Cork Technology Club Notes, 8th July 2023.
9 participants
Apologies received.
Good afternoon, everyone. It's me, the note taker. I'm here this afternoon to
guide you through the numerous hijinks and occasional technology discussions
that took place at the Cork Technology Club this morning. So, sit back and
enjoy the madness.
Four people started off early. Ken asked if they still had to input the
passcode to enter the meeting; everyone confirmed they did. The group then
started talking about the weather. It was nice in the majority of places. It
was very windy in a few places, and there was a bit of snow somewhere, if you
can believe it. They then started talking about tennis, particularly Wimbledon.
This was a rather involved discussion.
Ger told the group that he's after an iPhone that costs 600,000 euros to buy.
It's apparently jewel-encrusted. Apple is only making three of them due to the
expense. This was a fun discussion about the most expensive phones, one of them
included a crystal-backed iPhone. A number of other miscellaneous discussions
also took place during this period. They included the accessibility of European
websites and apps, and the popularity of audiobooks in Germany because of all
the driving done in that country. The group agreed that on long journeys,
sighted people tend to listen to audiobooks in cars. VAT on audiobooks was also
talked about; there is no VAT on paperback or CD books.
Jackie told the group how she was able to connect Alexa to her TV, which she
has named Chris. She finds it fantastic. It makes an inaccessible TV workable
for a blind person. She has to know what is on each channel. For example, she
will tell Alexa to turn on channel 101; she cannot switch by channel name.
Jackie included the steps she followed to set this up on her TV: Alexa will
change channels but not on Sky box. These are the steps on the telly: Settings,
Devices, System, Voice Assistant, Works With. This directs you to a website
where you sign in using your Amazon account, then you get a code to enter on
the telly. Sighted help would be needed.
She was not sure if it would stop working if her Wi-Fi dropped. This then led
to a discussion of inaccessible apps and how they have affected people. Joanne
also gave us an update on how her robo vac is going for her. It went briefly
missing under a chair at one point but was quickly found. Jackie told the group
that she is planning to get one of her own that she is going to name James.
Joanne and Jackie agreed that the robots are male in gender.
There was an involved discussion on how you can reclaim VAT on accessible
devices and the requirements for them to be eligible. The group concluded that
any device that aids in accessibility can claim this. Paul asked how much
electricity it uses; Joanne was not sure, and Pat told her it should be on the
box. The model Joanne has is Eufy, and Jackie is planning on getting the same
version. Joanne thinks it is an American company.
Jackie told the group that there is a version of the robo vac that will go back
to its charging case and empty its bag before going out to work again. This one
is a Samsung model but has a very bad battery. Joanne said hers has at least
100 minutes of battery life. You can change the strength of the suction for a
mat or carpet.
Paul said he still has an issue with VoiceOver jumping back to the top of a
page when he reads the journal. Paul goes to the story and clicks it to be read
by VoiceOver. Pat said it has been updated frequently recently. Jackie said
that this was to improve how you commented on an article. It has become
significantly easier, according to Jackie. Paul said he has emptied the cache
on his app. Jackie asked if he touched the phone while he listens. The group
suggested he delete the app plus its data to perhaps fix it.
Cearbhall brought up the issue of entering meetings with the Hable One. He
asked Jackie if he should be hitting the number sign plus one to enter the
meetings. It did not work for him when he tried it this morning. Jackie was
surprised, as she has not had any issues doing that in another meeting before.
She dropped out to test it during the meeting. Cearbhall finds it to be quite a
good device overall, and he uses it to control his phone. Jackie's test was
successful; she was able to input the passcode with no issues.
The Visionary's Choir is performing tonight in Dublin.
The group had a very long discussion about genetics and how visual impairment
can come about.
It then moved onto the topic of hearing aids and the requirements that they
should be able to connect to devices that utilize speech software and GPS. Pat
mentioned to the group that you can use Apple AirPods as hearing aids. Jackie
and Stuart have tried it out but found it to be bad. Jackie told the group that
turning on the hearing aid setting can make phone calls difficult, as it makes
it hard to hear people on the other end of the phone. This setting was
discussed for a while.
Pat asked what MFI means. Jackie said that it referred to devices that work
solely with iPhone.
The group then went into a comparison between iPhone and Android. The benefits
and disadvantages were discussed, as well as other devices such as the Kindle
Paperwhite. None are as intuitive as the iPhone. One of the issues people found
was that the speech software tended to stick when people swiped. Paul brought
up that sighted people tended to vastly prefer other phones that are not
iPhones.
Flying cars were discussed, as a car has recently been approved in California
that is going to be sold. This led to a discussion on safety and whether cars
should be automated.
Roads and potholes were talked about. The group then discussed whether they had
ever gone surfing in the past. Pat was the only one who had done so before.
The group then discussed trains and how the most recent scam can unfairly
target blind people. The scam is that people have been trying to scam people
out of money on the train by dressing up as staff. Blind people cannot verify
if these people are actually staff, even if they provide their ID. This has
been happening in Dublin recently. Ideas for combating this problem included
asking them to include a QR code or Navi Lens on their IDs to help identify
them. This led to discussions on how hard it can be to identify people like
this for blind people.
Chat GPT was discussed and how people have been using it on their iPhone. The
app on the iPhone is called Chat GPT. There were a number of humorous replies
to this question.
Jackie asked if Cearbhall had used the new Soundscape app, Voice Vista.
Cearbhall said that it is very similar to Soundscape. They have recently added
a search feature. You can add landmarks to it as markers. These landmarks are
already present in the app. It still uses open source maps. Cearbhall said that
he is going to look into how to update open maps if possible. It uses the same
software as Soundscape used to.
The meeting came to a conclusion at this point, with the participants deciding
to break up for lunch. Hope you all enjoyed the recap this evening. Have a
great week.
Regards,
Cork Technology Club Notes, 8th July 2023.
9 participants
Apologies received.
Good afternoon, everyone. It's me, the note taker. I'm here this afternoon to
guide you through the numerous hijinks and occasional technology discussions
that took place at the Cork Technology Club this morning. So, sit back and
enjoy the madness.
Four people started off early. Ken asked if they still had to input the
passcode to enter the meeting; everyone confirmed they did. The group then
started talking about the weather. It was nice in the majority of places. It
was very windy in a few places, and there was a bit of snow somewhere, if you
can believe it. They then started talking about tennis, particularly Wimbledon.
This was a rather involved discussion.
Ger told the group that he's after an iPhone that costs 600,000 euros to buy.
It's apparently jewel-encrusted. Apple is only making three of them due to the
expense. This was a fun discussion about the most expensive phones, one of them
included a crystal-backed iPhone. A number of other miscellaneous discussions
also took place during this period. They included the accessibility of European
websites and apps, and the popularity of audiobooks in Germany because of all
the driving done in that country. The group agreed that on long journeys,
sighted people tend to listen to audiobooks in cars. VAT on audiobooks was also
talked about; there is no VAT on paperback or CD books.
Jackie told the group how she was able to connect Alexa to her TV, which she
has named Chris. She finds it fantastic. It makes an inaccessible TV workable
for a blind person. She has to know what is on each channel. For example, she
will tell Alexa to turn on channel 101; she cannot switch by channel name.
Jackie included the steps she followed to set this up on her TV: Alexa will
change channels but not on Sky box. These are the steps on the telly: Settings,
Devices, System, Voice Assistant, Works With. This directs you to a website
where you sign in using your Amazon account, then you get a code to enter on
the telly. Sighted help would be needed.
She was not sure if it would stop working if her Wi-Fi dropped. This then led
to a discussion of inaccessible apps and how they have affected people. Joanne
also gave us an update on how her robo vac is going for her. It went briefly
missing under a chair at one point but was quickly found. Jackie told the group
that she is planning to get one of her own that she is going to name James.
Joanne and Jackie agreed that the robots are male in gender.
There was an involved discussion on how you can reclaim VAT on accessible
devices and the requirements for them to be eligible. The group concluded that
any device that aids in accessibility can claim this. Paul asked how much
electricity it uses; Joanne was not sure, and Pat told her it should be on the
box. The model Joanne has is Eufy, and Jackie is planning on getting the same
version. Joanne thinks it is an American company.
Jackie told the group that there is a version of the robo vac that will go back
to its charging case and empty its bag before going out to work again. This one
is a Samsung model but has a very bad battery. Joanne said hers has at least
100 minutes of battery life. You can change the strength of the suction for a
mat or carpet.
Paul said he still has an issue with VoiceOver jumping back to the top of a
page when he reads the journal. Paul goes to the story and clicks it to be read
by VoiceOver. Pat said it has been updated frequently recently. Jackie said
that this was to improve how you commented on an article. It has become
significantly easier, according to Jackie. Paul said he has emptied the cache
on his app. Jackie asked if he touched the phone while he listens. The group
suggested he delete the app plus its data to perhaps fix it.
Cearbhall brought up the issue of entering meetings with the Hable One. He
asked Jackie if he should be hitting the number sign plus one to enter the
meetings. It did not work for him when he tried it this morning. Jackie was
surprised, as she has not had any issues doing that in other meetings before.
She dropped out to test it during the meeting. Cearbhall finds it to be quite a
good device overall, and he uses it to control his phone. Jackie's test was
successful; she was able to input the passcode with no issues.
The Visionary's Choir is performing tonight in Dublin. National League of the
Blind on hillstreet Open at seven concert starts at 7:30 tickets and price is
â¬10 at the door. This is their summer concert.
The group had a very long discussion about genetics and how visual impairment
can come about.
It then moved onto the topic of hearing aids and the requirements that they
should be able to connect to devices that utilize speech software and GPS. Pat
mentioned to the group that you can use Apple AirPods as hearing aids. Jackie
and Stuart have tried it out but found it to be bad. Jackie told the group that
turning on the hearing aid setting can make phone calls difficult, as it makes
it hard to hear people on the other end of the phone. This setting was
discussed for a while.
Pat asked what MFI means. Jackie said that it referred to devices that work
solely with iPhone.
The group then went into a comparison between iPhone and Android. The benefits
and disadvantages were discussed, as well as other devices such as the Kindle
Paperwhite. None are as intuitive as the iPhone. One of the issues people found
was that the speech software tended to stick when people swiped. Paul brought
up that sighted people tended to vastly prefer other phones that are not
iPhones.
Flying cars were discussed, as a car has recently been approved in California
that is going to be sold. This led to a discussion on safety and whether cars
should be automated.
Roads and potholes were talked about. The group then discussed whether they had
ever gone surfing in the past. Pat was the only one who had done so before.
The group then discussed trains and how the most recent scam can unfairly
target blind people. The scam is that people have been trying to scam people
out of money on the train by dressing up as staff. Blind people cannot verify
if these people are actually staff, even if they provide their ID. This has
been happening in Dublin recently. Ideas for combating this problem included
asking them to include a QR code or Navi Lens on their IDs to help identify
them. This led to discussions on how hard it can be to identify people like
this for blind people.
Chat GPT was discussed and how people have been using it on their iPhone. The
app on the iPhone is called Chat GPT. There were a number of humorous replies
to this question.
Jackie asked if Cearbhall had used the new Soundscape app, Voice Vista.
Cearbhall said that it is very similar to Soundscape. They have recently added
a search feature. You can add landmarks to it as markers. These landmarks are
already present in the app. It still uses open source maps. Cearbhall said that
he is going to look into how to update open maps if possible. It uses the same
software as Soundscape used to.
The meeting came to a conclusion at this point, with the participants deciding
to break up for lunch. Hope you all enjoyed the recap this evening. Have a
great week.
Regards,
The Notetaker
The Notetaker
Sent from my iPhone
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