Come join me tonight as I bring you, live from Germany, this week’s edition of the Assistive Technology show.  THat’s right, I’ll be bringing you tonight’s show live from Germany where I’m visiting a family crazy enough to have hosted me during an exchange student year in 1992.

Although there is no specific topic for this evening’s show, those often prove to be the most interesting as you never know what might be covered.  So, whether you have a question about assistive technology, have an experience to share or just want to learn something new, come join me for this week’s edition of the Assistive Technology show.  When?  The Assistive Technology show takes place between 7:00-9:00 PM, EDT.  For more information about the show including directions for participating live or hearing the show via your favorite media player, please visit the Assistive Technology show home page at:  http://www.atmaine.com/atshow



***begin content***
Dear Victor Reader Friends:

HumanWare is please to announce the release of new Stream 3.1 software. Stream 3.1 is a free release that responds to popular requests received from many Stream customers. New features include:

- Multi-level Talking Books bookshelf. The ability to create nested folders on the Other Books, Podcast, and Text File bookshelves introduced in version 3.0 has been extended to include the Talking Books bookshelf. You can now optionally create nested folders within the $VRDTB bookshelf folder and navigate the structure while browsing the Talking Books bookshelf.

- For our friends in Spain we now support the Spanish braille electronic text files with a file type of .BRA. At the time of this announcement the Spanish 3.1 is not yet available but we are working with our partner in Spain to release it as soon as possible.

- The popular percentage announcement on the Where Am I key that informs you how much of the book you have listened to has been extended to Talking Books and Audible books.

- When you set a start position for a Highlight bookmark the End position can now be set with a single key press of the Bookmark key.

- The navigation UNDO feature has been extended to the Go To Page function.

- We have introduced two shortcuts to reach the start or end of a book. To quickly jump to the beginning of a book press the Go To key once and then press the Rewind key once. To reach the end of the book press the Go To key and then the Fast Forward key.

- When you press Cancel to end a recording the Stream will now ask you to confirm. This prevents stopping a recording accidentally.

- Stream 3.1 will allow you to copy DAISY books from USB flash media such as flash memory sticks or the NLS cartridges used by the NLS library in the USA and the AFWA library in Western Australia. Each USB flash book must be in its own folder. When you attach a cartridge or flash media the Stream will automatically start playing the first DAISY book on the media. Once the book is playing you can optionally press key 3 to copy it to the Talking Books bookshelf of your SD card.

Stream 3.1 also includes several bug fixes. Please see the Release Notes for full details.

Both the software and Release Notes can be downloaded from the Stream support page at:

http://www.humanware.com/stream_support

Select the Software link on that page. You will find the Release Notes at the top of the English 3.1 software download links. You can choose from two English versions one with Samantha + Tom text-to-speech voices and another with Samantha + Daniel (UK) voices. You can upgrade to version 3.1 from any prior Stream version. To install the new software, follow these steps:

- Download the software zip file

- Unzip the single UPG upgrade file from the zip file. You do not need special unzip software. Simply press Enter to open the zip file and you can then select the UPG file.

- Copy this UPG file to the root of your Stream SD card.

- Disconnect the Stream from the computer, connect it to AC power and turn it on.

- The Stream will automatically start the update process which takes about 2 minutes during which time it will announce intermittent “please Wait” messages. The Stream will power off when the new software is installed.

- When you power back on the UPG file will be automatically removed from your SD card.

After the new software is installed, an html Release Notes document will also be available in a HumanWare sub-folder of your Text Bookshelf so you may read the Release Notes with your Stream. The html version allows you to navigate the Release Notes section by section using the 2/8 keys to select the level and keys 4 and 6 to move between sections.

With this announcement, version 3.1 is available in Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Norwegian, Polish, and Swedish. As other languages become available they will be posted on the same download page. We also are working on a new version of the Stream Companion software for Windows which will be announced on the Newswire when it is available.

HumanWare values your continued support of the Victor Reader Stream. We remain committed to our customers to make the Stream the most powerful, flexible, and enjoyable product used for listening to digital talking books, computer files, and music.

Thank you,

The HumanWare Team

If you’re already subscribed to the announcements list, you don’t need to do a thing. If you’re not and would like to be subscribed, please visit the home page and complete the very simple form under the announcements list heading.

***

Brannan Joins Serotek Corporation
Serotek expands its sales and customer support team

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn – August 17, 2009 – Serotek Corporation, the leading provider of internet and digital information accessibility software and services, announced the addition of Clyde “Buddy” Brannan to its staff. Brannan is responsible for sales and customer support for the organization and its line of software designed for those who are blind or have low vision.
“As Serotek continues to grow in size and offering, we’re committed to expanding our team to ensure our customers and partners have expedient support,” said Mike Calvo, CEO for Serotek Corporation, “Buddy’s expertise and customer centricity makes him an excellent fit for the organization and we’re fortunate and delighted to have him on board.”
With more than 25 years of experience in assistive technology, 15 in training and consulting, Brannan was most recently with the Veterans Administration Hospital and has also been a customer service support technician at Microsoft and for Internet America, an internet service provider in Texas.
“I am very passionate about technology and how the Internet has positively impacted the lives of blind and visually impaired people,” said Brannan, “Over the past 18 years, I have seen how access to the Internet and to computers with speech and Braille output has given those of us who are blind access to more information, not to mention easier access to shopping and mainstream commerce, than we have ever had at any time in history, and I am excited to be a part of this positive change.”
An active follower of technology trends and progress beneficial to the blind computer user, Brannan is proficient in several different computer platforms with assistive technology, including Windows, System Access and other screen readers, Mac and systems running Linux, and more.
Brannan lives with his wife and daughter in Erie, Pennsylvania.

I look forward to seeing you tonight, for the return of the Assistive Technology show.

Steve

I realize many readers of this blog already know how blind/low vision folks use computers, however, there’s a good many people out there who frankly don’t. My hope is that last night’s show will serve as a resource for folks who may be curious yet afraid to ask.

You can find this edition of the Assistive Technology show in the show archives, or can download it directly from here. Please don’t hesitate to share this information with anyone who might benefit. Thanks to everyone who helped make last night’s program a success.

Steve

Thanks,

Steve

Assuming all goes well, I’m hoping to be able to introduce some really cool features to the site in the near future. Stay tuned for more details.

Steve

Steve

Steve

Thanks for your understanding, if I’ve managed to confuse you even more, definitely feel free to contact me.

Steve

On September 11, 2001, i was working as a tech support specialist providing support to users of a web based telephony service. Although it wasn’t allowed, I took advantage of the fact that I was wearing a headset to keep a German radio station streaming in the background. After all, having something in the background besides the monotony of my co-workers dealing with angry customers probably helped assure my sanity. I remember receiving a call from a woman, but can’t at all recall what she was calling about. At some point during the call, I remember thinking it odd that the German station was reporting a heck of a lot of something about New York. Eventually, try though I might, my mind wandered from the customer’s issue and I found myself listening with incredulity to the German broadcaster. Eventually, it became clear to my customer that I was not paying attention and she rudely asked if I was still on the line. I assured her I was and asked if she happened to be near a TV. She admitted she was and I asked her to please tune in CNN. I don’t know why she didn’t hang up on me, I’d probably hang up if a tech support rep asked me to do such a thing, but she obligingly turned on CNN. After maybe a few seconds, I heard her sharp intake of breath and realized with sudden clarity that I wasn’t misunderstanding the German newscaster.
That particular support call lasted about thirty minutes, way longer than the time allotted by my employer for such calls. My customer kept up a steady dialog describing what she was seeing on the TV, both of us apparently having forgotten her original issue. I don’t know if that particular call was ever monitored for quality assurance, but if it were, the person monitoring it would have heard us both in tears by the end.

As mentioned above, I was providing support for an Internet based phone company and as such, I received calls from all over the world. over the next few days, I received many frantic calls from people desperately trying to contact friends and relatives in and around New York. I received two calls I’ll probably never forget.
The first caller was a man from a country in the middle east. After waiting forever to talk to me, he informed me that he felt so terrible about what happened that he was calling all the US companies with which he was doing business to personally apologize. I remember him tearfully trying to explain to me that such actions are not condoned by Islam and that the events that took place in New York were something he would regret for the rest of his life. I really had the impression the man was sincere, after all, it must have been important to him given the amount of time he had to wait to speak with me, especially given the cost per minute for the call itself. I wondered if I’d feel strong enough to do what he did, personally apologize to people I never met for events I had nothing to do with.
My second call was from a woman who was trying to contact her sister. She knew her sister was fine, but was frustrated that her call wasn’t being completed over our network. I could see that her calls were being routed via one of our data centers in New York, a center that for obvious reasons had gone offline. I tried explaining this to the woman and attempted to reassure her that call capacity would soon be restored. As I was doing my best to calm her, she broke in saying, “oh, does this have to do with that silly bomb thing in New York?” I didn’t know what to say, I mean how can one respond to something like that? Our call was “accidentally” interrupted, I’m not sure if my slamming the button to hang up had anything to do with it, but suspect it might have. How could one guy feel so passionate about what happened that he was moved to call around the world to apologize while someone right here in the US felt inconvenienced by what she termed “that silly bomb thing??

Like everyone, OK almost everyone, the events of September 11 effected me greatly and I came to realize what my father meant when talking about his memory surrounding the Kennedy assassination all those years ago. I remember hoping i’d never have to witness something so traumatic and realize my kids will now undoubtedly be hoping for the same thing. To all those effected by September 11, know that you’re in my thoughts and prayers.

Steve

Steve
–

This month, we’re interested to learn what other products you use to assist you in your daily life – whether it’s for leisure, cooking, reading, etc. – where you use them, and in what capacity. Maybe there’s an innovative way to use a tool that no one has thought about before that would be useful to other ZoomText users.

Feel free to talk about 1 product or as many as you would like. Anyone who enters this contest will be entered into a raffle for a $100 Amazon.com gift certificate. Send your interesting tips to Becca at rproskin@aisquared.com by August 18 to be in the raffle!

One interesting issue for us up here in Maine is that with the 10.6 release, Apple is rumored to be developing specifically for their newer Intel based Macs and no longer the older Power PC versions. Why is this interesting? Well, as part of Maine’s Learning and Technology Initiative, we’ve got over 40,000 of those older Power PC macs throughout the state. Although they’re not equipped to run Apple’s current 10.5 operating system, I’ve liked the fact that, with a RAM upgrade, they could run it just fine. Is this the end of the road for all those MLTI iBooks? TUAW’s other concern which I also share is that there still exist many applications written for the older Power PC systems and as developers will obviously be focusing on the newer architecture and operating system, it’s unlikely we’ll see much further development on these Power PC based applications. Obviously, I know that as newer technologies are introduced, older ones get phased out, but I really really like the Power PCs and hate to see them going by the wayside.

TUAW’s post can be found here: http://www.tuaw.com/2008/06/03/rumor-mac-os-x-10-6-to-debut-at-wwdc-08/

Steve

Tinyurl is a free service that allows you to convert any web address, no matter how long, to a, well tiny and manageable one. For example, using google to search for “yummy pizza places in Augusta, Maine” resulted in a resulting page with a URL of http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Yummy+pizza+places+in+Augusta+Maine&btnG=Google+Search. Pretty long, eh? Using Tinyurl, that same address becomes http://tinyurl.com/69fx6x. That’s a reduction from 91 characters to 25! And no, I didn’t actually count them, Tinyurl shows how much space you save as a way to show off how cool the application really is.

So, how does it work? First, go to the page with the really long URL. This might be a page resulting from a search query, the address of a blog post, or any one of a number of things. Next, copy the lengthy address from your address bar. Now, go to www.tinyurl.com, this is where the magic happens. Paste the lengthy URL you just copied into the blank on the page and click the “make tiny URL” button. Tinyurl will generate a unique tiny URL for your site and will display it along with a show-offy statistic describing exactly how much shorter your Tinyurl really is. Copy this newly created URL and share it. Share it with your friends. Share it with the world! Your new tiny URL is small enough to paste into Email, an instant messaging client, or just about anything else you can think of. Heck, it’s short enough that if you had to, you could call your friend and just dictate it.

So, what’s it cost? What’s the catch? Tinyurl is absolutely free. It’s just one of those utilities out there that make life a wee bit simpler and which help make those long URLs a thing of the past.

Happy surfing,

Steve

Thanks,

Steve

So, What’s left to move, or get set up? Not much really, I have to fix a few links that aren’t working correctly. once complete, links on the site won’t look so cryptic. Also, the announcements mailing list is now being run by Mailman, a more popular mailing list management software program. As such, I need to redesign the form to allow new people to subscribe. In the mean time, if you’d like to join our announcements list, drop me an Email.

Steve

So, what does this all mean and how will it effect you? Over the next few days, I will be moving www.atmaine.com to a new web hosting provider. During this time, there *may* be issues getting to the www.atmaine.com web page. I’m hoping the transition will go smoothly, however, if you get an error stating that the page can not be displayed, or can’t be found, please be patient and try again in a short while. Concerning Email, I’m not expecting any major difficulties transferring to the new provider, however, technology being what it is, there’s a very slight chance that Emails sent to me may bounce back to you while the transition is in progress. If this should happen, please feel free to either call me, or just re-send the email. Finally, the new hosting provider uses a slightly different software program to manage mailing lists such as my announcements list. I should be able to import the existing list, however to prevent spam, you may be required to re-confirm your subscription. If this looks like it’ll be the case, I’ll send out another message with more detailed directions.

I’m hoping to have everything moved to the new provider before this week’s Assistive Technology Show on Wednesday. once complete, everything should look as it did before if not better. Once the transition is complete, I will definitely post both to the www.atmaine.com main page and the announcements list.

Finally, i would just like to apologize to everyone who may have been effected by these Email issues. Certainly, I know what it’s like to Email someone only to become frustrated when no reply is forthcoming. To know that, from time to time, I’ve been that “someone” is both professionally unacceptable and personally very upsetting. Again, my sincerest apologies.

Steve

More importantly than the announcements list in a way is the fact that I’m no longer sure that I’m receiving all Emails sent to me. Definitely, this is a terrible situation, especially given that much of my business is conducted via Email. I mean how professional do I look if I’m referred a client via Email and I don’t even respond? What about actual client questions that don’t get answered because I simply may not have received them?

Obviously, it’s time for a change. My search for a new web hosting provider continues, however, I’m certainly open to any suggestions any of you may have. Perhaps you use a web hosting provider that offers great service? Maybe you know of someone who does? Maybe you know of someone who knows of someone who … you get the idea. Anyway, please feel free to comment with any suggestions, or call me with them at (207) 512-2387. For the most part, Email is working fine, unless it isn’t, so Emailing suggestions is certainly an option. I’ll definitely keep you posted once a new provider is found. In the mean time, please visit this blog often as new content will regularly continue to be added.

Thanks,

Steve