Thanks, Ken and Dominique,
I hope the links are not too long! What do you think?
All the best,
Cearbhall
m +353 (0)833323487 Ph: _353 (0)1-2864623 e: cearbhall.omeadhra@xxxxxxx
-----Original Message-----
From: fb-exchange-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <fb-exchange-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On
Behalf Of Kenneth Walsh
Sent: Monday, April 5, 2021 1:01 PM
To: fb-exchange@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [fb-exchange] Re: Cork Meeting 3rd April, 2021
Cearbhall
Great job as usual.
All The Best,
Ken
On 4 Apr 2021, at 22:59, Cearbhall O'Meadhra <cearbhall.omeadhra@xxxxxxx>===========================================================
wrote:
In attendance: (12 Participants)
Martin Kelly Gavin Allman, Martha Parkinson, Jackie McBrearty, Ken
Walsh , Cearbhall O'Meadhra, Dominique Farrell, Derry Walsh, Paul
Griffith, Chris Egan, Noreen Meagher, Clare Cassidy,
Apologies Pat Walsh
Clare has been experimenting with the Blind Square app which she
recently downloaded to her iPhone. She was delighted with the guidance
and announcements of various locations. However, passing along by the
Tennis Club, she was surprised by the announcement of various shops
located on a parallel street, knowing that there were no shops on the
street where she was walking. She also found herself being given out
to by the app warning her that it "Won't telly you again that you have
to turn back" because she had overshot an essential turning on her route.
Here is some more information on Blind square:
https://www.blindsquare.com
Dominique remarked that the Microsoft Sound Scape app is good at
describing features to the left and right of the user. It depends on
using earbuds in each ear because it feeds information in stereo and
indicates objects on the left in the left ear only and likewise, the
objects on the right are reported in the right ear only.
Here is some more information: Microsoft Soundscape helps the visually
impaired navigate cities | TechCrunch
<https://techcrunch.com/2018/03/01/microsoft-soundscape-helps-the-visu
ally-im
paired-navigate-cities/?guccounterÿguce_referrerÿR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2x
lLm
NvbS8&guce_referrer_sigÿAAAKDyfdMt8Oo15qLx0L4h9MDgIWklSx417ExEU2pYgCcz
YcpHe
YcHAsze8l56Km_NaIRgkc5zsA3OP9zV2ZXXMVA40AzvgssVLWHhYtYOc5EoVlbKpTG0xeB
xAyJ96V izoodky9dxyghKqdHYn6CZP_1KCM3hTWRxMxI1yubPNmpF>
Windows update came in for a lot of criticism. The user's default
settings get undone as Microsoft resets them to its own preferences
for internet usage with Edge, Email with Windows Live Mail, PDF reading with
Edge and so on.
Recently, there seemed to be more updates than usual, including one
monstrous update that took all day on Martin's PC!
Gavin has a tendency to leave his phone in the kitchen and cannot find
it later on. To relieve his long-suffering wife, Dominique recommended
asking Alexa to find it and Ken recommended that he buy and Apple
Watch so that he could ask the watch to find his phone. Amazing!
Of course, Bert's tile is a great solution as you can carry it around
on a keyring in eh pocket without any problem or need for Siri or WIFI.
Ken recommended using the Marco Polo app so that when you call "Marco"
the phone responds with "Polo". This is independent of Siri and so not
subject to the vagaries of that service! Indeed, Siri has become very
bad, and everyone sighs loudly when they hear "on it" and further
silence and eventually nothing useful.
Jackie is getting adventurous and wants to learn Braille. She asked if
there were any courses and various possibilities were offered. NCBI
was the most obvious one and there are rumours of something coming up there
soon.
Cearbhall confirmed that the NCBI braille group is meeting, virtually,
next Thursday, April 8th.
A discussion group recommended by the ever-popular Stuart Lawlor
called "Blind Guys Chat" is available to all to join and share there thoughts.
Try this link and see if you like it: ýBlind Guys Chat on Apple
Podcasts
<https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/blind-guys-chat/id1532111653>
Martin wondered if there were any support for Android phones within
the group. Cearbhall pointed out that we have four dedicated Android
users including Bert Brown and Declan Meenagh who frequently attend
the cork sessions.
At this point, Martin rose to steal the show with a brilliant
demonstration of the BlindShell Classic 240 phone, currently available
from NCBI. Indeed, the group became so excited about this phone that
they were ready to launch Martin into a major sales career with the NCBI!
Truly, Martin did give a magnificent demonstration of the phone. He
set it up so that the speech on the phone was clearly present to all Zoom
participants.
He demonstrated every point in a practical way so that we felt as if
we were using the phone ourselves! He showed that the phone is set up
with real buttons and is the size of a Cadbury’s chocolate bar (Slim
and elegant"!) If keyboard usage is any problem, it responds to voice
commands for everything.
You can make calls, set appointments, send messages and receive texts.
In fact, it is fully practical and usable for everyone. At a cost of
about 200 euro it is a huge advantage over the more expensive smart phones.
Try this to read more: Products — BlindShell
<https://www.blindshell.com/>
Dominique and Chris reported various difficulties launching Zoom on
the iPhone. Dominique explained how to test the microphone before
connecting into Zoom to check for any problems that might prevent you being
heard.
The meeting ended
All the best,
Cearbhall
m +353 (0)833323487 Ph: _353 (0)1-2864623 e:
cearbhall.omeadhra@xxxxxxx
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