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                            THE BLIND NEWS DIGEST

                                 Issue # 907

                           Monday, April 26, 1993

Today's Topics:


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                                  Re: sleep
                               Re: New $1 Coin
                 SUMMARY: RFI for Mac sign-language programs
                      Wet Circuitboards (was bns macro)
              Special library work station for vision impaired
                        Flipper 4x at BayTalk Tuesday
                        Text to Speech for X Windows
                       Looking for a used CCTV system
                        larger-type display programs?


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                              Bill McGarry (Moderator)
                              (203) 337-1518



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Subject: Re: sleep
From: mikef@pacifier.rain.com (Mike Freeman)
Organization: Pacifier BBS


Only time I ever had nightmares was (a) after filling out my
1040A, (b) stress due to personal problems or (c) eating too many
chili peppers <g>.

Peace.
--
Mike Freeman            |       Internet: mikef@pacifier.rain.com
Amateur Radio: K7UIJ    |       UUCP: uunet!m2xenix!nipple!pacifier!mikef
GEnie: M.FREEMAN11      |       Pushing 40 is exercise enough!




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Subject: Re: New $1 Coin
From: mikef@pacifier.rain.com (Mike Freeman)
Organization: Pacifier BBS


Hello, Jeff.

I agree with you that a $1 coin isn't likely to fly in the U.S.
If nothing else, there'd be too much re-tooling on the part of
the vending-machine industry required to make them very happy
about the prospect <g>.  Also, I think that most U.S. citizens
would resist the change (a) because they like things to remain
static whenever possible in a changing world; (b) it's been
tried before with disastrous results (albeit this could have
been predicted from the design of the Susan B.); (c) because
most people don't want to carry a lot of heavy change and (d)
because accepting a dollar coin would be tacit acknowledgement
that inflation was, in the end, uncontrollable.

For myself, I wish we in the U.S. would bring back the old
cartwheel -- the silver dollar with *real* *silver* in it.  I
have some dating back to the 1880's and I remember still when
one could get them easily -- they were still very much in
circulation.  Hell, in Montana, that's all they ever used to
give in change.  Oh yeah, and, uh, while we're at it, let's
bring back tha fifty-cent pieces and quarters with silver in
them, too.  Man, those babies really *rang* when you dropped
them!
--
Mike Freeman            |       Internet: mikef@pacifier.rain.com
Amateur Radio: K7UIJ    |       UUCP: uunet!m2xenix!nipple!pacifier!mikef
GEnie: M.FREEMAN11      |       Pushing 40 is exercise enough!




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Subject: SUMMARY: RFI for Mac sign-language programs
From: lyons@scri.fsu.edu (Jim Lyons)
Organization: SCRI


About a week ago I asked about Mac-based sign-language teaching programs
for ASL or SEE. Quite a few people responded that they were also interested
in this; I will mail a copy of this summary to them.

No other programs seem to be available at ftp sites besides the one
that I had found at the U. Mich. archives:

>My research on the net so far has only yielded a stack called FingerSpell.
>It was made by Apple in 1987 and just shows the hand positions for the
>letters of the alphabet. You can enter a word or sentence in the message
>box and the stack signs it out, letter by letter. It shows the hand
>position, the letter, and will optionally speak the letter at the same
>time.

There is at least one commercial stack:

zaphod!davek@access.usask.ca (Dave Keith) writes:

>Heizer Software publishes a stack called
>HandTalk.  It sells for $15.00.
>Heizer Software
>P.O. Box 232019
>Pleasant Hill, CA 94523
>
>(510) 943-7667

--------------

There were a few people already working on this idea themselves:

>I know that a fellow in Germany, Prof. Dr. Rolf Schulmeister, (compuserve
>72510,500) has developed some very interesting hypercard stacks for
>teaching sign language.
>
>At NTID, (National Technical Institute for the Deaf) we have developed
>several Mac/Hypercard programs that control sign language videodiscs
>we had pressed.  Contact me if you would like more information.
>
>Bill Clymer
>EWCNCP@RITVAX.ISC.RIT.EDU
>NTID/RIT

----------

>I've done a stack with quciktime that teaches 30 signs plus the letters
>of the alphabet. It's about 10 meg, If I can FTP to you or want to send me
>a prepaid mailer with diskettes, I'd be willing to send you a copy. We're
>trying to get funding to expand it, but I don't think anyone I work with
>would have problems distributing preview copies. (?)
>
>Gary J LaPointe
>gary@ah3.cal.msu.edu
>Michigan State University

-----------
instone@hydra.bgsu.edu (Keith Instone) writes:

>Harry Hoemann (hoemann@andy.bgsu.edu) is working on a nifty
>stack that uses Quicktime. Send him email for more details.

----------

Finally, there are a couple of folks besides my friend who would like to do
this:

"Jim Hancock" <hancock@saturn.mtv.gtegsc.com> writes:

>My wife and I have both been looking into the possibility of
>creating software for teaching sign language.  We have done
>some investigating to see what is out there, but have not found
>very much.

-----------

rotherme@bcstec.ca.boeing.com (Pete Rothermel) writes:

>I'm a programmer that maybe interested in developing an appiliaction
>for teaching sign language.

---------------

Thanks to everyone who responded. My friend is following up on these leads
and I will post further information if anything else turns up.

Jim Lyons           [][]  Supercomputer Computations Research Institute
lyons@scri.fsu.edu  [][]  Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida





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Subject: Wet Circuitboards (was bns macro)
From: martin@datacomm.ucc.okstate.edu (Martin McCormick)
Organization: Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK


A preveious poster describes the problems caused by a glass of
water spilled in to a Braille and Speak unit.

Sealing the unit against water makes a lot of sense.  When I worked
as a technician with the Audio Visual department at Oklahoma State,
I got to see quite a few pieces of electronic equipment which had
taken and mostly flunked the Pepsi Challenge.  It was really lucky
that the liquid was water because soft drinks like soda pop and tea
can really do rotten things to a printed circuit board.  It also
makes a difference whether the unit was turned on at the time.
Most liquids tend to short the closely-spaced conductors on a
circuit board which may cause electronic components to be destroyed
just as if somebody had dragged a metal object over the board.

If the liquid is acidic like fruit juice or soda, any electric
currents will cause electrolosis of the metal wires and traces.
The results are nasty.

The best thing one can do if a piece of equipment gets wet,
especially from water, is to let it dry very, very thoroughly
before turning it on.

If the water was just ordinary drinking water, the chances are that
no teribly serious harm will result when it does dry as long as it
is not run wet.  I knew of a television repair technician who even
used to take flood-damaged televisions and sprayed the insides with
soapy water to get the mud out and then clean water to rince
everything off.  He would let the set dry for several weeks and
then clean the controls with the proper materials.  Sometimes, the
speaker needed replacement, but the set would usually come back to
life if this procedure was followed.

Obviously, it is necessary to know what one is doingin these
circumstances, but it sure beats having to buy a new machine.

Martin McCormick WB5AGZ   Stillwater, OK
O.S.U. Computer Center Data Communications Group




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Subject: Special library work station for vision impaired
From: NRCGSH@RITVAX.ISC.RIT.EDU (Norm Coombs)

[Note from Bill McGarry: this is from the AXSLIB-L mailing
 list.]


I have extracted part of the PACS News and included it here.  I left the
copyright notice on the bottom.  If anyone has further information or
experience related to the product described, members of axslib-l would be
interested.

subject:   Public-Access Computer Systems News 4, no. 5 (1993)



VTLS OFFERS ADA-SUPPORT WORKSTATION

To help libraries comply with Title III of the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA), VTLS Inc. has developed an option that
gives users who are visually impaired equal access to the VTLS
integrated library system.  Configured with special VGA and voice
synthesizer boards, the ADA-support workstation permits screen
enlargement as well as voice output.

The ADA-support interface works with any data communications
package, but looks best when used with the VTLS Intelligent
Workstation.  The interface comes with a mouse which can be used
to choose one of three modes of screen enlargement: full screen,
in place, single line (ruler view), and single line at the bottom
of the screen (dual view).  Further enlargement or reduction is
possible with another click of the mouse.  One click of all three
mouse buttons together reverses the polarity of white letters
against a black background to black letters against a white
background.  For users who are totally blind, the interface
features a voice board that has been customized to read aloud
specific parts of the screen.

For additional information, contact Gail Gulbenkian, 703-231-
3605.


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Subject: Flipper 4x at BayTalk Tuesday
From: janina@netcom.com (Janina Sajka)
Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login: guest)

[Note from Bill McGarry: My apologies for not getting this
 article out in time.]

The new Flipper Screen Access software package is the topic
and featured product at the upcomming BayTalk meeting next
Tuesday, 20 April.  Steve Smith from Omnicron will be on hand
to give you a sneak preview of Flipper 4.x and its new
features.  Come find out why this soon to be released, new
version of this very popular access package will take Flipper
back to the top among its screen access competitors.

Join us for dinner and the Concorde Class of talking computer
interfaces.  We meet at 6 PM at the Sun Peking Restaurant,
2068 Center Street, one-half block west of the BART station,
in elegant downtown Berkeley.

BayTalk Computer Users Group is dedicated to providing
information and peer support about computer access  and
technology for people with visual and physical I/O
impairments.  We meet on the third Tuesday of each month.

                    BayTalk Computer Users Group
                    Box 369
                    Berkeley, California 94701

                              Janina Sajka, BayTalk President

Internet: janina@netcom.com




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Subject: Text to Speech for X Windows
From: hartmans@npc.ece.utexas.edu (Sam Hartman)
Organization: The University of Texas at Austin



        I have been using UNIX systems for about five years now.
However, being blind, it is difficult for me to use a UNIX system from
the console. In particular, I haven't run across any drivers that
would allow the console interface to provide speech output. I have
solved the problem by attaching a laptop to a serial port. However, I
have never been able to use programs that depend on X Windows or some
other sort of graphical interface. During a summer job at IBM Austin,
I learned that IBM had announced a product that would allow blind
users to take advantage of the graphical interface of OS/2. Recently,
I have learned that Apple announced a similar produce for their
graphical interface called Outspoken.

        The ability to use X Windows would be invaluable to me as I
help others take advantage of the power of UNIX. In addition, the
ability to run multiple windows at once (which I can accomplish to a
limited extent using a text interface) would make me more productive.

        I'm wondering if there are any products that would provide
speech output from X, and asist in selecting items in windows. Also, I
would like to know if there is any work going on in this area. My
limited knowledge of programming X would suggest that the resource
database would make it possible for a speech extension to look at
windows, evaluate the contents (radio buttons need to be spoken
differently than a text field), and present an interface that someone
who is blind can use. Even if this is not directly possible, relinking
the common libraries with additional code would certainly accomplish
this goal.

        If you have any information on products or research that might
meet my needs, or if you would like to discuss the issue, please
respond by email. Unfortunately, I don't have time to read all the
newsgroups to which I am posting.




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Subject: Looking for a used CCTV system
From: ljboyle@bsu-cs.bsu.edu (Leah J. Boyle)


A colleague with Retinitis Pigmentosa is trying to locate a
used CCTV system to purchase.  He has been using a loaner unit
for two years, but it has been recalled.  If you know of any
such used systems for sale, please send e-mail to:

ljboyle@bsu-cs.bsu.edu

Thanks in advance!
Leah Boyle, Coordinator
Adaptive Computer Technology
Ball State University




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Subject: larger-type display programs?
From: lv08@ANDREW.CMU.EDU (Lili Velez)
Organization: Doctoral student, English, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA

[Forwarded from the WordPerfect Corporation Products Discussion
 List by Patt Bromberger.]

I'm using WordPerfect 5.1 and I'm wondering if there are any
shareware programs out there which would give me enlarged type.
[sometimes i need to be seated further away from my monitor than
even my farsighted eyes can tolerate with the standard DOS
character size.]

Does any such program exist?


Lili Fox Velez
Rhetorician in Residence               "Rhet in the Blue Linen Labcoat"
Department of Biological Sciences
Carnegie Mellon University                   lv08@andrew.cmu.edu





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                 End of Issue # 907 of the Blind News Digest

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