did hear from Donald Breda
that AdvantEdge worked under DesqView, allowing him to scan and
recognize in the background. To do that, he had to install the scanner
driver under DesqView rather than through the CONFIG.SYS file.

Steph

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Subject: Re: ADVICE NEEDED ON HARDWARE & SALES TO BLIND PEOPLE
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]

Question about computer sales to the blind reply.

Hi Bob.  Welcome to the echo.  I don't have all the answers for you
but I can give you some of my thoughts that I hope will be of some
value.  First the reason I need a color monitor is so my wife and
others can use the same computer I do.  I don't think you are
ripping anyone off if you sell a color monitor to the blind.  If
that is what they want you are doing well to give that to them.
You mentioned what device would be good to turn ascii text into
speech.\?  I don't know much about the sound blaster but the
doubletalk synthisizer is good for most speech users.  It's not as
expencive as most but will provide good speech.

I personally like the Accent the best but I'm sure others willl bag
to differ.  I hope you find out the answers you are looking for.  I
will look forward to talking to you more on the echo.

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: where are those bns programs available
From: David.Tanner@f234.n109.z1.fidonet.org (David Tanner)
Organization: FidoNet node 1:109/234 - Braille Bank BBS, Oakton Va


[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]

The Braille 'N Speak Braille translator, communications software,
and checkbook programs are going to be out this summer andare not
free programs. The price of these programs is suppose to be around
$100 each. I am sure we will see them announced for sale soon, and
my bet is that they will be available at the conventions this
summer.

    D. T.

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Subject: IBM ScreenReader
From: Dennis.Bartlett@f1007.n282.z1.fidonet.org (Dennis Bartlett)
Organization: FidoNet node 1:282/1007 - DRAGnet, Andover MN


[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]

I think that there enough IBM ScreenReader Users out there that wwe
could start a collection of Profiles.  If any of you are interested in
doing so please let me know.

... Backup not found: (A)bort (R)etry (P)anic
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12

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Uucp: ..!uunet!bunker!hcap!hnews!282!1007!Dennis.Bartlett
Internet: Dennis.Bartlett@f1007.n282.z1.fidonet.org




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Subject: re: New Dog
From: Michael.Malver@f1007.n282.z1.fidonet.org (Michael Malver)
Organization: FidoNet node 1:282/1007 - DRAGnet, Andover MN


[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]

I suggest being extreemly careful with the advise I am about to give.
If done incoreectly, and without a vets okay, this can make a big, big,
mess.

My dog also had the problem of giving me surprises in harness.  Usualy,
we would work half an hour (sometimes more sometimes less) and then he
would go.
I finally solved the problem by adding 1 and a third tablespoons of all
bran (it's a name of a serial, not a description of the sort of bran) to
his food.
Because my dog split feeds (1 and a half cups twice a day) he actually
only gets two teaspoons per meal.  This seems to make all the difference
for me.  He goes first thing in the morning now, where as before, it
would sometimes be almost noon before he did abything.
also, He now undestands, through some well-place corrections, that it is
bad to go in harness.  If he needs to go in the middle of a route, he
will stop, and sit down.  I then take his harness off, and he goes.
one other nicety is that now, if I am going somewhare, and I have just
relieved my dog, He will sometimes refuse to take me where  I want to
go.  I discovered that this was because he was rethinking whether he
really had to go or not.  Sometimes, I wil take off his harness, and he
will decide that really, he had to go after all.
My personal feeling is that dogs are like kids with respect to releaving
habbits.  Good luck.
michael

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Uucp: ..!uunet!bunker!hcap!hnews!282!1007!Michael.Malver
Internet: Michael.Malver@f1007.n282.z1.fidonet.org




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Subject: Re: Speaking of upgrades on things...how about a basic Braille and Spea
From: David.Tanner@f234.n109.z1.fidonet.org (David Tanner)
Organization: FidoNet node 1:109/234 - Braille Bank BBS, Oakton Va


    I think you hit the main reason on the head as to why a Grade 2 Braille tran
slator for Braille 'N Speak. The biggest reason would be to allow you to  change
 the file to Grade 2 Braille prior to printing ffrom the BNS.
    Another reason would be that a Braille contracted file would not take up as
much valuable  file space. The Grade 2 file will be smaller and use up less page
s. I also use the Classic, and often wish I could get more storage space. Of cou
rse the software to do the translatio is not going to work on the Classic.
    D. T.

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Uucp: ..!uunet!bunker!hcap!hnews!109!234!David.Tanner
Internet: David.Tanner@f234.n109.z1.fidonet.org




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Subject: Re: New guide dog
From: Lovette.Christiansen@f313.n153.z1.fidonet.org (Lovette Christiansen)
Organization: FidoNet node 1:153/313 - Agape BBS, Langley BC


[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]

Hi there.  Sorry to intrude but I am really glad you shared about
your experiences with your dog.  THe incident of 2 blocks from home
and the dog having to do her business reminds me of my first dog a
black lab.  I learned to live with it.  SHe warned me the same way
your dog does.  My second dog is driving me crazy though.  I love
her tones, but her home behaviour drives me crazy. Her working is
extraordinally good.  BUt at home she tries to steal stuff off of
counters, wants my pet bird for dinner, and every couple of weeks
decides a number 2 in the house is a good idea despite the many
chances I give her to go out.  I spend close to half an hour each
time just trying to get her to go outside instead of inside.  It's
most frustrating when she waits to come in.  Patience is being tried
and I am trying to be consistant.  I find it most frustrating when I
talk to some and they claim everything's great with their dogs and I
wonder why I struggle.  SO thanks for sharing!
Lovette

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Subject: Re: Science products
From: William.Wilson@f89.n129.z1.fidonet.org (William Wilson)
Organization: FidoNet node 1:129/89 - BlinkLink, Pittsburgh PA


[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]

 IH> Does anyone know if Science Products is still around? I am in
 IH> the  market for an audible VU meter.

     And like Irwin, I too am in need of a talking device, a blood
pressure meter!  (Yeah, yeah, I know the technical name for one of these
do dads, but I ain't about to try spelling it!)

     Does anyone here have such a device, if so what kinds of problems
might I expect, and assuming Science Products is dead, where can I
purchase one and for how much?  BTW, my blood pressure is fine, but a
friend expressed an interest in having one of these and her birthday is
rapidly approaching!
                                        Willie

... Xpress Yourself!

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Uucp: ..!uunet!bunker!hcap!hnews!129!89!William.Wilson
Internet: William.Wilson@f89.n129.z1.fidonet.org




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Subject: Need information
From: David.Tanner@f234.n109.z1.fidonet.org (David Tanner)
Organization: FidoNet node 1:109/234 - Braille Bank BBS, Oakton Va


[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]

In a msg on <Jun 08 17:36>, Derald Martin of 1:377/6 writes:

 DM> I have begun investigating speech synthesis hardware and
 DM> Windows-based screen reading software. I discovered while reading
 DM> the docs that accompany the Window Bridge demo software that it
 DM> does not support certain popular low-end synthesizers and sound
 DM> boards which are supported by most of the DOS-based readers that
 DM> I have examined. This realization, of course, begs the following
 DM> question: Is there an industry-wide official or de facto standard
 DM> to which hardware should adhere in order to assure the highest
 DM> compatibility with today's and emerging software? If so, what is
 DM> it called and what is the name of the promulgating body? As I am
 DM> sure everyone knows, it is difficult to do any meaningful
 DM> shopping when one is ignorant of what questions to ask and what
 DM> responses to expect. I am anxious to educate myself further

Your question is a good one, and one that actually could use some
discussion here. I don't believe that you will find that there are
any absolute rules in terms of a set of guidelines set forth tahat
all speech producers go by when developing their products. However,
based upon what users of speech products on the market  say they
like, don't like, and what they would like to see producers attempt
to follow those leads to make successful products.

I am not sure which cheap sound boards you are speaking of, but
would assume that you are probably talking about cards such as
soundblaster. One reason these sound cards have not been widely
used in the past is because of the large amount of memory required
for their driver software. If you assume that one of these boards
took 50K or plus worth of memory just for it's drivers, and themn
add in the 115K taken by the Window Bridge software you start to
see how much valuable memory is being used. While this might not be
much of a concern when operating in Windows with a system with 8MB
of memory; it is a real concern when the user exit to DOS and
doesn't have enough memory to run a DOS software of any size such
as WordPerfect or Lotus 123.

It is also becoming clear that today there are some basics that all
speech producers are seeing as necessary when making software to
operate in the Windows environment, and some of those things such
as indexing( where the system and synthesizer keep track of exactly
what workd was last spoken ) means that a synthesizer that does not
support that feature or supports it in an unusual way probably will
not get supported by most speech software producers.

So, for example, the blind person who can't understand why Braille
'N Speak is not supported by Window Bridge must realize that the
indexing scheme used by the Braille 'N Speak and Type 'N Speak is
not necessarily that eaasy to get to work properly aas some other
synthesizers. Thus because most speech software producing companies
only have one or two programmers they concentrate their efforts on
making software that will work with the largest number of
synthasizer types with the least amount of changes necessary to
control each synthesizer.

If you are looking for cheap speech for Window Bridge you might
take a look at the Echo PC which retails for $129 or one of the
DoubleTalk synthjesizers that retails for less than $300. Both of
these solutions are likely to disappoint you with their quality of
speech compaired to more expensive systems, but they are both
excellent for their price and the amount of features that they
offer, including indexing.

    D. T.
BRAILLE! The only thing that changes as often as a woman's mind!

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Uucp: ..!uunet!bunker!hcap!hnews!109!234!David.Tanner
Internet: David.Tanner@f234.n109.z1.fidonet.org




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Subject: re: New Dog
From: David.Tanner@f234.n109.z1.fidonet.org (David Tanner)
Organization: FidoNet node 1:109/234 - Braille Bank BBS, Oakton Va


[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]

Listen, I've had my pooch almost three years and she still insists
on surprises from time to time. At least she has finally gotten the
idea that inside is a definate no no. While she usually only parks
when she is suppose to, there always has to be that time once in a
great while that she reminds me that she can get away with it
before I catch her when going doen the sidewalk. Thankfully,
however, she has not layed her blessings on a Metro station the way
she did a couple of times with the Septa stations at Phillie.

    D. T.

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Uucp: ..!uunet!bunker!hcap!hnews!109!234!David.Tanner
Internet: David.Tanner@f234.n109.z1.fidonet.org




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                 End of Issue # 970 of the Blind News Digest

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