Cearbhall! Given today’s myriad of topics, I guess that the minute taker
deserves a round of applause for sticking to the task and avoiding the very
sweet chocolate Chat.
Well done Cearbhall!
From: fb-exchange-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <fb-exchange-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On
Behalf Of Cearbhall O'Meadhra
Sent: 25 November 2023 14:57
To: fb-exchange@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [fb-exchange] Cork Exchange Club Saturday 25th. November 2023
Cork tech club 25/11/023
Attendance: 11
Ken sent his apologies so Jackie led the meeting.
Burning buses and the horrific riots in Dublin on Thursday night had a major
impact on all who attended the performance of Sightless Cinema, in which three
of our members took part.
The performance itself went off really well with congratulations to all who
played a part in it. All managed to get home with the generous help of various
drivers who offered seats
We welcomed a new android user member, Helen, who is adjusting to ongoing loss
of vision. Helen joins the cohort of Android users along with Adrian and ger.
Helen raised a question of reading text to speech in the Amazon Fire Tablet.
Unfamiliar with Talkback, she uses magnification but finds it difficult when
reading a document on a web site. It was suggested that she turn on “Select to
speak”.
Stuart bought himself a power bank. He finds it difficult to know how much
power is available since this is indicated by coloured lights on the unit.
Connecting the bank to his iPhone 15 shows that the phone is charging but does
not show how much power is available in the Bank itself.
Clare wondered how to get audio description on TV. Members pointed out that the
Late, Late Show, being live, made it impossible to have audio description on
that occasion but would be available on the recorded version on Sunday. Martin
drew attention to the fact that Audio Description is available live in most
theatres.
Martin mentioned the new 2smart vision 3” phone from Vision Ireland to replace
the Blind shell but nobody else had heard anything about it.
Touch Screen payment units in shops proved to be difficult for all. Jackie and
Stuart indicated that there is an overlay that would guide a visually impaired
customer to use the device but most shops fail to keep it. Perhaps a campaign
would help to raise this issue.
The meeting heard of the experience of a blind person being told by his taxi
driver that a payment on his touch pad did not go through. Next day, he found
that this was not true and, in fact, he had paid twice. Members noted that
Revolut shows confirmation of payment immediately. It was advised that care be
taken to collect the rejection receipt as well as the confirmation receipt in
this situation. It is important to try to ensure that the vendor use the same
machine again after a failed effort in order to keep the receipts meaningful.
Paul described a handy tool to identify paper notes for different
denominations. Jackie remarked that she had obtained positive readings from the
device on pieces of tissue paper being recognised as €5 notes! She prefers the
SeeingAI tool on the iPhone for recognising denominations.
To avoid various scams that can remotely detect account details from nearby
cards in people’s pockets, a “Card Protector” is advisable. This is a metal
strip that prevents remote electronic scanning.
Paul recounted his early shyness that prevented him from using the white stick
on his home ground. Eventually, familiarity made it easier to be more open
about his increasing blindness.
Cearbhall reported that the Alexa app on the iPhone keeps responding when it
should be silent on instructions being given to the Alexa device. Jackie, the
resident expert on such matters, suggested that the microphone be turned off in
the Alexa app under settings.
A major debate developed around the difficulty of getting an image of another
card loaded into the Apple wallet on the iPhone. All welcomed Stuart’s
suggestion of keeping the image of the card in a special album in the Photo
app so that it could be accessed quickly when needed for scanning purposes.
The meeting descended into vast flights of fancy about bargain Black Friday
prices for high quality chocolates so the notetaker decided to quietly
withdraw, without further comment, until next week!
All the best,
Cearbhall
m +353 (0)833323487 e: cearbhall.omeadhra@xxxxxxx
<mailto:cearbhall.omeadhra@xxxxxxx>
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