Podcasts about blind abilities network

Larry Goldberg, Head of Accessibility at Verizon Media, joins Brian Fischler and Jeff Thompson in the studio to talk about bringing awareness to accessibility as May 21, 2020 is Global Accessibility Awareness Day. Larry talks about developers building in accessibility from the start, Born Accessible is how Larry put it, and without regression. Not breaking accessibility. Larry talks about how Teach Access was started to bring awareness to colleges and corporations about having accessibility embedded in the college curriculums so students can become aware and realize the importance of accessibility in the design stages.   Larry explains how collectively the big companies, Google, Microsoft, Apple, Intuit, Walmart and more, share the need for developers, engineers and future employees to have accessibility in their education and to offer students the opportunity to see career paths in accessibility.  Virtual Reality and Accessibility together? Larry talks about the XR Access Program. This year’s symposium will be held online July 20th, You can learn all about it at xraccess.org. Larry discusses his involvement with the 21st Century Communications Act. Brian, you got that 21st Century, not 20th Century, there’s a difference, and it is about 100 years! Thanks Jeff for the editing. Larry takes us through his day at Verizon Media Group, there is a lot of people to talk to as the Head of Global Accessibility and bringing corporations, companies and organizations together to learn from each other. Hear what Verizon Media Group planned to share at CSUN this year. How the next generation is being showcased. Yahoo Finance brings the accessibility to you with a new approach, listen to your stocks rise and fall through sound interpreting the graphs. Even during this shelter in place, it is still full steam ahead at Verizon Media Group, nearly all workers are getting it done from home and ensuring the customers are being served. And how about that accessible Yahoo Fantasy Football app? Give it a try, it’s all at your fingertips and Voice Over accessible ready. Larry is excited about Global Accessibility Awareness Day. So kick back and enjoy. To find out more, here are some links from the show: Verizon Media Group Teach Access XR Access Yahoo Fantasy Football App on the App Store Yahoo Fantasy Sports App on Google Play Thanks for listening. Contact Send us Feedback via email Follow us on Twitter @BlindTechShow That Blind Tech Show is produced in part with Blind Abilities Network You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store Contact Your State Services If you reside in Minnesota, and you would like to know more about Transition Services from State Services contact Transition Coordinator Sheila Koenig by email or contact her via phone at 651-539-2361. To find your State Services in your State you can go to www.AFB.org and search the directory for your agency. Check out the Blind Abilities Communityon Facebook, the Blind Abilities Page, the Career Resources for the Blind and Visually Impaired, the Assistive Technology Community for the Blind and Visually Impaired. and the Facebook group That Blind Tech Show.  

The Super-Sized Group is Virtually back in the saddle and fixing up a Live show on June 10th. Ed returns from a deep but restless sleep, Serina might be making cookies later and Brian is going nowhere soon. Meanwhile, Jeff is saving the world and barely having time to rest in the Hammock. I didn’t write that. Hmm. Did you hear that Yahoo Fantasy Football is back? Yup, yup! We got a call in number now! 612-367-6093. Drop us a message, give us some feedback and offer up some suggestions. Looking forward to hearing from you and give us permission and we may put your voice on the show. Ok, here are some links from the episode:   Tile comes to Skull Candy Ear buds. Tile says Apple not playing fair. Samsung announces three new features for Global Awareness Day. How are you sleeping? Thanks for listening! Contact Thank you for listening. Send us Feedback via email Follow us on Twitter @BlindTechShow That Blind Tech Show is produced in part with Blind Abilities Network You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store

Serina, Brian and Jeff hit the studio fast and furious. And yes, furious is a 3 syllable word. Score one for me. Serina brings her Google game, Brian puts his dog to shame until Aira checks out B Brian’s sock. Jeff keeps on track with his Reminders App, as well as Serina. This beauty of an app is getting the respect it deserves. How about Apple going audio on the news plus stuff? Hmm. And what about Spectrum and the new Spectrum Access App? Will it grow into the dream app or will it not? Hmm. We dance through the tech news and sway into our experiences all at the beat of your requests.  We love hearing from you all and we are about to have a get together, and yes, in one big room. Thank you The Facebook, as Brian says, for the new Rooms for chatting and meeting. Ok, let me publish this episode and get on with the Memorial Weekend.  We wish all the families of those lost in war and service a blessed day and a big thank you to all those serving our country around the world. Stay Well, Stay Informed and Stay Strong! Thanks for listening! Contact Thank you for listening. Send us Feedback via email Follow us on Twitter @BlindTechShow That Blind Tech Show is produced in part with Blind Abilities Network You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store Contact Your State Services If you reside in Minnesota, and you would like to know more about Transition Services from State Services contact Transition Coordinator Sheila Koenig by email or contact her via phone at 651-539-2361. To find your State Services in your State you can go to www.AFB.org and search the directory for your agency. Check out the Blind Abilities Communityon Facebook, the Blind Abilities Page, the Career Resources for the Blind and Visually Impaired, the Assistive Technology Community for the Blind and Visually Impaired. and the Facebook group That Blind Tech Show.

Full Transcript Larry Goldberg, Head of Accessibility at Verizon Media, joins Brian Fischler and Jeff Thompson in the studio to talk about bringing awareness to accessibility as May 21, 2020 is Global Accessibility Awareness Day. Larry talks about developers building in accessibility from the start, Born Accessible is how Larry put it, and without regression. Not breaking accessibility. Larry talks about how Teach Access was started to bring awareness to colleges and corporations about having accessibility embedded in the college curriculums so students can become aware and realize the importance of accessibility in the design stages.   Larry explains how collectively the big companies, Google, Microsoft, Apple, Intuit, Walmart and more, share the need for developers, engineers and future employees to have accessibility in their education and to offer students the opportunity to see career paths in accessibility.  Virtual Reality and Accessibility together? Larry talks about the XR Access Program. This year's symposium will be held online July 20th, You can learn all about it at xraccess.org. Larry discusses his involvement with the 21st Century Communications Act. Brian, you got that 21st Century, not 20th Century, there’s a difference, and it is about 100 years! Thanks Jeff for the editing. Larry takes us through his day at Verizon Media Group, there is a lot of people to talk to as the Head of Global Accessibility and bringing corporations, companies and organizations together to learn from each other. Hear what Verizon Media Group planned to share at CSUN this year. How the next generation is being showcased. Yahoo Finance brings the accessibility to you with a new approach, listen to your stocks rise and fall through sound interpreting the graphs. Even during this shelter in place, it is still full steam ahead at Verizon Media Group, nearly all workers are getting it done from home and ensuring the customers are being served. And how about that accessible Yahoo Fantasy Football app? Give it a try, it’s all at your fingertips and Voice Over accessible ready. Larry is excited about Global Accessibility Awareness Day. So kick back and enjoy. To find out more, here are some links from the show: Verizon Media Group Teach Access XR Access Yahoo Fantasy Football App on the App Store Yahoo Fantasy Sports App on Google Play Thanks for listening. Contact Send us Feedback via email Follow us on Twitter @BlindTechShow That Blind Tech Show is produced in part with Blind Abilities Network You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store Contact Your State Services If you reside in Minnesota, and you would like to know more about Transition Services from State Services contact Transition Coordinator Sheila Koenig by email or contact her via phone at 651-539-2361. To find your State Services in your State you can go to www.AFB.org and search the directory for your agency. Check out the Blind Abilities Communityon Facebook, the Blind Abilities Page, the Career Resources for the Blind and Visually Impaired, the Assistive Technology Community for the Blind and Visually Impaired. and the Facebook group That Blind Tech Show.

The Team virtually gathered into the studio and put their heads virtually together to come up with another That Blind Tech Show. We are happy to bring you the latest news and happenings from around the accessible tech world, blindness related news and some community happenings that absolutely matter. Ever try to get those photos and videos out of the long grip of Facebook? Now you can transfer them to Google Photos. Check out the steps below and in the show. How about OCRs? Have you stayed on top of the updates? Seems like Envision AI has notched a few new updates and is working well, swell and seems worth the bill. SuperSense AI is the new kid on the block and for a light-weight app, it comes out fighting. Prizmo is really hitting the Share Sheet and it seems like VoiceDream Scanner could use a lesson on getting some Actions in the Share Sheet. Google Suites is filling the needs of the everyday worker and Serina explains her daily uses and new discoveries. Ed hits the News and about social distancing, Jeff is still working on the camper as we don’t expect to see room service any time soon. How accessible is the Corona Virus updates in your state? We talk access, lock-down, working from home and is this all actually helping the blind community as more and more on-line access is generating week by week? Well, we talk and talk and that is what we do here, share our experiences, the news, and try to make it a bit entertaining. So thank you for taking the time and joining us in this episode. We appreciate you and feel free to contact us and give us feedback, suggestions and just say hello. Here are the steps from the demo on Transferring Photos and Videos: Transferring a copy of your Facebook photos and videos to Google Photos. Open your Facebook App on your iPhone. Go to the Facebook menu button down in the bottom Right-hand  corner. A four finger touch near the bottom of your screen will do just that. Single finger double tap. Go down to Show  Settings and Privacy.. Swipe down and choose Settings. Go down to Transfer a copy of your photos or videos. You will be asked to enter your Facebook password to proceed. Enter password and continue. Swipe down to choose the location that you want to transfer to. Double tap on the pop-up button and make your choice  Choose Google Photos  Then choose what to transfer, photos or videos. Double tap on Next. You will have to give permission with your Google account and then proceed to transfer. You can repeat this process and choose videos this time around. The copies of  your photos and videos will be placed into folders in your Google Photos app. Here are some links from the show: You can now transfer your Facebook photos and videos to Google photos NFB finds 48 out of 50 states Corona virus websites are not fully accessible  CBS Bringing Back Sunday night movie of the week with audio description for first five films announced SuperSense AI, the OCR app. Contact Thank you for listening. Send us Feedback via email Follow us on Twitter @BlindTechShow That Blind Tech Show is produced in part with Blind Abilities Network You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store Contact Your State Services If you reside in Minnesota, and you would like to know more about Transition Services from State Services contact Transition Coordinator Sheila Koenig by email or contact her via phone at 651-539-2361. To find your State Services in your State you can go to www.AFB.org and search the directory for your agency. Check out the Blind Abilities Communityon Facebook, the Blind Abilities Page, the Career Resources for the Blind and Visually Impaired, the Assistive Technology Community for the Blind and Visually Impaired. and the Facebook group That Blind Tech Show.  

Welcome back to another That Blind Tech Show Episode where we try to bring you the lighter side of Blind Tech news and information to help you navigate the world of blindness. In this show we barely get out of the gates when Brian funbles the football, and yes, right after the big game, The Super Ball! Yes, just ask Brian. Serina is off to become a leader and Jeff is on ice as he skates away on the thin ice of a brand new TBTS episode. With the big snowstorm hitting the mid-west and out East, this show was delayed and I want to thank everybody who supports and contributes to the work and content for the TBTS shows. Marlon, Nick, Edith, Lori, Pete and all the listeners sending in their feedback and comments.  You too, can send us feedback and your comments to us by email and let us know what you think, feel and/or want us to do differently. We want to hear from you. We demo how to add alt text to a photo on Facebook, talk about the AFB Leadership program coming up in March. Brian is headed out to CSUN and Jeff is stuck in the studio, all work and no play. Actually, he is on the ice with the Minnesota Wild Blind Hockey and reliving his youth and nursing his pains. LOL Here are the links to the articles from the show: Chuckles the Connecticut Groundhog is blind PETA Wants Punxsutawney Phil replaced by an AI Robot Five of the worst ways people have tried to fix their computer. EU moves closer to banning Lightning Cable Are Subscription Apps Sustainable? Memes are still inaccessible to the blind, Man gets eyesight back after being hit by vehicle Contact Thank you for listening. Send us Feedback via email Follow us on Twitter @BlindTechShow That Blind Tech Show is produced in part with Blind Abilities Network You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store Check out the Blind Abilities Communityon Facebook, the Blind Abilities Page, the Career Resources for the Blind and Visually Impairedand the Assistive Technology Community for the Blind and Visually Impaired.      

That Blind Tech Show returns with just Brian and Jeff at the helm. Serina will be back on the next episode as she understandably has taken some time off for her Goat Training. Good luck with Billy Goat, Serina. With that said, we got a couple of demos showing us how to limit your advertising privacy and how to control how much Location Services can keep tabs on your device. We bring you all the joy found in the latest iOS 13 release, and don’t be afraid or overwhelmed by the complexity of the greatness packed into the Gigabytes of delight brought to you by Apple. We got it condensed down into a digestible piece of audio information and brought to you in stereo so you can hear both sides of the story. We bring you news from around the world and give you our best opinions but remember, do not quote TBTS, we do not claim to be the end-all on such deep conversations and we feel your opinion is best for you. Hmmm. So if you want to share your opinion, email us, tweet us, send us a carrier pigeon and let us know. We don’t know much about history, don’t know much about biology but Brian will always sing his tune and yes, I got to edit this stuff, so have a little kindness and sympathy for me. You try to put Brian in your ears for days at a time. Whew, poor West. BTW, that is the name of Brian’s Guide Dog. So enjoy this episode and the comic relief provided by Marlon and Jeff in their skits or whatever you call those inserts.  Here are some links from the show: Uber driver took blind singer’s phone to give himself £20 tip and five-star rating Legally blind student sues college for allegedly separating her from seeing eye dog: Emotional Support Animals Could Soon Be Banned From Planes: Advertisers panicking as iPhone users have been turning off their GPS location tracking: Facebook and YouTube moderators sign PTSD disclosure   Contact Thank you for listening. Send us Feedback via email Follow us on Twitter @BlindTechShow That Blind Tech Show is produced in part with Blind Abilities Network You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store Check out the Blind Abilities Communityon Facebook, the Blind Abilities Page, the Career Resources for the Blind and Visually Impairedand the Assistive Technology Community for the Blind and Visually Impaired.    

That Blind Tech Show is back in the saddle and no, not riding a guide dog as Brian is quite confused  about drive-throughs and kiosk. Screen Reader access may be coming to a restaurant near you according to the work being done by Visaro and the Jaws team. Is Brian using Seeing AI or is the CIA looking for Brian? And who did fall off that ladder? Is Facebook still crashing for VoiceOver users and how about jumping into an Uber with wings? No, angels are not using them, yet, but Hyunda wants to get you airborne and using the Uber Air-Taxi service by 2023. Ambitious? Hmm, we will have to see. Um, no pun intended. What is in your daily meal? Jeff is Juicing and Brian is doing the NutraSystem plan, while Serina is just fasting away now and then staying perfect as she believes she is. Yes, Serina is… Oh wait, Serina Williams just won her first title in 3 years and I guess the big question is, “Hey Gilbert, what have you done lately?” Don’t eat your Air Pods! Please don’t do that. Silly kiddo, pods are not to be inserted there! No nutritional value in this Apple product. Do you sit at the computer all day? Want to stretch those legs? Then Jeff brings us the news from a Husky product he found at Home Depot. An adjustable desk!  By the way, are you signing in with the same passwords and user-names all across the board? Stop that! Right now! Change it up and the best password is the one you don’t even know! Get that 2 Factor Varification going and rest assured your privacy and security is doing the best job it can do for you. So much more in this episode and so few words left in my vocabulary. So jump on in and take a ride on the TBTS AirTaxi of Podcasts, the Black Pot Kettle Cat of the Nation and without a doubt, just another That Blind Tech Show making a lot of ToDo about Tech, News, and a bent perspective to the visual impairment and blindness world we live in. And remember, showing up is everything. Make it happen. You are worth it! Contact Thank you for listening. Send us Feedback via email Follow us on Twitter @BlindTechShow That Blind Tech Show is produced in part with Blind Abilities Network You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store Check out the Blind Abilities Communityon Facebook, the Blind Abilities Page, the Career Resources for the Blind and Visually Impairedand the Assistive Technology Community for the Blind and Visually Impaired.

Roy Samuelson, Audio Description advocate, and the voice of a many Audio Described movies and TV shows, returns once again to talk about the Audio Description boom as of late and answers the questions from our listeners. You can find Roy Samuelson on the web at RoySamuelson.com On twitter @RoySamuelson and check out the Facebook Group Audio Description Discussion. Roy is always interested in hearing from listeners and connecting with the community. The TBTS crew go over some of their most used apps of 2019 and wrap it up with some observance of the iOS 13.3 short comings.    Surely we jest about the Big Bird on the show and we assure you that no animals were harmed or mis-used during the creation of this podcast. We highly suggest you check with Chuckie about those mysterious Yellow feathers tucked in his cap.  Contact Thank you for listening. Send us Feedback via email Follow us on Twitter @BlindTechShow That Blind Tech Show is produced in part with Blind Abilities Network You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store Check out the Blind Abilities Communityon Facebook, the Blind Abilities Page, the Career Resources for the Blind and Visually Impairedand the Assistive Technology Community for the Blind and Visually Impaired.    

Welcome back to another That Blind Tech Show Episode where we try to bring you the lighter side of Blind Tech news and information to help you navigate the world of blindness. In this show we barely get out of the gates when Brian funbles the football, and yes, right after the big game, The Super Ball! Yes, just ask Brian. Serina is off to become a leader and Jeff is on ice as he skates away on the thin ice of a brand new TBTS episode. With the big snowstorm hitting the mid-west and out East, this show was delayed and I want to thank everybody who supports and contributes to the work and content for the TBTS shows. Marlon, Nick, Edith, Lori, Pete and all the listeners sending in their feedback and comments.  You too, can send us feedback and your comments to us by email and let us know what you think, feel and/or want us to do differently. We want to hear from you. We demo how to add alt text to a photo on Facebook, talk about the AFB Leadership program coming up in March. Brian is headed out to CSUN and Jeff is stuck in the studio, all work and no play. Actually, he is on the ice with the Minnesota Wild Blind Hockey and reliving his youth and nursing his pains. LOL Here are the links to the articles from the show: Chuckles the Connecticut Groundhog is blind PETA Wants Punxsutawney Phil replaced by an AI Robot Five of the worst ways people have tried to fix their computer. EU moves closer to banning Lightning Cable Are Subscription Apps Sustainable? Memes are still inaccessible to the blind, Man gets eyesight back after being hit by vehicle Contact Thank you for listening. Send us Feedback via email Follow us on Twitter @BlindTechShow That Blind Tech Show is produced in part with Blind Abilities Network You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store Check out the Blind Abilities Communityon Facebook, the Blind Abilities Page, the Career Resources for the Blind and Visually Impairedand the Assistive Technology Community for the Blind and Visually Impaired.

That Blind Tech Show returns with just Brian and Jeff at the helm. Serina will be back on the next episode as she understandably has taken some time off for her Goat Training. Good luck with Billy Goat, Serina. With that said, we got a couple of demos showing us how to limit your advertising privacy and how to control how much Location Services can keep tabs on your device. We bring you all the joy found in the latest iOS 13 release, and don’t be afraid or overwhelmed by the complexity of the greatness packed into the Gigabytes of delight brought to you by Apple. We got it condensed down into a digestible piece of audio information and brought to you in stereo so you can hear both sides of the story. We bring you news from around the world and give you our best opinions but remember, do not quote TBTS, we do not claim to be the end-all on such deep conversations and we feel your opinion is best for you. Hmmm. So if you want to share your opinion, email us, tweet us, send us a carrier pigeon and let us know. We don’t know much about history, don’t know much about biology but Brian will always sing his tune and yes, I got to edit this stuff, so have a little kindness and sympathy for me. You try to put Brian in your ears for days at a time. Whew, poor West. BTW, that is the name of Brian’s Guide Dog. So enjoy this episode and the comic relief provided by Marlon and Jeff in their skits or whatever you call those inserts.  Here are some links from the show: Uber driver took blind singer’s phone to give himself £20 tip and five-star rating Legally blind student sues college for allegedly separating her from seeing eye dog: Emotional Support Animals Could Soon Be Banned From Planes: Advertisers panicking as iPhone users have been turning off their GPS location tracking: Facebook and YouTube moderators sign PTSD disclosure   Contact Thank you for listening. Send us Feedback via email Follow us on Twitter @BlindTechShow That Blind Tech Show is produced in part with Blind Abilities Network You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store Check out the Blind Abilities Communityon Facebook, the Blind Abilities Page, the Career Resources for the Blind and Visually Impairedand the Assistive Technology Community for the Blind and Visually Impaired.

That Blind Tech Show is back in the saddle and no, not riding a guide dog as Brian is quite confused  about drive-throughs and kiosk. Screen Reader access may be coming to a restaurant near you according to the work being done by Visaro and the Jaws team. Is Brian using Seeing AI or is the CIA looking for Brian? And who did fall off that ladder? Is Facebook still crashing for VoiceOver users and how about jumping into an Uber with wings? No, angels are not using them, yet, but Hyunda wants to get you airborne and using the Uber Air-Taxi service by 2023. Ambitious? Hmm, we will have to see. Um, no pun intended. What is in your daily meal? Jeff is Juicing and Brian is doing the NutraSystem plan, while Serina is just fasting away now and then staying perfect as she believes she is. Yes, Serina is… Oh wait, Serina Williams just won her first title in 3 years and I guess the big question is, “Hey Gilbert, what have you done lately?” Don’t eat your Air Pods! Please don’t do that. Silly kiddo, pods are not to be inserted there! No nutritional value in this Apple product. Do you sit at the computer all day? Want to stretch those legs? Then Jeff brings us the news from a Husky product he found at Home Depot. An adjustable desk!  By the way, are you signing in with the same passwords and user-names all across the board? Stop that! Right now! Change it up and the best password is the one you don’t even know! Get that 2 Factor Varification going and rest assured your privacy and security is doing the best job it can do for you. So much more in this episode and so few words left in my vocabulary. And I do have to mention Marlon dropping in to add his Vows, or Snipps. One or the other. Thanks Marlon! Congrats on 16 years ! So jump on in and take a ride on the TBTS AirTaxi of Podcasts, the Black Pot Kettle Cat of the Nation and without a doubt, just another That Blind Tech Show making a lot of ToDo about Tech, News, and a bent perspective to the visual impairment and blindness world we live in. And remember, showing up is everything. Make it happen. You are worth it! Contact Thank you for listening. Send us Feedback via email Follow us on Twitter @BlindTechShow That Blind Tech Show is produced in part with Blind Abilities Network You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store Check out the Blind Abilities Communityon Facebook, the Blind Abilities Page, the Career Resources for the Blind and Visually Impairedand the Assistive Technology Community for the Blind and Visually Impaired.

Roy Samuelson, Audio Description advocate, and the voice of a many Audio Described movies and TV shows, returns once again to talk about the Audio Description boom as of late and answers the questions from our listeners. You can find Roy Samuelson on the web at RoySamuelson.com On twitter @RoySamuelson and check out the Facebook Group Audio Description Discussion. Roy is always interested in hearing from listeners and connecting with the community. The TBTS crew go over some of their most used apps of 2019 and wrap it up with some observance of the iOS 13.3 short comings.    Surely we jest about the Big Bird on the show and we assure you that no animals were harmed or mis-used during the creation of this podcast. We highly suggest you check with Chuckie about those mysterious Yellow feathers tucked in his cap.  Contact Thank you for listening. Send us Feedback via email Follow us on Twitter @BlindTechShow That Blind Tech Show is produced in part with Blind Abilities Network You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store Check out the Blind Abilities Communityon Facebook, the Blind Abilities Page, the Career Resources for the Blind and Visually Impairedand the Assistive Technology Community for the Blind and Visually Impaired.

The boys got anxious while Serina was out saving the world, so Lori Thompson jumped into the studio and kept an eye on these boys and kept them to task. Brian and Jeff along with Lori skip on through the latest news, apps and updates along with sharing their experiences with Aira, OCR, Bose Frames, Soundscape, Airport Tipping and a lot of stuff in between. What gadgets did you get this last year? Well, Brian brings his top Gadgets front and center and Jeff and Lori just ask him to clean up before he leaves. No, it’s not like that at all, but Brian has the Gidgets and Gadgets from floor to ceiling and even in the closet. Join us in this intellectual, stimulating and thought provoking conversation… Oh wat, that’s another studio, oops. Join us as we enjoy ourselves at your listening pleasure or whatever we are all doing here. Hopefully, we got some insight and information that you can put in your pocket and use, share and gain from. Honestly, that is why Brian and I listen to Lori. (insert the LOL Emoji here) Thanks for putting up with us and thanks for listening. Contact Thank you for listening. Send us Feedback via email Follow us on Twitter @BlindTechShow That Blind Tech Show is produced in part with Blind Abilities Network You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store Check out the Blind Abilities Communityon Facebook, the Blind Abilities Page, the Career Resources for the Blind and Visually Impairedand the Assistive Technology Community for the Blind and Visually Impaired.

Join the That Blind Tech Show Team as they wade through the stream of new Streaming Media companies floating their boat and offering up a pretty good line of shows with audio description and accessible means of accessing from AppleTV, iOS, Android, Computers, Fire Sticks and most anywhere you can imagine. What a change from just a couple years ago. With all the big names building their own smorgasbord  For us to choose from, which one will you board? Maybe a few? Is the cable ready to be cut or will Comcast and Spectrum up their game another notch to join in this new frontier of Stream Wars? Here are some links we mentioned in the podcast: Friends Reunion Talks going on with HBO Max ADP List Audio Description Project by the ACB Discovery/BBC 2020  Thanks for listening! Contact Thank you for listening. Send us Feedback via email Follow us on Twitter @BlindTechShow That Blind Tech Show is produced in part with Blind Abilities Network You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store Check out the Blind Abilities Communityon Facebook, the Blind Abilities Page, the Career Resources for the Blind and Visually Impairedand the Assistive Technology Community for the Blind and Visually Impaired.

Welcome back to another That Blind Tech Show, after numerous reasons from a disappointing Yankees playoff run, to health and my mom’s hospital scare, the show and production finally gets its’ wings and published. We want to wish all of you and your families a wonderful start to the holiday season approaching. May good health and lots of happiness come your way.  The TBTS Team took to the microphones and shared, advised and listened as the New Apple Air Pod Pros were talked about as Brian and Jeff got theirs in a trick or treat surprise delivery. Serina was upset with the boys, and you know what? She already has her new Air Pod Pro s as of this release, and loves them. Really comfortable and sounds great! Is Russia shutting down the internet as they know it? Is having a guide dog cruel to dogs? iOS 13.2 gets the big Okay! Apple letting you erase all that they have been keeping and you can actually opt out of the Siri and Dictation recordings. Reset your privacy settings with a demo and another demo with the Siri and Dictation steps. Russia is About to Disconnect from the internet! Rudy G. Needed Genius Bar help to unlock his iPhone You can finally opt out of Siri and dictation recordings Guide Dog Harassment man should burn in hell Google Maps Voice Guidance Air Tags are coming from Apple. iOS 13.2 may have broken multi tasking Thanks for listening! Contact Thank you for listening. Send us Feedback via email Follow us on Twitter @BlindTechShow That Blind Tech Show is produced in part with Blind Abilities Network You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store Check out the Blind Abilities Communityon Facebook, the Blind Abilities Page, the Career Resources for the Blind and Visually Impairedand the Assistive Technology Community for the Blind and Visually Impaired. ˆ

The boys got anxious while Serina was out saving the world, so Lori Thompson jumped into the studio and kept an eye on these boys and kept them to task. Brian and Jeff along with Lori skip on through the latest news, apps and updates along with sharing their experiences with Aira, OCR, Bose Frames, Soundscape, Airport Tipping and a lot of stuff in between. What gadgets did you get this last year? Well, Brian brings his top Gadgets front and center and Jeff and Lori just ask him to clean up before he leaves. No, it’s not like that at all, but Brian has the Gidgets and Gadgets from floor to ceiling and even in the closet. Join us in this intellectual, stimulating and thought provoking conversation… Oh wat, that’s another studio, oops. Join us as we enjoy ourselves at your listening pleasure or whatever we are all doing here. Hopefully, we got some insight and information that you can put in your pocket and use, share and gain from. Honestly, that is why Brian and I listen to Lori. (insert the LOL Emoji here) Thanks for putting up with us and thanks for listening. Contact Thank you for listening. Send us Feedback via email Follow us on Twitter @BlindTechShow That Blind Tech Show is produced in part with Blind Abilities Network You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store Check out the Blind Abilities Communityon Facebook, the Blind Abilities Page, the Career Resources for the Blind and Visually Impairedand the Assistive Technology Community for the Blind and Visually Impaired.

Brian Fischler, from That Blind Tech Show, gives us an overview of the Dash Rapid Egg Cooker. It is safe and according to Brian, it works great! SATISFACTION GUARANTEED: Dash Rapid Egg Cooker is the ORIGINAL (and most trusted) egg cooker on the market, for perfect eggs, your way, EVERY TIME, we guarantee it! QUICK + EASY: Short on time? Simply choose your preferred eggs and set the timer. The auto-shut off function prevents overcooking, and the buzzer will alert you when your eggs are ready. It's so simple, even your kids can use it VERSATILE: This is the PERFECT appliance for picky eaters, large families, or those who have busy schedules. Hard boiled eggs, soft boiled eggs, poached eggs, scrambled eggs, individual omelets, and all within minutes of the push start button - it couldn’t be easier! COMPACT + LIGHTWEIGHT: Weighing 1lb, the Dash Rapid Egg Cooker is your MUST-HAVE for that first apartment, smaller kitchen, college dorm life, or camper/RV traveling. Plus, its sleek design and trendy color options will accent any kitchen space (bonus all included accessories fit inside, taking up even LESS space) INCLUDES: Dash Rapid Egg Cooker is backed by a 1-year manufacturer warranty and includes a poaching tray, omelet tray, 6 egg holder tray, measuring cup, recipe book and recipe database access (all non-electric parts are dishwasher safe).Power:360 watts   You can find the Dash Rapid Egg Cooker on Amazon. Contact Your State Services If you reside in Minnesota, and you would like to know more about Transition Services from State Services contact Transition Coordinator Sheila Koenig by email or contact her via phone at 651-539-2361. To find your State Services in your State you can go to www.AFB.org and search the directory for your agency.   Contact Thank you for listening. Send us Feedback via email Follow us on Twitter @BlindTechShow That Blind Tech Show is produced in part with Blind Abilities Network You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store Check out the Blind Abilities Communityon Facebook, the Blind Abilities Page, the Career Resources for the Blind and Visually Impairedand the Assistive Technology Community for the Blind and Visually Impaired.

Join the That Blind Tech Show Team as they wade through the stream of new Streaming Media companies floating their boat and offering up a pretty good line of shows with audio description and accessible means of accessing from AppleTV, iOS, Android, Computers, Fire Sticks and most anywhere you can imagine. What a change from just a couple years ago. With all the big names building their own smorgasbord  For us to choose from, which one will you board? Maybe a few? Is the cable ready to be cut or will Comcast and Spectrum up their game another notch to join in this new frontier of Stream Wars? Here are some links we mentioned in the podcast: Friends Reunion Talks going on with HBO Max ADP List Audio Description Project by the ACB Discovery/BBC 2020  Thanks for listening! Contact Thank you for listening. Send us Feedback via email Follow us on Twitter @BlindTechShow That Blind Tech Show is produced in part with Blind Abilities Network You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store Check out the Blind Abilities Communityon Facebook, the Blind Abilities Page, the Career Resources for the Blind and Visually Impairedand the Assistive Technology Community for the Blind and Visually Impaired.

Welcome back to another That Blind Tech Show, after numerous reasons from a disappointing Yankees playoff run, to health and my mom’s hospital scare, the show and production finally gets its’ wings and published. We want to wish all of you and your families a wonderful start to the holiday season approaching. May good health and lots of happiness come your way.  The TBTS Team took to the microphones and shared, advised and listened as the New Apple Air Pod Pros were talked about as Brian and Jeff got theirs in a trick or treat surprise delivery. Serina was upset with the boys, and you know what? She already has her new Air Pod Pro s as of this release, and loves them. Really comfortable and sounds great! Is Russia shutting down the internet as they know it? Is having a guide dog cruel to dogs? iOS 13.2 gets the big Okay! Apple letting you erase all that they have been keeping and you can actually opt out of the Siri and Dictation recordings. Reset your privacy settings with a demo and another demo with the Siri and Dictation steps. Russia is About to Disconnect from the internet! Rudy G. Needed Genius Bar help to unlock his iPhone You can finally opt out of Siri and dictation recordings Guide Dog Harassment man should burn in hell Google Maps Voice Guidance Air Tags are coming from Apple. iOS 13.2 may have broken multi tasking3. Catalina  Thanks for listening! Contact Thank you for listening. Send us Feedback via email Follow us on Twitter @BlindTechShow That Blind Tech Show is produced in part with Blind Abilities Network You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store Check out the Blind Abilities Communityon Facebook, the Blind Abilities Page, the Career Resources for the Blind and Visually Impairedand the Assistive Technology Community for the Blind and Visually Impaired. ˆ

Brian and Jeff are in the studio all alone and unlucky 13 gets a good going over. From Beta to the real deal, strike 2 for Apple is just hitting the corner of the plate. Lucky for the new strike zone, this pitch from Apple has the umpires across the World all chiming in. Bad iOS, Love it, Hate it, and you know what? It’s Ok. Join Brian and Jeff as they give their thoughts about the latest operating system for the iPhones. And honestly, remember that your experience with your device and how you interact with the features may be totally different from ours or others. My advice, dive in to the new iOS13.1 and explore. Experience is the best teacher.  Thanks for listening! ***** Contact Thank you for listening. Send us Feedback via email Follow us on Twitter @BlindTechShow That Blind Tech Show is produced in part with Blind Abilities Network You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store Check out the Blind Abilities Communityon Facebook, the Blind Abilities Page, the Career Resources for the Blind and Visually Impairedand the Assistive Technology Community for the Blind and Visually Impaired.

That Blind Tech Show got together and with all of us busy, busy, busy we got together in the Orchard to pick some apples. However, my dear listeners, was there really much for the picking? There were a couple of low hanging fruit and some elusive ones that never showed up. We decided to slice up the apples and add some filler and make some apple crisp. Yes, the crumbley kind at that. With iOS 13 ready to play with your accessibility, or maybe not, Apple already has thrown out a bone to us by letting everyone know when iOS 13.1 will be out. Sept. 29 so they say. What’s up Apple? From Apple Card, Apple Pay, Carrier prices and Apple trade ins, we manage to squeeze in some fantasy right away, Fantasy Football that is.  But hey, Arcade is all about games right? Accessible Games? Hmmm. We don’t go all nutso over the Apple pickings but we give our experience and views on the latest blossoms from the big old Apple tree. With a bit of love and laugh, Serina, Brian and Jeff bob for apples and whatever else comes out of their mouth I guess. But really, there are some good deals and price points for students and parents of students looking to outfit their youngins. So kick back and enjoy the attempt we make in getting a podcast out while we are all busy doing other things. Well, at least we don’t just sit in the orchard all cast, we even talked about… umm… ok, we didn’t fall far from the tree. Have a great day and see you all on the next That Blind Tech Show when Brian will know how to turn a simple knob and put it back at 12 o’clock. Maybe Serina is expecting too much? Rocket science? Stay tuned! ***** Contact Thank you for listening. Send us Feedback via email Follow us on Twitter @BlindTechShow That Blind Tech Show is produced in part with Blind Abilities Network You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store Check out the Blind Abilities Communityon Facebook, the Blind Abilities Page, the Career Resources for the Blind and Visually Impairedand the Assistive Technology Community for the Blind and Visually Impaired.

Serina, Brian and Jeff with some cameos from Marlon, went into the studio for far too long and it begs me to question if it is the pain or the joy of podcasting that drives them to do what they do. Brian even upped his game with a new microphone. And stay tuned for a headset burning later this fall. Serina pitches her view of a Dominos Pizza in the Supreme style in court. Brian slightly, just slightly, sweetens up his view of the world and actually is now purchasing old movies with audio description legally! An Orcam overview with Monty from Orcam. A look at the Apple Card sign up process and when you do get the card in the mail. Do not toss the card packaging that contains your card. It is needed to activate your new Apple Card. Why are people upset about Aira giving everybody 5 minutes free? How do you slice up the Dominos debate with accessibility? Have you ever thought about losing your Air Pods? Some actually dream about it! Apple TV is coming and it’s nearly $10 a month. Hmm. Do you have a mid-2015 MacBookPro waiting to blow up? Jeff is returning his for the fix. Smart Speakers listening to us? Is the VERSE going to revolutionize deep smart speaker navigation on web sites? Job Insights co-hosts talk about Back to School and Back to Work. Fantasy Football from Yahoo is accessible and working great for the Blind Abilities Football league, Yahoo! A huge awkward shout out to the Islands and some senior excitement about TBTS! Jeff once again saves the day with the editing magic whilst his so called partners tap their fingers anticipating how well they will sound. It is all about them and Jeff is dearly underpaid, on acknowledged and under respected. Ok, surely as I write this, I am tired and have had Brian and Serina plus Marlon in my head for too long. They are great people to have as friends and although you may think Serina just took over these show notes, actually, it is a lot of fun with this crew. Join the TBTS team for this drawn out long, oops, this very intensively resourceful look at tech, the industry, and what the heck is happening and affecting the world from a blindness perspective. Here are some links from the show: Mangotek Apple Watch Stand Wireless Chargerfor iPhone and iWatch, 4 in 1 Phone Charging Station with Lightning Connector and USB Port for iPhone 8/X/XR/7/6 and iWatch Series 4/3/2/1 MFi Certified Are you having stress dreams about losing your Air Pods? If so, you are not alone! Apple 11 Event Set for Sept. 10th. Do you care? Apple TV Plus rumored to cost $9.99 a month  How does TSA know what Mac Book model people have? Siri, A Lady, Facebook listening to us but what about dictation? Dominoes petitions the Supreme Court to over rule that their website must be accessible to the Blind. New tool aims to make web searching friendlier to the blind  What would happen if the whole internet shut down Contact Thank you for listening. Send us Feedback via email Follow us on Twitter @BlindTechShow That Blind Tech Show is produced in part with Blind Abilities Network You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store

Brian and Jeff are in the studio all alone and unlucky 13 gets a good going over. From Beta to the real deal, strike 2 for Apple is just hitting the corner of the plate. Lucky for the new strike zone, this pitch from Apple has the umpires across the World all chiming in. Bad iOS, Love it, Hate it, and you know what? It’s Ok. Join Brian and Jeff as they give their thoughts about the latest operating system for the iPhones. And honestly, remember that your experience with your device and how you interact with the features may be totally different from ours or others. My advice, dive in to the new iOS13.1 and explore. Experience is the best teacher.  Thanks for listening! ***** Contact Thank you for listening. Send us Feedback via email Follow us on Twitter @BlindTechShow That Blind Tech Show is produced in part with Blind Abilities Network You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store Check out the Blind Abilities Communityon Facebook, the Blind Abilities Page, the Career Resources for the Blind and Visually Impairedand the Assistive Technology Community for the Blind and Visually Impaired.

Serina, Brian and Jeff with some cameos from Marlon, went into the studio for far too long and it begs me to question if it is the pain or the joy of podcasting that drives them to do what they do. Brian even upped his game with a new microphone. And stay tuned for a headset burning later this fall. Serina pitches her view of a Dominos Pizza in the Supreme style in court. Brian slightly, just slightly, sweetens up his view of the world and actually is now purchasing old movies with audio description legally! An Orcam overview with Monty from Orcam. A look at the Apple Card sign up process and when you do get the card in the mail. Do not toss the card packaging that contains your card. It is needed to activate your new Apple Card. Why are people upset about Aira giving everybody 5 minutes free? How do you slice up the Dominos debate with accessibility? Have you ever thought about losing your Air Pods? Some actually dream about it! Apple TV is coming and it’s nearly $10 a month. Hmm. Do you have a mid-2015 MacBookPro waiting to blow up? Jeff is returning his for the fix. Smart Speakers listening to us? Is the VERSE going to revolutionize deep smart speaker navigation on web sites? Job Insights co-hosts talk about Back to School and Back to Work. Fantasy Football from Yahoo is accessible and working great for the Blind Abilities Football league, Yahoo! A huge awkward shout out to the Islands and some senior excitement about TBTS! Jeff once again saves the day with the editing magic whilst his so called partners tap their fingers anticipating how well they will sound. It is all about them and Jeff is dearly underpaid, on acknowledged and under respected. Ok, surely as I write this, I am tired and have had Brian and Serina plus Marlon in my head for too long. They are great people to have as friends and although you may think Serina just took over these show notes, actually, it is a lot of fun with this crew. Join the TBTS team for this drawn out long, oops, this very intensively resourceful look at tech, the industry, and what the heck is happening and affecting the world from a blindness perspective. Here are some links from the show: Mangotek Apple Watch Stand Wireless Chargerfor iPhone and iWatch, 4 in 1 Phone Charging Station with Lightning Connector and USB Port for iPhone 8/X/XR/7/6 and iWatch Series 4/3/2/1 MFi Certified Are you having stress dreams about losing your Air Pods? If so, you are not alone! Apple 11 Event Set for Sept. 10th. Do you care? Apple TV Plus rumored to cost $9.99 a month  How does TSA know what Mac Book model people have? Siri, A Lady, Facebook listening to us but what about dictation? Dominoes petitions the Supreme Court to over rule that their website must be accessible to the Blind. New tool aims to make web searching friendlier to the blind  What would happen if the whole internet shut down Contact Thank you for listening. Send us Feedback via email Follow us on Twitter @BlindTechShow That Blind Tech Show is produced in part with Blind Abilities Network You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store

That Blind Tech Show is out of the studio and washing their hands of this episode. Yes, actually we should have worn gloves while recording this one! Serina returns once again and Brian and Jeff flipped an accessible coin to see which one had to sit next to Serina. Let’s just say, Brian virtually loss. Amazon Prime, NFB2019 overviewed, Microsoft, American Printing House, Google, Aira and Two Blind Brothers make the scene and much much more as we dabbly doop a dooble along trying to make out which way we are headed. Well, the kids make sure we are off to a good start and the even encourage Brian to raise the bar.  WayAround, Microsoft To Do App and the Bose Frames get a good solid and Marlon stops in at the studio late one night and splashes his audio onto the canvas as well. A Huge shout out goes out to T and B for there cameo appearances and letting us know that kids can play in more than just reindeer games, they can have a voice and we will make sure they are heard.  So kick back and check out this serious no frills totally factually filled documentary about tech and nothing but tech to educate and discipline everyone into learning. Learn fast! Learn Fast! Ok, I am done. No more babble and on with the show. Thanks for listening and we hope you enjoy That Blind Tech Show as much as we enjoyed making the cast. Contact Thank you for listening. Send us Feedback via email Follow us on Twitter @BlindTechShow That Blind Tech Show is produced in part with Blind Abilities Network You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store

That Blind Tech Show is out of the studio and washing their hands of this episode. Yes, actually we should have worn gloves while recording this one! Serina returns once again and Brian and Jeff flipped an accessible coin to see which one had to sit next to Serina. Let’s just say, Brian virtually loss. Amazon Prime, NFB2019 overviewed, Microsoft, American Printing House, Google, Aira and Two Blind Brothers make the scene and much much more as we dabbly doop a dooble along trying to make out which way we are headed. Well, the kids make sure we are off to a good start and the even encourage Brian to raise the bar.  WayAround, Microsoft To Do App and the Bose Frames get a good solid and Marlon stops in at the studio late one night and splashes his audio onto the canvas as well. A Huge shout out goes out to T and B for there cameo appearances and letting us know that kids can play in more than just reindeer games, they can have a voice and we will make sure they are heard.  So kick back and check out this serious no frills totally factually filled documentary about tech and nothing but tech to educate and discipline everyone into learning. Learn fast! Learn Fast! Ok, I am done. No more babble and on with the show. Thanks for listening and we hope you enjoy That Blind Tech Show as much as we enjoyed making the cast. Contact Thank you for listening. Send us Feedback via email Follow us on Twitter @BlindTechShow That Blind Tech Show is produced in part with Blind Abilities Network You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store

  Show Summary Well, we let the dust settle a bit on the Apple Orchard Fest and we picked a bushel of Apple bits together and got to the core of our Catalina dream as well as our hopeful lucky iOS 13 gems and darlings. Serina, Brian and Jeff climb up to the Apple tree fort and share their bite size slices from the WWDC event last week. Marlon is here with us as well, making his knocks and slams when he can. We hope you enjoy our perspective as we enjoy sharing what we got. And a huge Thank You goes out to Stephen Letnes for his beautiful music. Stephen provided the music for the Apple soldiers segment. Find out more about Stephen Letnes and the Able Artist Foundation on the web at www.AbleArtist.org@   Be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter and subscribe to That Blind Tech Show on iTunes or your favorite pod-catcher.    That Blind Tech Show is part of the Blind Abilities Network and this show will be moving to is own feed Http://www.ThatBlindTechShow.Libsyn.com/RSSin the coming weeks. You can check it out there right now!   Contact Thank you for listening. Send us Feedback via email Follow us on Twitter @BlindTechShow That Blind Tech Show is produced in part with Blind Abilities Network You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store

Show Summary Well, we let the dust settle a bit on the Apple Orchard Fest and we picked a bushel of Apple bits together and got to the core of our Catalina dream as well as our hopeful lucky iOS 13 gems and darlings. Serina, Brian and Jeff climb up to the Apple tree fort and share their bite size slices from the WWDC event last week. Marlon is here with us as well, making his knocks and slams when he can. We hope you enjoy our perspective as we enjoy sharing what we got. Be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter and subscribe to That Blind Tech Show on iTunes or your favorite pod-catcher.    That Blind Tech Show is part of the Blind Abilities Network and this show will be moving to is own feed Http://www.ThatBlindTechShow.Libsyn.com/RSSin the coming weeks. You can check it out there right now! Contact Thank you for listening. Send us Feedback via email Follow us on Twitter @BlindTechShow That Blind Tech Show is produced in part with Blind Abilities Network You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store

  Show Summary: Blind ability see sun coverage is sponsored by Be My Eyes. Be My Eyes is a free app that connects blind and low-vision people with sighted volunteers and company representatives for visual assistance through a live video call. Download for iOS Download for Android Our very own, yes, we will claim him, Brian Fischler, attended the CSUN Conference in Anaheim, California. This Assistive Technology Conference is huge, Brian boarded his plane and headed West from New York and got quite the experience at the conference. Join Brian along with Jeff Thompson from Blind Abilities as Brian shares his preparation plan, his feedback from the sessions he attended and all about the exhibits. Brian knows what he will do differently next year and gives us a great perspective being that this was his first CSUN conference. And yes, he said he would do it again. This Assistive Technology Conference is huge, Brian boarded his plane and headed West from New York and got quite the experience at the conference. Join Brian along with Jeff Thompson from Blind Abilities as Brian shares his preparation plan, his feedback from the sessions he attended and all about the exhibits. Brian knows what he will do differently next year and gives us a great perspective being that this was his first CSUN conference. And yes, he said he would do it again. Be sure to check out all the #CSUNATC19 coverage. Contact Thank you for listening. Send us Feedback via email Follow us on Twitter @BlindTechShow That Blind Tech Show is produced in part with Blind Abilities Network You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store

Show Summary: Apple just quietly released some new updated products and now held an Apple Event focused on services. Yes, from an Apple Card, Apple News Plus, Apple TV plus, Apple TV App with Channels and Apple Arcade for the gamers. It is all here and you can find out more about all the new products and services on the Apple web site, www.Apple.com I would go into detail in the show notes but why not just listen to the show and become the smartest new Apple News knower in your neck of the woods? Yes, we can give you that! Not much more, so take it. Oh, surely I jest, Yup, Jeff the Jester. Hmmm. Join Serina Gilbert our Voc Rehab Counselor from the Mountains, Allison mervis, a Voc Rehab Super from the Grape fields of California, Brian Fischler, an Assistive Technology Specialist, stuck somewhere in the Big Apple and myself, Jeff Thompson, Teacher, Woodworker and media Specialist from the Frozen Tundra of Minnesota. And a special little cameo from our man in trouble, Marlon Parieaho from Trinidad. That Blind Tech Show is definitely a humorous take on the latest news and happenings around the World of Blindness. We try to have fun with each other and bring a smile to your day. Humor is good for the soul and if we can’t laugh at ourselves, then hey, we would miss out on having a lot of fun. Don’t take us seriously all the time and yet, we do our best to bring you good news and information to help you through the obstacles and brick walls that seem to be holding us back or blocking our path. If you have any suggestions and/or feedback for us here on the show, be sure to let us have it. Smack between the eyes if need be. But, start with Brian, he started it anyways. If he can’t take it for the team, then I am in trouble. Ok, thanks for listening and see you next time on That Blind Tech Show! Contact Thank you for listening. Send us Feedback via email Follow us on Twitter @BlindTechShow That Blind Tech Show is produced in part with Blind Abilities Network You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store

Show Summary: Apple just quietly released some new updated products and now held an Apple Event focused on services. Yes, from an Apple Card, Apple News Plus, Apple TV plus, Apple TV App with Channels and Apple Arcade for the gamers. It is all here and you can find out more about all the new products and services on the Apple web site, www.Apple.com I would go into detail in the show notes but why not just listen to the show and become the smartest new Apple News knower in your neck of the woods? Yes, we can give you that! Not much more, so take it. Oh, surely I jest, Yup, Jeff the Jester. Hmmm. Join Serina Gilbert our Voc Rehab Counselor from the Mountains, Allison mervis, a Voc Rehab Super from the Grape fields of California, Brian Fischler, an Assistive Technology Specialist, stuck somewhere in the Big Apple and myself, Jeff Thompson, Teacher, Woodworker and media Specialist from the Frozen Tundra of Minnesota. And a special little cameo from our man in trouble, Marlon Parieaho from Trinidad. That Blind Tech Show is definitely a humorous take on the latest news and happenings around the World of Blindness. We try to have fun with each other and bring a smile to your day. Humor is good for the soul and if we can’t laugh at ourselves, then hey, we would miss out on having a lot of fun. Don’t take us seriously all the time and yet, we do our best to bring you good news and information to help you through the obstacles and brick walls that seem to be holding us back or blocking our path. If you have any suggestions and/or feedback for us here on the show, be sure to let us have it. Smack between the eyes if need be. But, start with Brian, he started it anyways. If he can’t take it for the team, then I am in trouble. Ok, thanks for listening and see you next time on That Blind Tech Show! Contact Thank you for listening. Send us Feedback via email Follow us on Twitter @BlindTechShow That Blind Tech Show is produced in part with Blind Abilities Network You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store

Show Summary: The gang is all back but where is Serina? Well,, Brian is off to CSUN, I am anticipating a Grandson and Allison can’t hold a steady last name. With all this going on, they all climbed back into the studio, whilst sharing but one chair! TMI? Stick around. Aira Powered by Bose! Yes, the perfect marriage. Great job Aira Team! Keep them busy in the engineering and development department, we are liking what we hear! Seeing AI has just updated their app with the ability to explore photos, yes, you can slide your finger over the screen and find objects that the sophisticated Swiss Army of an app comes up with. Impressive, I do say, mates! You can also rearrange the Channels to your hearts content. Good job Microsoft. Amazon turning up the privacy dial?Maybe. Stay tuned. And how about web accessibility for politicians? Are they really government? Or, is their web site and social media included in this debate? First time CSUN or any convention goer, take notes. We are sure that Brian didn’t. We wish him well. Good luck with a 6 AM wake up call, too. Much more between the intro and outro, that is a fact Jack, and I am all about accessibility, no matter what this podcast says! Here are some links mentioned in the podcast: Don’t pack your batteries in your suitcase. Is Augmented reality going to leave the blind behind? If the government doesn’t care about accessibility why should it care about AI bias? I cut the Big 5 tech giants from my life it was hell Contact Thank you for listening. Send us Feedback via email Follow us on Twitter @BlindTechShow That Blind Tech Show is produced in part with Blind Abilities Network You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store

Show Summary: The gang is all back but where is Serina? Well,, Brian is off to CSUN, I am anticipating a Grandson and Allison can’t hold a steady last name. With all this going on, they all climbed back into the studio, whilst sharing but one chair! TMI? Stick around. Aira Powered by Bose! Yes, the perfect marriage. Great job Aira Team! Keep them busy in the engineering and development department, we are liking what we hear! Seeing AI has just updated their app with the ability to explore photos, yes, you can slide your finger over the screen and find objects that the sophisticated Swiss Army of an app comes up with. Impressive, I do say, mates! You can also rearrange the Channels to your hearts content. Good job Microsoft. Amazon turning up the privacy dial?Maybe. Stay tuned. And how about web accessibility for politicians? Are they really government? Or, is their web site and social media included in this debate? First time CSUN or any convention goer, take notes. We are sure that Brian didn’t. We wish him well. Good luck with a 6 AM wake up call, too. Much more between the intro and outro, that is a fact Jack, and I am all about accessibility, no matter what this podcast says! Here are some links mentioned in the podcast: Don’t pack your batteries in your suitcase. Is Augmented reality going to leave the blind behind? If the government doesn’t care about accessibility why should it care about AI bias? I cut the Big 5 tech giants from my life it was hell Contact Thank you for listening. Send us Feedback via email Follow us on Twitter @BlindTechShow That Blind Tech Show is produced in part with Blind Abilities Network You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store

Show Summary: Straight from the Tech Abilities Podcast, we bring you the Alt Text demo. This works great and now more and more photos may get posted and the alternative text will give us all a clue to what the picture is displaying. One of the main steps in this process, is that you have to publish your FaceBook post with the photo and then go to your post and add the Alt Text.  Create a post with a photo. Publish the post. Open the post after publishing and single-finger-double-tap on the photo. Click on the “More” button. Swipe down to, “Edit Alt Text”. Type in the description in the text box and save. Be sure to check out the Blind Abilities Skill for your Amazon devices. Just say, “Enable, Blind Abilities. Contact: You can follow Tech Abilities on twitter @AbilitiesTech Tech Abilities is part of the Blind Abilities Network and be sure to check out all of our shows and podcasts. Thank you for listening! You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store.

Show Summary: Tech Abilities is back and What the? A Samsung podcast? Well, it is a big leak fest from Samsung and they don’t miss the mark. With the Galaxy Fold knocking on 2 Grand per unit, but remember folks, this includes some free Galaxy Buds, yes, FREE! Ok, you can get these with any of the new line of phones from Samsung. We also demo the Reader feature on the iPhone’s browser. We demo tagging your Facebook photos with Alternative Text, and if 2 demonstrations is not enough, we bring you a third, yes a third. We demo how to manage your Subscriptions in iTunes/App Store. Samsung may have had a Leak Fest, will we are having our Demo Fest and loving every minute of it. Ok, every 3 minutes of it. Join Serina, Andy and Jeff in this Tech Abilities cast and be sure to hit us up on the Facebook groups, Blind Abilities Community, Job Insights Support Group and the Accessible Technology Community for the Blind and Visually Impaired. There is something for everyone and we know everyone has something to share. See you there! Contact: You can follow Tech Abilities on twitter @AbilitiesTech Tech Abilities is part of the Blind Abilities Network and be sure to check out all of our shows and podcasts. Thank you for listening! You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store.

Show Summary: Brian, Allison and Jeff are in the studio and sifting through the latest news and happenings. From privacy being a thing of the past to seniors being blamed for Fake News, the TBTS get down deep into the bowels of Smart products from C.E.S. and did I mention the Smart Toilets for about 8 grand? Yes, fittingly, that’s where we found them. Oh my, how about Smart Diapers! Smart Home eco-systems?  Which one is for you or is it too late? I hear you, and so do most of the Smart Assistant devices as well.  So, buckle up for this ride on the That Blind Tech Show Episode 26. And please give a warm welcome to Marlon Parieaho, as he  snuck into the studio for a few laughs. Hey, being around Brian and Allison is alright, but give me a break! Right? No worries, it’s all for fun and fun for all! Check out the topics and links related to the show: Dumbest person of the year in January. Glad we got it out of the way https://metro.co.uk/2019/01/10/blind-woman-told-to-get-off-bus-because-guide-dogs-cant-be-black-8329869/ New study shows people over 65 share the most fake news https://www.theverge.com/2019/1/9/18174631/old-people-fake-news-facebook-share-nyu-princeton City of L.A, sues Weather Channel App over misuse of targeted marketing https://9to5mac.com/2019/01/04/weather-channel-app-data-lawsuit/ Is your TV tracking you? If you own a Vizio it may be. https://techcrunch.com/2019/01/07/vizio-settlement-moves-forward/ Package tracking app turns users cell phones in to a Bot Farm https://9to5mac.com/2019/01/07/package-tracking-app-turns-users-devices-into-a-bot-farm-violates-user-privacy/ Carriers can sell your location to Bounty Hunters. Boba Fett https://www.theverge.com/2019/1/8/18174024/att-sprint-t-mobile-scandal-phone-location-tracking-black-market-bounty-hunters-privacy-securus Now Tile is partnering with chip makers to embed its location tracking services https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2019/1/7/18168760/tile-bluetooth-low-energy-item-tracking-ces-2019 So many different smart home plugs will everything be compatible? For https://9to5mac.com/2019/01/07/fibaro-home-center-app-walli-outlets/ Apple Home Kit was the surprise winner of CES 2019 https://www.macworld.com/article/3332023/apple/homekit-ces-2019-siri.html#tk.rss_all  Hey Siri, Flush the toilet! It’s finally coming! https://www.appleworld.today/blog/2019/1/7/hey-siri-flush-the-toilet-homekit-support-for-kohlers-8000-intelligent-toilet` Or if you rather Alexa flush the toilet thanks to Kohler https://techcrunch.com/2019/01/07/kohler-put-alexa-in-a-toilet-so-happy-new-year/ Samsung is launching a wearable Exoskeleton or as we know it Iron Man! https://techcrunch.com/2019/01/07/samsung-is-launching-a-bunch-of-new-robots-and-a-wearable-exoskeleton/ apple patent hints at smart clothing and smart furniture my parents recliners https://www.appleworld.today/blog/2019/1/10/apple-patent-filings-hint-at-smart-clothing-and-smart-furniture Contact Thank you for listening. Send us Feedback via email Follow us on Twitter @BlindTechShow That Blind Tech Show is produced in part with Blind Abilities Network You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store      

Show Summary: Brian, Allison and Jeff are in the studio and sifting through the latest news and happenings. From privacy being a thing of the past to seniors being blamed for Fake News, the TBTS get down deep into the bowels of Smart products from C.E.S. and did I mention the Smart Toilets for about 8 grand? Yes, fittingly, that’s where we found them. Oh my, how about Smart Diapers! Smart Home eco-systems?  Which one is for you or is it too late? I hear you, and so do most of the Smart Assistant devices as well.  So, buckle up for this ride on the That Blind Tech Show Episode 26. And please give a warm welcome to Marlon Parieaho, as he  snuck into the studio for a few laughs. Hey, being around Brian and Allison is alright, but give me a break! Right? No worries, it’s all for fun and fun for all! Check out the topics and links related to the show: Dumbest person of the year in January. Glad we got it out of the way https://metro.co.uk/2019/01/10/blind-woman-told-to-get-off-bus-because-guide-dogs-cant-be-black-8329869/ New study shows people over 65 share the most fake news https://www.theverge.com/2019/1/9/18174631/old-people-fake-news-facebook-share-nyu-princeton City of L.A, sues Weather Channel App over misuse of targeted marketing https://9to5mac.com/2019/01/04/weather-channel-app-data-lawsuit/ Is your TV tracking you? If you own a Vizio it may be. https://techcrunch.com/2019/01/07/vizio-settlement-moves-forward/ Package tracking app turns users cell phones in to a Bot Farm https://9to5mac.com/2019/01/07/package-tracking-app-turns-users-devices-into-a-bot-farm-violates-user-privacy/ Carriers can sell your location to Bounty Hunters. Boba Fett https://www.theverge.com/2019/1/8/18174024/att-sprint-t-mobile-scandal-phone-location-tracking-black-market-bounty-hunters-privacy-securus Now Tile is partnering with chip makers to embed its location tracking services https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2019/1/7/18168760/tile-bluetooth-low-energy-item-tracking-ces-2019 So many different smart home plugs will everything be compatible? For https://9to5mac.com/2019/01/07/fibaro-home-center-app-walli-outlets/ Apple Home Kit was the surprise winner of CES 2019 https://www.macworld.com/article/3332023/apple/homekit-ces-2019-siri.html#tk.rss_all  Hey Siri, Flush the toilet! It’s finally coming! https://www.appleworld.today/blog/2019/1/7/hey-siri-flush-the-toilet-homekit-support-for-kohlers-8000-intelligent-toilet` Or if you rather Alexa flush the toilet thanks to Kohler https://techcrunch.com/2019/01/07/kohler-put-alexa-in-a-toilet-so-happy-new-year/ Samsung is launching a wearable Exoskeleton or as we know it Iron Man! https://techcrunch.com/2019/01/07/samsung-is-launching-a-bunch-of-new-robots-and-a-wearable-exoskeleton/ apple patent hints at smart clothing and smart furniture my parents recliners https://www.appleworld.today/blog/2019/1/10/apple-patent-filings-hint-at-smart-clothing-and-smart-furniture Contact Thank you for listening. Send us Feedback via email Follow us on Twitter @BlindTechShow That Blind Tech Show is produced in part with Blind Abilities Network You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store      

Show Summary: Tech Abilities is back in the studio and we have put our toys to the test. We may not have Alarming results, yet our Alarms are being set with accessibility and now Serina and Jeff can Nest assure themselves that Temps, Locks, cameras and detectors are on the job and we feel good. Meanwhile, Andy wanted a Ring II, that’s his Ring Doorbell with a camera. Yes, Serina’s Nest hello doorbell is peeping outside and telling all, except for a Ninja now and then. Join us as we talk about how our Smart home devices are doing. We got them, talked about them, installed them and put them to the test. So check out how we are satisfied and how installation and usability is going for us. Serina used the Geek Squad service for installation. You can find the Geek Squad at your local Best Buy or look them up at www.BestBuy.com/GeekSquad Join Serina, Andy and Jeff in this informative show and a special Parrot that once attended church, but not for long.  The Parrot then took to Amazon devices and is now chilling to Jazz and waiting for deliveries. Yup, Polly the Parrot is quite Posh. Here are some of the Smart Home Devices mentioned in the Tech Abilities podcast: Nest Hello Video Camera Doorbell Ring 2 Video door bell Nest Secure system with Base and door and window protects plus a fob or 2. Nest Door lock Nest Thermostats  Nest Protect- Smoke and Carbon Monoxide sensors  Apps for Nest and Amazon tips 'Away Mode' Alexa Skill Tricks Burglars Into Thinking You're Home Just say 'Alexa, enable Away Mode,' and the skill will start playing hours of audio on your smart speaker to make it sound like people are home. Contact: You can follow Tech Abilities on twitter @AbilitiesTech Tech Abilities is part of the Blind Abilities Network and be sure to check out all of our shows and podcasts. Thank you for listening! You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store.

Show Summary: Brian Fischler, from That Blind Tech Show, gives a great description and overview of the new 2018 MacAir from Apple. From ports to keyboard and Track Pad gestures, Brian runs through the paces as well as his way of setting up the MacAir with iCloud and sharing across his other Apple devices. Here are some common commands that Brian used throughout the demo: First, the VO reference is the Command and Option keys pressed down. This is always associated with another key or keys pressed down as well. VO+space – Activates an action such as pressing a button, tab, link, etc. VO+ right or left arrow – moves cursor left or right. VO-up or down arrow – moves cursor up or down. VO Shift + D – Go to Desktop VO Shift Down Arrow – interact with item. VO Shift Up Arrow – Stop interacting with item. Tip: VO + K -  Start Keyboard help, type keys to hear their names, hold down the VO keys while typing keys to here Voice Over commands. Press the escape key in the upper left hand corner to stop keyboard help. Contact Thank you for listening. Send us Feedback via email Follow us on Twitter @BlindTechShow That Blind Tech Show is produced in part with Blind Abilities Network You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store

Show Summary: Brian Fischler, from That Blind Tech Show, gives a great description and overview of the new 2018 MacAir from Apple. From ports to keyboard and Track Pad gestures, Brian runs through the paces as well as his way of setting up the MacAir with iCloud and sharing across his other Apple devices. Here are some common commands that Brian used throughout the demo: First, the VO reference is the Command and Option keys pressed down. This is always associated with another key or keys pressed down as well. VO+space – Activates an action such as pressing a button, tab, link, etc. VO+ right or left arrow – moves cursor left or right. VO-up or down arrow – moves cursor up or down. VO Shift + D – Go to Desktop VO Shift Down Arrow – interact with item. VO Shift Up Arrow – Stop interacting with item. Tip: VO + K -  Start Keyboard help, type keys to hear their names, hold down the VO keys while typing keys to here Voice Over commands. Press the escape key in the upper left hand corner to stop keyboard help. Contact Thank you for listening. Send us Feedback via email Follow us on Twitter @BlindTechShow That Blind Tech Show is produced in part with Blind Abilities Network You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store

Show Summary: Ed and Brian are back together and Jeff just keeps hanging out counting the days. That’s days until New years 2019! The boys hit the studio hard with nothing but true stories and nothing but the facts. Ed and Jeff keep Brian in-line somewhat and maybe Brian is turning over a new leaf? Well, you can decide when you listen to episode #25 of That Blind Tech Show.  We cover Facebook Privacy, if there is any. Jaws, ChromeBooks, PC’s, Macs  and some demos on Verticle Navigation and Voice Recognition in your Amazon Device. And what about Aira Boxing? Yes, it was mentioned here first! Aira Boxing, coming by 2030 or so. We even do a smack down of sorts, pitting the Mac against the PC world. So kick on back and take in the show. There will be a test next week, so you better take some Braille notes. BTW, it’s all true or false, and here on TBTS, you know all the answers are True! Here are some links pertaining to some of the topics from the show: A human heart was left on a Southwest flight. Have you ever left anything important on a flight or in a hotel room? Facebook just keeps continuing to give your info away. Are they to blame what about the companies that received it? Is privacy dead unless you are living in the woods? Amazon promises Apple Music is coming to Third Party Alexa Speakers Apple Patent Describes both Touch and Face ID on the same phone Controversial AI service for flagging risky Babysitter’s gets shut down What was your favorite tech lie of 2018? Kids in 1904 had interesting predictions about the future. What do you think 2019 will bring for accessibility? Contact Thank you for listening. Send us Feedback via email Follow us on Twitter @BlindTechShow That Blind Tech Show is produced in part with Blind Abilities Network You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store    

Ed and Brian are back together and Jeff just keeps hanging out counting the days. That’s days until New years 2019! The boys hit the studio hard with nothing but true stories and nothing but the facts. Ed and Jeff keep Brian in-line somewhat and maybe Brian is turning over a new leaf? Well, you can decide when you listen to episode #25 of That Blind Tech Show.  We cover Facebook Privacy, if there is any. Jaws, ChromeBooks, PC’s, Macs  and some demos on Verticle Navigation and Voice Recognition in your Amazon Device. And what about Aira Boxing? Yes, it was mentioned here first! Aira Boxing, coming by 2030 or so. We even do a smack down of sorts, pitting the Mac against the PC world. So kick on back and take in the show. There will be a test next week, so you better take some Braille notes. BTW, it’s all true or false, and here on TBTS, you know all the answers are True! Here are some links pertaining to some of the topics from the show: A human heart was left on a Southwest flight. Have you ever left anything important on a flight or in a hotel room? Facebook just keeps continuing to give your info away. Are they to blame what about the companies that received it? Is privacy dead unless you are living in the woods? Amazon promises Apple Music is coming to Third Party Alexa Speakers Apple Patent Describes both Touch and Face ID on the same phone Controversial AI service for flagging risky Babysitter’s gets shut down What was your favorite tech lie of 2018? Kids in 1904 had interesting predictions about the future. What do you think 2019 will bring for accessibility? Contact Thank you for listening. Send us Feedback via email Follow us on Twitter @BlindTechShow That Blind Tech Show is produced in part with Blind Abilities Network You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store    

Show Summary: We are back in the Studio for another podcast and we held nothing back this time! We got a demo here and a demo there. So kick it on back and join Serina, Brian and Jeff on this epicly long TBTS episode filled to the brim, just like your Christmas stockings should be. The nice thing is, you don’t have to wait for Saint Nick! Brian even through in a squeaky chair for all of us to get Grinchy about. Marlon makes a cameo appearance bringing in all that Holiday cheer, oops, I mean, bringing in What’s Pissing Off Brian Now! From all of us here on the show, we wish you all a happy and safe holiday season!   Here are some links to the News and topics from the TBTS show #24: That Blind Tech Show TBTS, has a new Facebook Group! Check them out on Facebook groups, That Blind Tech Show.   Who knew the blind were missing out on Cyber flashing? Starbucks to block porn watching at all of its storescome January British Cops are building an AI.that flag people for crimes that have not happened yet! The Malware of the future will have A.I.Super Powers. Are we prepared and doing enough to protect ourselves?   Flying for the holidays why not track your flight in i-Messages? You can now say Hey Siri to launch ok Google   Apple Music is now coming to Alexa   Amazon TechTractcould it be the future of OCR Instagram adds new features for the visually impaired. Do you care?   Contact Thank you for listening. Send us Feedback via email Follow us on Twitter @BlindTechShow That Blind Tech Show is produced in part with Blind Abilities Network You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store

Show Summary: We are back in the Studio for another podcast and we held nothing back this time! We got a demo here and a demo there. So kick it on back and join Serina, Brian and Jeff on this epicly long TBTS episode filled to the brim, just like your Christmas stockings should be. The nice thing is, you don’t have to wait for Saint Nick! Brian even through in a squeaky chair for all of us to get Grinchy about. Marlon makes a cameo appearance bringing in all that Holiday cheer, oops, I mean, bringing in What’s Pissing Off Brian Now! From all of us here on the show, we wish you all a happy and safe holiday season!   Here are some links to the News and topics from the TBTS show #24: That Blind Tech Show TBTS, has a new Facebook Group! Check them out on Facebook groups, That Blind Tech Show.   Who knew the blind were missing out on Cyber flashing? Starbucks to block porn watching at all of its storescome January  British Cops are building an AI.that flag people for crimes that have not happened yet! The Malware of the future will have A.I.Super Powers. Are we prepared and doing enough to protect ourselves?   Flying for the holidays why not track your flight in i-Messages? You can now say Hey Siri to launch ok Google   Apple Music is now coming to Alexa   Amazon TechTractcould it be the future of OCR Instagram adds new features for the visually impaired. Do you care?   Contact Thank you for listening. Send us Feedback via email Follow us on Twitter @BlindTechShow That Blind Tech Show is produced in part with Blind Abilities Network You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store

Show Summary: (full transcript below)   With the holidays upon us the deals and bargains are taunting our wallets and curiosities. Do you look for others or just shop for yourself? I make a list of items I am interested in and approach Black Friday from that perspective. Otherwise I am overwhelmed and miss out because there is too much going on. That is just me, so I am joined by Serina and Andy as we contemplate the mad rush, and I’m not talking about busyness, but the rush you get when you find your dazzling treasure. Yes, it may be a gift for someone else, but like most of us, it is something we really want. Now, I did not say need, I said want. Check out the TGI Black FridayApp Serina spills upon us. It is accessible and works great when you’re searching for that special deal. We hope all of you enjoy your Black Friday rush and we wish all of you a wonderful start to the holiday season. Contact: You can follow Tech Abilities on twitter @AbilitiesTech Tech Abilities is part of the Blind Abilities Network and be sure to check out all of our shows and podcasts. Thank you for listening! You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities Appon the App Store. Full Transcript: Tech Abilities: Black Friday, Cyber Monday and a Visit with Squirt’s Dad, Crush! Serena Gilbert: I am also looking for the Nest products. Jeff Thompson: Then we have Cyber Monday coming up, after that. Serena Gilbert: First, I was like "Whoa" then I was like "Whoa." Jeff Thompson: Pretty cool that it's... Andy Munoz: Yeah, Santa can't afford me. I can barely afford me. Jeff Thompson: What's on your list? Andy Munoz: What isn't? Jeff Thompson: Just simplifies a lot of things, especially when you're going to that checkout. Boom boom boom, done. Andy Munoz: Yeah, my Apple pay is a beautiful thing. Serena Gilbert: I love Venmo, 'cause you can literally send a text to somebody and pay them. Jeff Thompson: Yeah, there's gonna be some football on. I'll be watching to see how we all did; how much damage was done. When you get that thing in your hand, you're like "Got it!" Serena Gilbert: I got it! But Jeff, the home pod's gonna be $100 off at Best Buy. Andy Munoz: I know when they're talking about Mt. Wannahockaloogie. Serena Gilbert: Did you say boutique stores? Jeff Thompson: Thank you Serena, you're a real friend. Serena Gilbert: I'm their only true friend. Jeff Thompson: Welcome to Tech Abilities. I'm Jeff Thompson and with me are co-hosts Serena Gilbert, how are you doing? Serena Gilbert: I am doing great Jeff, how are ya? Jeff Thompson: I'm doing great. Glad to hear your voice again and we also have Andy Munoz. How you doing? Andy Munoz: Doing awesome, how about you? Jeff Thompson: Ah, just awesome myself and kind of excited here, as Black Friday rolls around here, I've been bombarded by emails and stuff in the mail. Black Friday stuff. Are you guys excited about Black Friday? Serena Gilbert: I love Black Friday, it's my favorite shopping day of the year. I used to, when I was younger and before I had a kid, we used to get up really early in the morning and be the ones standing in front of the stores at like four in the morning, trying to chase down a TV or computer or something. But now, more internet based now. Jeff Thompson: Well now, if you bring the kid with, they would get an extra coupon. Serena Gilbert: Or be the ticket that you need to get in. Jeff Thompson: Mm-hmm (affirmative). That's right. How about you Andy? Andy Munoz: I'm kind of so-so on it. Obviously, I like to see what kind of deals are out there. I've not been as brave as Serena. I've never gone and done the whole "Let's get up at o-dark-thirty and go be in line at the stores." I'm not a crowd person. I think it's certainly interesting to kinda see what's out there. I'm always looking, even if it isn't Black Friday. Jeff Thompson: Yeah. I'm that way too, but this year I'm taking a different approach to it. I'm kind of thinking of the stuff that I really want to get, that I kinda need or come on, right down to it ... I just want it. So, I'm looking for the Nest product line, the Nest thermostat, the Nest Protect. I already have one, but I wanna put some more downstairs. They interconnect, it's a really neat idea. So, I'm gonna key on that. How about you guys, anything you're focusing on? Serena Gilbert: I am also looking for the Nest products. We want to get ... I don't know if it's the Nest Protect, but it's like the alarm system that Nest makes along with the- Jeff Thompson: Yeah, the Nest Protect is for a smoke alarm or CO, carbon monoxide detection and for home security they have the Nest Secure. Serena Gilbert: Yeah, we were just watching YouTube videos like last weekend about it and we were trying to decide between the Ring Alarm System and the Nest, 'cause there's pros and cons of all of them. Ring's a little bit less expensive, but Nest has cooler things and is more expandable. Serena Gilbert: It seems like, to me, it's gonna be a little bit more accessible with the demos, 'cause there's a lot of audible tones when you arm and disarm. You can voice command it a lot. That's what we're looking forward to as well as a robotic vacuum. I am dying to have one with three dogs in the house to just help with getting some of the hair off the wood floor. Jeff Thompson: Oh, I tell ya ours ... you open that thing up and you pull out like two gerbils at one time. It's easy. I was against it in a sense. I didn't voice my opinion because she wanted it and about three months later ... I love this little, I even clean up every once in a while just to make it shine. I like it. Especially when you have like, we have a yellow lab. It picks up lots of hair. Andy Munoz: Yeah. Serena Gilbert: What'd you name him? The Rumba? Jeff Thompson: I just call it Robot but others in the household call it Clyde. How about you Andy? Sounds like you might be interested into these vacuum robots. Andy Munoz: You know, I think they're pretty cool. We haven't bought one, we're still with our Shark. Certainly, when you have kids who don't do their chores, like they're supposed to, having one of those would certainly be a benefit. Serena Gilbert: Well one of the ones that we're looking at getting, because Kohls has a fantastic deal on it, but I don't know if I have to be at the store, or if I can get it online. I believe it's the Shark, the latest model of the robot version of it. I think it was like $199. It was either $199 or $229, something really close to that, plus you get $60 in Kohls cash with it. Jeff Thompson: Right, I wish they sent out those mystery stickers that you pull off. That would be neat. Serena Gilbert: Like a mystery discount? Jeff Thompson: Yeah. Andy Munoz: But even the Kohls cash is still a benefit. Serena Gilbert: I just use it to buy the gifts for the people on my Christmas list. That's a lot of money. Jeff Thompson: It is. That's when I went to Kohls, that's when we got the Rumba. They had one of those deals and everything just piles into discounts. I don't think Kohls ever sold one item at their store, at full price. Serena Gilbert: If you've paid full price at Kohls, you are doing something massively wrong. Jeff Thompson: Yeah. Andy Munoz: Yeah. You were there on June 13th, that one day. 'Cause we're always getting deals, getting Kohls cash. Jeff Thompson: Yeah, it's a good deal. I think Black Friday is one of those times where, you just try and find all these deals, but I don't want to get lost in it, because I've gone through, just like when Amazon had their big day, you just start scrolling through all this stuff and you get nowhere real fast. That's why I'm trying to think of stuff in advance, or certain stores or certain boutique stores that I'm interested in and I'm gonna hound those first and see what's up. Serena Gilbert: Did you say, "Boutique stores?" Are you going clothing shopping? Jeff Thompson: No, specialty stores like Bows. A specific store not like Fleet Farm or Home Depot. Serena Gilbert: Gotcha. Jeff Thompson: Is my metro-sexual side coming out? Serena Gilbert: I wasn't gonna say anything, but ... talking about boutiques over there. Jeff Thompson: Andy's shaking his head yes. So what's your game plan Andy? Andy Munoz: You know, I have a tendency to kind of watch things all year. So, I have certain things that I'm gonna be looking for. Part of it is, there's so much out there. Then it kinda becomes ... like you said, you get lost or you just want freaking everything. I have this small list, short list of "This is really what I'm looking for." And if something else jumps out and I think it's worth it, then I'll explore that or jump on it, whatever the case might be. I usually have just a short list and I usually narrow it down all year. Andy Munoz: I used to be a very big impulse buyer, now I've kinda had to tailor that back. I have eight kids and a wife, so you can't just do that. I kinda take that list and look and see "Okay, is anything on this list potentially gonna be a sale on Black Friday?" Jeff Thompson: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Andy Munoz: That's why we don't let our spouses listen to this podcast. Serena Gilbert: But Jeff, the home pod's gonna be $100 off at Best Buy. Jeff Thompson: I know. That's the best deal so far that I've seen out there. Serena Gilbert: Target has an iPad I believe, it's gonna be either $199 or $229. It's a really good deal. Jeff Thompson: Oh for real? Andy Munoz: Yeah. Jeff Thompson: What model? Serena Gilbert: I don't know 'cause I don't need an iPad ... 'cause I have a Black Friday app that we'll share in the show notes that is totally accessible and searchable. Jeff Thompson: Nice. Serena Gilbert: Very much so usable. I saw it in there 'cause it was one of the top deals. I was like ... if somebody needs an iPad, it's a great deal. Jeff Thompson: So if you go to the app store, look up TGI Black Friday. Speaker 4:           TGI Black Friday 2017 [inaudible 00:07:39]. Jeff Thompson: You may notice that the name still has 2017 on there, but they do address this. Speaker 4:           **Updated for 2018 despite the odd name**you can make a shopping list, get coupons, price compare, plus buy Black Friday deals from your phone. Get instant alerts for new Black Friday ads and never miss a deal. Check out frequently for new ads from your favorite stores such as Best Buy, Target, Walmart, Sears and many more. Search "Sort and Compare" 10,000+ deals in stores. Create the shopping list and mark items as you buy them. Share your list or deals with yourself or others. Compare prices online and confirm you are getting the best deal. Cyber Monday sales and coupons. Jeff Thompson: So let's check it out. Speaker 4:           Open button. Two days until Black Friday. Padding selected, popular deals button. Newest ads button. Coupons button. Jeff Thompson: Here's some of the featured Black Friday ads. Speaker 4:           iRobot vacuuming robot, Sam's Club. iPod 6th generation Target $329.99 $249.99 Apple watch series 3 Target $279.99 $199.99 HP 15T Laptop double use/intel core I7CPU HP $1,239.99 $499.99 Samsung Chrome Book 311.6 intel seller on Walmart $199 $99 Element 55 Smart UHD TV Target $379.99 $199.99 Google Home Hub Chalk Walmart $149 $99 Toshiba 434 KUHD TV W/HBR Fire TV Best Buy $329.99 $129.99 Dell Inspirn 15.6 touchscreen laptop double use/core I5CPU Best Buy $599.99 $399.99 iPad 9.7 tablet up to $100 off Best Buy. Jeff Thompson: Those five tabs at the bottom. Speaker 4:           Selected featured tab one of five. Stores tab two of five Categories tab three of five. Search tab four of five my list tab five of five. Jeff Thompson: Let's see what stores are in Black Friday deals. Speaker 4:           Stores tab two of five. Stores padding Walmart, 290 deals. Kohls 702 deals. Target 322 deals. Best Buy 547 deals. JC Penny, Macy's, Old Navy, Dell, Costco, Dick's Sporting Goods, Bass Pro Shops, Big Lots. Jeff Thompson: And when you tap on one of the ads... Speaker 4:           Black Friday Google Home Hub Chalk $149 $99. Walmart opens 6:00 PM Thurs. Jeff Thompson: You have three choices. Speaker 4:           Shop now button. Add to list button. Share deal button. Jeff Thompson: Great tip Serena. That's the TGI Black Friday app. Andy Munoz: Sweet, that'll be nice. An iPad was kind of on my short list. Serena Gilbert: Yeah, there's gonna be some really good deals. I would check out Target and Best Buy for the iPad. The other thing that some of our listeners may or may not know is that Apple, every Black Friday does ... it's either 10 or 15% off usually, just on Black Friday. It's never advertised in advance, it just kinda pops up. Andy Munoz: That's actually funny because I never even knew that working for them. Serena Gilbert: That's funny. Andy Munoz: I mean for real, I'd get customers calling in "Do you know if you're gonna have a Black Friday sale?" Not to my knowledge. So, that's good info ... I didn't even know that. Jeff Thompson: Sometimes they throw on where you get $100 gift certificate to be used later. Serena Gilbert: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Usually that's when you buy the top dollar things, like the Mac Books. I believe when they did their back to school, which honestly in my opinion's a better sale than the Black Friday sale. Weren't they giving away free Beats headphones when you bought a Mac Book? Andy Munoz: Yeah, I believe that is correct. Serena Gilbert: That's a pretty good deal, especially if you're gonna buy one anyway. Jeff Thompson: Yeah. You make a good point, especially if you're gonna buy one anyway. That's the angle I take a look at this stuff. Then, we have Cyber Monday coming up after that where everything goes crazy on the internet. That's where I start really snooping around, because it's kinda "I didn't spend much here, so it's like I saved money to use here." Jeff Thompson: I really watch it, because sometimes I think a lot of these stores want to clear out their inventory, so they're taking last year's model. That's why when you ask, "Which iPad is it?" Is it their stock, like "Hey, we got to move these refrigerators, we gotta get rid of some stuff.”? Jeff Thompson: That's where somebody else comes in. Jeff Thompson: Yeah. Serena Gilbert: Walmart is particularly notorious for that. 'Cause we are also in the market for a new TV, so Walmart has all these fantastic deals on their TVs. There's some that are only like $200, like ginormous TVs. But then you look into the specs and they're horrible refresh rates and things like that. Not that most of our blind and visually impaired community cares about that, but if you have a sighted spouse, they're gonna care about that. When you're buying that big of a TV, you want it to be quality. So look at that too. Andy Munoz: Or even if you're low vision like me. Serena Gilbert: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Andy Munoz: You could still appreciate some of that. I'm one especially, because I'm a techy, I look into that stuff. There's even certain brands that I'll shy away from just because I don't know anything about them, and I don't know their reputation. Serena Gilbert: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Andy Munoz: Even if they have the specs that I'm kinda looking for, I'll shy away from it, just because it's like eh, I don't know their reputation. Jeff Thompson: You really want to check out HDMI. How many are there? It used to be "Hey, it has HDMI, that's cool." But now, everything hooks up HDMI. So, as soon as you start hooking up ... oh let's see... Serena Gilbert: A cable box. Andy Munoz: Well just for example, I use Dish Network, so I've got a wireless Joey that's downstairs in my family room. That hooks up to an HDMI. MY son's got his Xbox that's connected to it, Apple TV. Serena Gilbert: Yup, a streaming box. Andy Munoz: Yeah, so we've got different apparatuses that are connected. So yeah, you definitely want to make sure you have those ports. Jeff Thompson: At least three. I think three is the standard right now. Andy Munoz: Yeah. Jeff Thompson: And then, having Smart TV where it actually connects up to the internet itself is pretty sweet too. Andy Munoz: It's nice too to have even ... my Vizio's will do Chrome cast. Jeff Thompson: But I get it Serena, you're saying that you used to go in, because of those special TV deals. Each store stocks up about 10 or 20 of these devices or the PlayStation, all these other things. Yeah, people are camping out the day before. It's kind of neat, kind of exciting. Serena Gilbert: And it's hard to get ... you think "Oh, I'll just price match it" or whatever. But it will be the same TV at Walmart and Best Buy, but they'll change the model number by like one letter at the end, so they're like "No, this one's on sale there, but this one's a totally different TV. Even though it's clearly identical, you know? It's kind of annoying. Serena Gilbert: But a lot of the things, you'd be surprised, you can get online. What we usually do is, Thanksgiving night, depending on the store, which for the record, I believe Target is one of the stores that's opening at like 5:00 on Thanksgiving, which I think is absolutely horrible. That means that you can probably, especially if you have a red card or a red debit card from there, you can get their sales the day before, so on Wednesday. Jeff Thompson: I have one. Serena Gilbert: But most of the deals, you can get them online starting at midnight, the night before. And that's midnight Eastern, usually. So log on, when it's midnight Eastern to see what you can get. What we do is, for the big things, we try to catch it online, but then it's a really good day to buy movies too. 'Cause you can usually get Blu rays with the digital copies for like $% on Amazon, Walmart and Target. Andy Munoz: I haven't picked up a disc in a long time. Serena Gilbert: But it's cheaper than buying them on like iTunes. Jeff Thompson: That's true. Serena Gilbert: I mean they're on sale every once in a while, but... Jeff Thompson: iTunes, $19, $14. Serena Gilbert: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Jeff Thompson: Rent ‘em. Serena Gilbert: Yup. Andy Munoz: I think I sprung for like $19 a couple weeks back to buy The Lion King, 'cause my youngest has never seen it. Jeff Thompson: I was in the car yesterday and Lori's son Justin was playing Lion King at about 90% the volume. Serena Gilbert: Nice. You gotta tell our listeners. How old is Justin? Jeff Thompson: He's 19, he's gonna be 20. Yeah so, but it was kinda cool you know, Scar comes on "I'm gonna be king." It was fun. I remember when my kids were little, would turn that up in the morning and have The Lion King just belting out and that's one of the best movies I think there is in that type of realm. Andy Munoz: Yes, I would agree with that. Serena Gilbert: What? Better than Finding Nemo? Andy Munoz: Actually yes, I like Lion King better than Finding Nemo. Jeff Thompson: It is good. Serena Gilbert: Oh, Finding Nemo is my favorite. Andy Munoz: Yeah. We won't deviate too much from our topic 'cause yeah, that could be a debate. Jeff Thompson: For movies that have a toilet in them, yes. Serena Gilbert: What? Oh my goodness. Jeff Thompson: Isn't that how they got back? Isn't that how they escaped? Serena Gilbert: No. You haven't seen it! Jeff Thompson: Yeah, I have. Serena Gilbert: They fall off the counter and roll across the road and then they're in this bag and they're like right by the ocean, but then they're still stuck in the bag, so- Jeff Thompson: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Serena Gilbert: Nemo does go down the toilet, but all the other fish are like- Jeff Thompson: Hello, Hello. Serena Gilbert: In their gallon size bag. Jeff Thompson: See, I was finding Nemo. My favorite part of that movie though, is when they're talking about Mt. Wannahockaloogie. Serena Gilbert: When they're chanting it? Jeff Thompson: Yeah. What's funny is, my niece back in the day, she's the one that picked up on that, so I use that phrase a lot now. Serena Gilbert: Oh, my favorite is the turtle. "First I was like whoa, then I was like whoa." Anyways, we are so digressing. Jeff Thompson: We didn't even talk about Makuna Matata. Serena Gilbert: It's, Hakuna Matata. Jeff Thompson: Oh. Me and Justin will have to go for a ride again. Serena Gilbert: I'm pretty sure it's with an H. Alright, tie-breaker Andy. Andy Munoz: Yeah, I think it is an H. Jeff Thompson: It's Hakuna Matata? Serena Gilbert: What a wonderful phrase. Jeff Thompson: I've been singing it wrong for a long time, wow. Serena Gilbert: Gosh, that movie came out in like what, 92, 93? You've been singing it wrong for like ... 20 something years now? Jeff Thompson: And I've been calling these people friends that been surrounding me, not correcting. Thank you Serina, you're a real friend. Serena Gilbert: I'm the only true friend. Justin:            excuse me, this is Justin, straight from the car, your resident Lion King expert in this situation. I would like to point out that it is indeed Hakuna Matata. Serena, you're right. Jeff, you're wrong. Jeff Thompson: There you go. But with Cyber Monday, we got Black Friday coming up, Thanksgiving. It really kicks off that holiday ... you're gonna hear Christmas music on the sidewalks downtown. It gets you going towards Christmas. Do any of you ... I know we're kind of selfish ... do you treat Black Friday itself as gifts for other people or is it yourself? Serena Gilbert: For me, it's more about things that we've just wanted throughout the year, kinda like how Andy said. Things that have been on our list that we're just like ... let's wait till we ... 'cause it's not anything we need. We're all spoiled and it's only just what we want. Andy Munoz: Yeah, yeah. Well for my wife and I, what we do is we kinda start early. And I'm not talking like July or August, we start kind of at the beginning of November. Kind of start to get all the small gifts for all the nieces and nephews and obviously, for our own kids, they give us kinda their top choices, then we go from there as far as what our budget is. So yeah, Black Friday if I'm looking, it's pretty much just for stuff that I want. Jeff Thompson: Yeah, that's the way I look at it. If I gotta do all the internet searching and all that, or if I'm gonna go to the store. My sisters are the ones who do ... like Serena you said, they got it all mapped out, they got it precisely planned. What is the best door to go in. Serena Gilbert: I actually kinda miss that. I would go with my mom and my sister and they both live in Texas now, but I really do miss, 'cause it's like a rush that you get when you're like "Oh, I got it" like right there in your hand, you know? Jeff Thompson: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Serena Gilbert: I know it's so silly. But it's the only time that you can be at a store at like four in the morning and get free Chick-Fil-Et while you're standing in line. Jeff Thompson: My nephew, two years ago, went into Kohls with my sister and he got the $500 one, where you pull the thing off. Serena Gilbert: I haven't been to Kohls in so long, like for Black Friday. Kohls gets crazy on Black Friday. Andy Munoz: What store doesn't though? Serena Gilbert: Kohls and Best Buy are like the two worst ... Best Buy is worse. Our Best Buy, I'm not sure if you guys in Minnesota have people doing this, 'cause it's probably -3 outside, we will literally have people in tents outside of our Best Buy by like noon on Thanksgiving. Jeff Thompson: Well, the headquarters for Best Buy is in Minnesota. Serena Gilbert: So they're really camping out. Jeff Thompson: Are they ice fishing? Oh, they're waiting for the store to open up. Serena Gilbert: And it's for like five TVs. They usually have five TVs at that super cheap price and you're camped out there. Jeff Thompson: Yeah. And that's the thing, as you get older a little bit, you already have a TV, you already have some stuff. That's why I was saying the boutique stores or specialty stores 'cause I want to kind of narrow it down to see what certain companies I'm looking at. That's what I'm doing, I'm scouring and making a list and checking it twice. Serena Gilbert: What is on your guys' list for what you want Santa to bring you? Jeff Thompson: Oh, for Santa? Honestly, Lori and I have been talking about ... at our club, they have these spin bicycles, it's more like an apparatus for spinning or pedaling. Serena Gilbert: Mm-hmm (affirmative), okay. Jeff Thompson: Yourself. Serena Gilbert: If someone bought me air pods, I'd be happy. Oh, I don't know if you guys saw on Facebook what I shared today. There are jackets and I'm sure I'm like the last person to learn about these, that are heated with a little battery pack in the pocket. They will heat you up till it's like 100 degrees for up to eight hours. Andy Munoz: I'm laughing. A heated jacket, seriously? Serena Gilbert: It's literally a heated jacket that's battery powered, and you could use the battery to charge your cellphone. Andy Munoz: Wow, I have not heard of this, but I'm laughing- Serena Gilbert: I want one. Andy Munoz: ...because I'm sitting here thinking- Serena Gilbert: 'Cause you've already heard of these, huh? Andy Munoz: It's kind of ridiculous, but at the same point, with my job and having to- Serena Gilbert: It's totally needed. Andy Munoz: Having to travel and stuff. Serena Gilbert: You'd love it. That's what I was thinking of it for. For the days where I have to go up to Denver and I'm waiting for the bus. Jeff Thompson: You guys are not snow shoeing and cross country skiing out there to get places. Serena Gilbert: It's uncomfortable outside. We're not all used to -39 degrees Jeff. Jeff Thompson: That's reality over here. Serena Gilbert: So yod really like the heated jacket. Jeff Thompson: I'm really kind of getting back to reality because for the last eight years, prior to working at EBR, I worked from home, so I didn't have to go nowhere. Serena Gilbert: Mm-hmm (affirmative). They do have some stuff they make. I'm laughing because they were Jimmy Shoe or Jimmy Chu, I don't know, however you say it. They were $1,700. Jeff Thompson: Oh my God. Serena Gilbert: And those were heated boots. Jeff Thompson: I'll wear extra socks. Forget that mess. Serena Gilbert: The coat I think was worth it though, it was $139. Jeff Thompson: Yeah, that's still not bad for a coat. Serena Gilbert: No. It wasn't like a big, thick winter coat, it's pretty thin. But the fact that it's got the heating apparatus and stuff and it says you get free customer service. I would totally invest in that. Jeff Thompson: That's pretty cool. Andy Munoz: Santa can't afford me. I can barely afford me. Jeff Thompson: What's on your list? Andy Munoz: What isn't? Couple things that I'm kind looking at. I'm looking at a Chromebook. I want to play with that and check out the accessibility on it and have a little bit of knowledge of something new. Serena Gilbert: Those are pretty affordable. Andy Munoz: Yeah, they are. Serena Gilbert: I bet you could find one for like under $100 on Black Friday. Andy Munoz: Yeah, 'cause even right now, I looked, I found one that was just a little over 100 and it's not even Black Friday. Imagine when that day comes, lunch hour that day, I'll be looking. Jeff Thompson: November 23rd, right? Andy Munoz: Yes sir. Jeff Thompson: Like you were saying Serena, it starts at midnight Eastern time? Serena Gilbert: A lot of the sales, like Best Buy I know does. Walmart does. It's usually midnight Eastern, is when you can usually get on the sales. Amazon, I've never gotten a Black Friday deal on Amazon. Amazon is really weird the way they release them. They release them like ... so these deals come out at eight Eastern. Jeff Thompson: Oh, yeah, yeah. Serena Gilbert: These ones come out at nine. It's just too much to keep up with, so I usually don't even bother with Amazon. Maybe they'll do it differently this year. Jeff Thompson: One thing I've done this year, is I switched over to Apple pay. Serena Gilbert: I love ApplePay. Jeff Thompson: I know. It just simplifies a lot of things, especially when you're going through that checkout. Boom boom boom, done. Serena Gilbert: Yup. Even on your phone it works. Even if you're checking out in Safari, it does it. Andy Munoz: It works on your watch. Jeff Thompson: I just had to set something up, I got the Amazon credit card, Prime I think it's called. Serena Gilbert: Now that'll really get ya. I love it, but then it's disgusting how much rewards you get. Jeff Thompson: It is, but I just paid it. I bought something and then I paid it and I had $10. Serena Gilbert: You have to pay that one off, yeah. Jeff Thompson: Yeah. I think it's 16% interest or something. Serena Gilbert: When you first open it, I believe they give you $70 just right out the gate to you. Jeff Thompson: Oh yeah, yeah. It's really cool how those points add up. Serena Gilbert: You don't even want to know how many ... well put it this way, last year we had enough points, and we didn't get the card until February or March. In December, we were able to buy a cordless Dyson with the points. So that tells you how much that was. It was like, I don't know a couple $300. Then, right now we have enough, where if we were to buy the Shark, we'd only have to pay maybe like $100 for it. Jeff Thompson: It's a good deal, especially what comes with Amazon though is, if you get a product and you don't care for it, you got that 30 day window. Serena Gilbert: Some of it's 90. It just depends on the product. Jeff Thompson: Yeah, you can return it and it's just like that. Snap your fingers, it's almost gone and your credited back. Serena Gilbert: They credit it back as soon as they scan it at the UPS store. Jeff Thompson: Exactly. Serena Gilbert: Yeah. Jeff Thompson: It's not like, if I return something at Home Depot, it might be about four or five days before something happens. But I can get rid of my money a lot faster now that I have Apple pay because it's just boom boom. Jeff Thompson: Or PayPal works pretty good for some situations, especially when you're talking about smaller companies. They usually will have PayPal and that works out, it's pretty smooth. Few more clicks. Serena Gilbert: That's a really good tip, 'cause Best Buy is one even that accepts PayPal. A lot of bigger companies accept PayPal now and I prefer to do that then to type in my credit card number or try to figure out where I saved it. Jeff Thompson: Right. Andy Munoz: Oh, I've just got mine memorized. Serena Gilbert: I used to a long time ago and then I switched banks and I was like "Screw this, I don't feel like memorizing this one." So I never did. Jeff Thompson: I swear I've gone through three cards over the last year or two, because some of these breaches that happen here and there and you just don't know where, but all a sudden you get a new card and it's like "Okay, I used to memorize it." Now with Apple pay, it's locked in, it's ... I don't need to. Andy Munoz: Yeah. My Apply pay is a beautiful thing. Jeff Thompson: It is and there's other companies too. I saw Serena, you posted something about another type of paying format on Facebook. Serena Gilbert: I did. I use Venmo. Jeff Thompson: That's it, is that good? Serena Gilbert: I love Venmo 'cause you could literally send a text to somebody and pay them. Andy Munoz: Well, and you can actually do the same thing if the person has Apple pay, as long as you have your two factor authentication enabled, you can actually use Apple pay to do the same thing. Serena Gilbert: I don't have my two factor authentication turned on 'cause it kept annoying me and it still let me Apple pay someone via text, just over the weekend, yeah. Andy Munoz: Good to know, didn't know that. Serena Gilbert: I did have to authenticate it with Face ID. I didn't have to do the PIN number thing and all that. Jeff Thompson: What do you guys think about the early Black Friday deals? They say "Oh, early Black Friday" I think that's where they're cleaning up inventory. Serena Gilbert: When we're this close to Black Friday, I don't buy anything that's on my list within a month of Black Friday. Andy Munoz: You wait it out. Jeff Thompson: And then how long after Cyber Monday and then those weeks like "Oh, you missed it. You'll never get that deal again." Serena Gilbert: It's not true. They always have great deals. Jeff Thompson: They got inventory, they gotta move it. Serena Gilbert: And the markup on stuff ... electronics, it's not as much, but clothing and things like that, the markup is so high, they can do some massive discounts and still clear tons of profit. Jeff Thompson: I'm looking forward to it. I get excited, I don't try and let Lori know how excited I am, but she even said we should be looking for a refrigerator and I'm wondering it's like ... gosh I never looked for a refrigerator on Black Friday, but I'm sure some of those appliance places want to attract you. Serena Gilbert: They deeply discount that stuff on Black Friday too. You might not think ... 'cause I have some friends that bought the new washer and dryer on Black Friday and it was a really good deal. You won't have to fight people for it 'cause ... there's gonna be people at Lowe's and Home Depot, but they're fighting over some of the Christmas decorations and Christmas trees. They're not looking at refrigerators. Jeff Thompson: Mm-hmm (affirmative) Andy Munoz: That's actually a really good idea. We were actually looking to replace ours. Thanks for the tip on that. I think I'm gonna definitely be looking for that. Serena Gilbert: Yeah, the only thing I don't think they do discount is cars on Black Friday. The salesmen are all bored on Black Friday. Jeff Thompson: All black cars are on sale. Well, we're gonna put some links if we find some good stuff, we'll put them in the show notes here. My favorite spot to go is right to the website and get a lowdown. I don't have too many apps for stores, but I do have Target, Walmart, Macy's, Amazon as well. They'll talk about when their sales are coming up. So pay attention to that. We're gonna put Black Friday app that Serena found, that's accessible, right? Serena Gilbert: It is. It just looks really funny on the larger phone screens, but it still works. Jeff Thompson: It stretches. Serena Gilbert: It just doesn't fill the whole screen. Jeff Thompson: Oh, that's kinda cool. It's kinda like when you watch those old movies on a big, large- Serena Gilbert: It's retro. Jeff Thompson: Well, everybody out there, Happy Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Christmas shopping and stuff. What are you guys doing for the holidays? Big plans? Serena Gilbert: Turkey. We're smoking a turkey. Jeff Thompson: Really? Well you do live in Colorado. Serena Gilbert: Not that kind of smoking, oh my goodness. Jeff Thompson: You're smoking a turkey, so you have a smoker? Serena Gilbert: Yeah, the smoker. We did it last year, it's so good in the smoker. Jeff Thompson: How many hours does that take? Serena Gilbert: It doesn't take that long. I think, maybe three or four hours. I don't remember. It wasn't nearly as long as you would think though, because it's poultry, so it cooks a little bit faster. Jeff Thompson: Oh, cool. Andy, yourself? Staying in town? Andy Munoz: Yeah, we are. We always get together with my wife's family on Thanksgiving so, we'll be going to my sister in laws. I was considering making my own turkey this year but I just don't have enough freezer space right now. Jeff Thompson: Here in Minnesota, there was a big thing for a while, where you deep fry a turkey. Serena Gilbert: Mm-hmm (affirmative), those are delicious too. Jeff Thompson: Yeah. Lori's mom's coming up and we're hosting Thanksgiving here, so I'll let the gals have the kitchen and the guys will probably find the television. Serena Gilbert: That's usually how it ends up. Andy Munoz: There's gonna be some football on. I'll be watching. Jeff Thompson: We have Detroit playing Chicago and the Cowboys and the Redskins. Cowboys and Indians for Thanksgiving. Serena Gilbert: I think there's a golf tournament on Friday too between Tiger Woods and Phil Nicholson. It's like on paper view thing. Andy Munoz: One on one? Serena Gilbert: Yeah. Andy Munoz: Wow. Jeff Thompson: Oh wow, that's interesting. Andy Munoz: I'm just excited that I don't actually have to work on a holiday. Serena Gilbert: I can't believe they had you working on Thanksgiving. Andy Munoz: Oh yeah. We were 24/7 365. Serena Gilbert: Were people calling on Thanksgiving? Andy Munoz: Yeah. Serena Gilbert: Geez. Jeff Thompson: Well, that's the way it is. I would just announce that they're 24/7 every day of the year, so even on the holidays. Andy Munoz: Yep. World never stops. Serena Gilbert: Yeah. Jeff Thompson: Well you guys, good luck with your shopping. We'll get back together and see how we all did; how much damage was done. It's nice when you get a good deal. Like Serena said, when you get that thing in your hand, you're like "Got it!" Serena Gilbert: Oh, I got it! Jeff Thompson: It's a good feeling. Andy Munoz: Aint no waiting till Christmas on that. Jeff Thompson: Then, the next few days when the UPS truck starts pulling up, one after the other. Serena Gilbert: Dang it, it's just the dog food. Jeff Thompson: Well all of you, hope you get some good stuff and you all have a happy Thanksgiving. Best wishes to you and your families. Andy Munoz: Same to you. Serena Gilbert: Enjoy your shopping Jeff and Andy. Jeff Thompson: Well thank you all listening. This has been another Tech Abilities podcast and you can follow us on Twitter @Abilities tech. Thank you Serena, thank you Andy. Once again, want to thank you for listening. We hope you enjoyed. Until next time, bye-bye. Jeff Thompson: For more podcasts with a Blindness perspective, check us out on the web at www.BlindAbilities.com on Twitter @BlindAbilities. Download our app from the app store, Blind Abilities that's two words. Or send us an email at info@blindabilities.com thanks for listening.

show Summary:   That Blind Tech Show comes out fighting and takes on Spiders, a Messenger and what got into those earphones? The largely anticipated Apple event came early, and boy did Brian take notice. But due to his ability to dig down deep into the news and posts he filled the outline with all that mattered and was joined by Allison, Serina and Jeff to bring you a fun filled, informative and down-right explosive show. That is if you store your dynamite in the candle box. And by the way, the Air is back with the Mac Mini and some iPad pro’s that are on steroids. At least it seems like that. We talk about Audio description and Roy Samuelson makes a brief appearance to talk about his start in the Audio describing business. I can’t go on as I got to get this posted before the Apple Air Power is launched. Oh wait, tha’ts probably not until 2023. Keep your fingers crossed. You can find links to the topics and products mentioned in the cast below: Man sets fire to his home trying to kill spiders Facebook rolling out simplified interface for Messenger. Get ready for an explosion of Alexa enabled headphones. Apple has brought the Mac Air Back to life today! Mac Mini Contact Thank you for listening. Send us Feedback via email Follow us on Twitter @BlindTechShow That Blind Tech Show is produced in part with Blind Abilities Network You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store  

show Summary:  That Blind Tech Show comes out fighting and takes on Spiders, a Messenger and what got into those earphones? The largely anticipated Apple event came early, and boy did Brian take notice. But due to his ability to dig down deep into the news and posts he filled the outline with all that mattered and was joined by Allison, Serina and Jeff to bring you a fun filled, informative and down-right explosive show. That is if you store your dynamite in the candle box. And by the way, the Air is back with the Mac Mini and some iPad pro’s that are on steroids. At least it seems like that. We talk about Audio description and Roy Samuelson makes a brief appearance to talk about his start in the Audio describing business. I can’t go on as I got to get this posted before the Apple Air Power is launched. Oh wait, tha’ts probably not until 2023. Keep your fingers crossed. You can find links to the topics and products mentioned in the cast below: Man sets fire to his home trying to kill spiders Facebook rolling out simplified interface for Messenger. Get ready for an explosion of Alexa enabled headphones. Apple has brought the Mac Air Back to life today! Mac Mini Contact Thank you for listening. Send us Feedback via email Follow us on Twitter @BlindTechShow That Blind Tech Show is produced in part with Blind Abilities Network You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store  

Show Summary: Tech Abilities is back in the studio and Serina, Andy and Jeff talk about Smart Devices. From Smart Switches, Smart Thermostats, Smart Smoke and Gas Detectors, Door Bell Cameras and the Google Hub. But is the Apple Home Kit App good enough? Check out this entertaining and informational look at the devices watching you and putting some convenience into your life. How did we get by without it? Hmmm. You can follow Tech Abilities on twitter @AbilitiesTech Contact: Tech Abilities is part of the Blind Abilities Network and be sure to check out all of our shows and podcasts. Thank you for listening! You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities Appon the App Store.   Full Transcript: Tech Abilities: Hey Portal, You Watching Me? Smart Home Devices and the Smart Shadow Enters the Thought Bubble Serena Gilbert: It's called the Facebook Portal. Does anyone here trust Facebook? Andy Munoz: Other than the fact that we're tech nerds ... Serena Gilbert: Nope, I don't think I'm going to upgrade, and both of you did in a week. Jeff Thompson: Yeah, an accessible thought bubble. Serena Gilbert: Do you have a smart phonograph, Jeff? What the heck is that? Andy Munoz: Google's your friend, look it up. Serena Gilbert: So, you want a smart shadow. Jeff Thompson: Yeah. Andy Munoz: Having these smart devices, they are truly game changers. Serena Gilbert: Silver. Andy Munoz: Space gray. Jeff Thompson: Gold. Andy Munoz: I smell smoke. Is your Nest going off, Jeff? Serena Gilbert: See what happens when you tell me I'm getting fat? Andy Munoz: I said you could grow into that Blind Abilities t-shirt. Jeff Thompson: Boom, music comes on and six sheets of toilet paper pop out. Serena Gilbert: Exactly. Serena Gilbert: All right, you guys ready? I'm not going to count down. I'm going to make you look for when we start [inaudible]. Good luck. Andy Munoz: Three, two- Serena Gilbert: No. Andy Munoz: One. Serena Gilbert: Nope. All right, I will count down. I'll be nice. Three, two, one. Welcome back to Tech Abilities. This is Serena Gilbert and I am, of course, joined with Jeff Thompson and Andy Munoz. Jeff, how are you? Jeff Thompson: Sorry. Serena Gilbert: Apparently, Jeff is choking. Jeff Thompson: I'm doing great, Serena. Glad to be back. Serena Gilbert: We haven't been around for a while now, but we are back and we've got a great episode. Andy, how are you? Andy Munoz: I'm good. I'm good. I'm actually glad to be back. Serena Gilbert: And, Andy's not choking for the record. Andy Munoz: Nope. No choking here. Jeff Thompson: Ouch. Serena Gilbert: Ouch. You'll be okay, Jeff. You're a big boy. Have you guys heard about the latest news about Facebook? Jeff Thompson: Oh, do tell. Do tell. Serena Gilbert: Apparently, they have a new smart device coming out called the Facebook Portal. Jeff Thompson: I'm got a feeling somebody's watching me. Serena Gilbert: Right? Andy Munoz: Cue the Michael Jackson song. There we go. Serena Gilbert: Perfect timing, Jeff, as usual. Everything about it is ironic from the name of it to all the press surrounding it. It's called the Facebook Portal so theoretically I know what they were going for there. It's like you're in the same room, but does anyone here trust Facebook? Jeff Thompson: How about you, Andy? Do you trust Facebook? Andy Munoz: You know, can you trust anything, honestly? Jeff Thompson: Right. Andy Munoz: Yet, we still use it. The way I look at it is I don't put something out there that I don't want somebody to know 'cause even with locking it down and doing all that stuff, there's people, they want it ... Where there's a will, there's a way. Don't put nothing out there that I don't want nobody to see. Serena Gilbert: The weird thing about Facebook is there's already a theory that we think Facebook listens to us when we're not in it. We've tested this. Start talking about childcare and all of a sudden, you're going to have every childcare center ad in your newsfeed that you ever wanted to see. Andy Munoz: Yep, yep. Serena Gilbert: There's something to it. I really do think that there's something that they're listening to. Imagine putting that in your living room where they're not only able to listen but see what you're doing. Jeff Thompson: Yeah, we could really paint this into a corner if we want to, but when you look at other companies such as Target and Home Depot and various other ones on the internet that have had hacks exposing people's identification and personal information, it's inevitable that stuff like this is going to happen, I imagine. It seems like when something like this happens to Facebook, it seems like it really gets a lot of attention. Andy Munoz: Usually, if you have a big name and something happens ... We've all got these high expectations so then they lose credibility, but it really can happen to anybody. Serena Gilbert: Well, let's hear about the specs on this Facebook Portal and then tell me what you guys think about it too. It's funny when you think about it. There's two different versions. There's the standard one. It will be $199. The Portal Plus, as they call it, is a much larger screen and then it's an HD. That will be $349. Both of them say that the camera essentially will follow you as you're talking to somebody or video chatting with them. Serena Gilbert: They initially said that no data was going to be stored and that everything was nice and secure. They then came back and said, "But, wait. We will the information to target ads to you." Yeah. So, the camera's following you in the room and they're targeting ads at you. Still like it? I don't know. Andy Munoz: Regardless of whether you like it or not, there's just no getting away from it because you get the ads even on Facebook itself. I can go right now and I can do a search on Amazon for smart home devices and I guarantee you as soon as I click into Facebook, it's going to show me what I last searched for. For me, it's more or less going to be about what all can it do? What are all the different features? What's going to sell it to me that's going to allow me to really overlook that targeting commercial stuff to me? Serena Gilbert: You're not taking it off your Christmas list yet? Andy Munoz: I wouldn't say I would take it off. It doesn't matter what you do, you're not going to get away from that stuff. As much as you'd like to, as much as I'd like to, it's there. At this point, again, it's going to go back to, what are the features? What's going to make me want to buy this thing that I can't do with another device? Serena Gilbert: Yeah. Jeff, you have this on your shopping list? Jeff Thompson: No, I don't have it on my Christmas list yet, but I should get that started. The thing is, with all these different devices and ecosystems out there, I'm starting to wonder if someone should start with one ecosystem and stick with just one such as yourself. What benefits does the Facebook Portal have over your Amazon Show? Serena Gilbert: I don't think it offers anything different because they both do the video chatting. The screen does appear to be a little bit larger on the Facebook Portal. I think that the entry-level price on it is cheaper because the Amazon Show is, I believe, $229 and the Facebook Portal would be starting at $199. There's a $30 difference there. Serena Gilbert: It's really funny because I saw the ad on Facebook, of course, and the comments ... I just had to read the comments 'cause they were so funny and everyone's like, "So, why can't I just FaceTime?" Jeff Thompson: Yeah, right? Serena Gilbert: You're offering me a speaker that you say I can make all these calls on, I can just do that on my phone already, so what's the point? 'Cause they're not boosting that it has this awesome sound quality, they're not advertising that it's smart. I guess it will have Alexa built into it. Sorry, guys. It will have the 'A' lady built into it, but why would you spend the money on a third-party device to have the 'A' lady when you can get that straight from Amazon anyway? Andy Munoz: The other part of it too is you can actually video chat via Facebook Messenger just depending upon what device you're using. If I'm sitting at my computer, I've already got a 19" HD display so why would I want to invest in something different other than the fact that we're tech nerds and we like to know these things and we never know when we're going to run across something where we're maybe going to have to maybe troubleshoot something like that. That would be maybe its sole purpose. Jeff Thompson: Well, I think that Facebook is coming late into the game in this. The newness of the new products coming out, everyone wanted to experiment or explore these new gidgets and gadgets and now we all have probably multiple ecosystems in our house. You might have a Google or Amazon or an Apple device going right now. Is it time right now to add one more to the mix that we have in our house? That sometimes I think it's not doing exactly what I thought it would. So, I think people are being desensitized from the thrill of it all, the newness of these types of gadgets and Facebook is just a little late into the game. Serena Gilbert: Yeah, it always makes you wonder, is there really room on my shelf for one more smart device? Where would I even put it? Jeff Thompson: I wonder what we're going to have to say to invoke the Facebook Portal, "Mr. Senator," or "Yo, Zucker." Serena Gilbert: You say, and does this sound at all familiar, "Hey, Portal." Jeff Thompson: Really? Serena Gilbert: Yeah, which those of us who are super lucky enough to have HomePods ... Jeff Thompson: Super lucky. Serena Gilbert: Super lucky. Jeff Thompson: Super. Serena Gilbert: Super- Jeff Thompson: Lucky. Serena Gilbert: ... lucky. We know what the wake word is for that. Very similar. Jeff Thompson: It'd be funny if it was Mr. Senator. Yes, Senator. Yes, Senator. Andy Munoz: What kind of responses does it give if you call it the wrong name? Jeff Thompson: I have no idea. It's not out until, what, November? Mid-November? Serena Gilbert: It says November. It doesn't even have a specific data, it just says November. I predict ... I think this is going to be a big, huge flop for Facebook. I think this is going to be a lot of lost money because who knows how many they've already produced. They'll probably sell maybe 100,000 which is nothing when there's how many billion users on Facebook? Jeff Thompson: Yeah, plus the fact when I looked it up. I think ten things came up when I did my search, nine of them were about, "Is this a good idea? Should they pull the plug now? Should they save their costs? Are the stocks falling on Facebook?" and, "Do you trust Facebook to secure this information that it's gathering?" I don't know. I don't think it's going to be on my Christmas list, Serena. Serena Gilbert: I know one thing that I keep trying to get you to add to the Christmas list, but I don't know if you will. Jeff Thompson: What's that? Serena Gilbert: Remember? I told my bestie that you wanted a HomePod. Jeff Thompson: Oh! And you want to go to CSUN. Serena Gilbert: You know it. Jeff Thompson: That's coming up. That's around the corner. Serena Gilbert: Better get to planning. Jeff Thompson: The more we talk, the closer it gets. Serena Gilbert: There's a really good Christmas gift right there. Andy can go too. Andy Munoz: Hey. Jeff Thompson: There you go. Serena Gilbert: We'll get in all kinds of trouble. It's in Anaheim this time. Jeff Thompson: Someone's got to run that Colorado show out there though. Serena Gilbert: We'll be okay. Andy Munoz: We'll survive. Jeff Thompson: A new device that's out from Google is the Google Home Hub ... Yeah, the Google Home Hub. Serena Gilbert: The need a better name for that one. Jeff Thompson: I was wondering if this was the answer to anybody out there that has collected a few devices, one for their Google Home that works on their ... One works on the Amazon Device. If this is the answer that will solve some of the problems of bringing everything together. Serena Gilbert: How does the Hub work? I don't fully understand it. Jeff Thompson: Okay. A hub is also known as a bridge and what it is is a central location device that actually can control all the different smart devices that you have located throughout your house. If you have smart plugs, smart switches, smart doorbells, smart thermostat, you can actually connect them up all to one spot, which is a hub and then access that. Jeff Thompson: Typically, what people do is access it through an iPad or something so they have one control. From there, you can set up groups, you can set up different modes for things to be on that come on at certain times, go off at certain times. You can group lights together, you can have full control over all these devices in one location rather than using the TP app, the WeMo app, and the Nest app and figure out everything else. You can actually tie them all together and that's what a hub/bridge does. Jeff Thompson: The HomeKit app, that app was put out, is something that was trying to become a bridge in your wi-fi system to tie all these together. Now, you've got to remember that everything has to be able to reach the wi-fi system. You might have a plug or a switch far enough away where your wi-fi isn't that great, so you'll have to do an extender. Whereas, you can get pretty elaborate. You can go into the Z-Wave system, which actually every device that's hooked up becomes a little transmitter too so it can chainlink all these together so it can reach a further distance. Jeff Thompson: Interesting stuff once you get interesting stuff once you get into the high-end of homes, but as for affordability and everything, I think Google Home Hub is an idea. It might be something that works good for you, but I think HomeKit really has the advantage here in wi-fi in the future. If you're just talking about adding some conveniences to your house and not really going into the major planning of a full day operation of automation going on. Jeff Thompson: Shades open. Lights on. Mood setting. Thermostat adjust and someday turn on stereo system. Play phonograph. Set the mood. The possibilities could be endless. You can do some of that with HomeKit, but yeah. Basically, that's was a hub/bridge does. It ties everything together under one physical device that you can access and control everything. Serena Gilbert: I'm just so distracted because I'm pretty sure you said phonograph. Andy Munoz: He did say phonograph. Serena Gilbert: What the heck is that? Andy Munoz: It's a record player. Serena Gilbert: Do you have a smart phonograph, Jeff? Jeff Thompson: I'm just saying, yeah, there probably is one. You can get one to skip and ... Andy Munoz: Yeah, you can get it to do some scratchin'. Scratchin'. You know? You know? Jeff Thompson: Yeah. Serena Gilbert: Yes, Jeff. You are definitely the old man right now. Andy Munoz: Well, it's funny because my kid's now into buying vinyls and I'm like, "Why are they even still making those," and come to find out yeah, they're making record players again. Jeff Thompson: I have two record players and I collected albums back in the day and I still have them. They're popular again. It's kind of neat. Andy Munoz: It's kind of interesting how technology's going full circle. Serena Gilbert: Jeff, for the young ones listening to our podcast, what's an album? You going to tell them that? No, I'm just kidding. Andy Munoz: Google's your friend, look it up. Serena Gilbert: On your smart speaker. Andy Munoz: Ask the 'A' lady, she'll tell you. Serena Gilbert: I am curious, because this is all about smart devices, if we could go around, I guess the virtual table and let's hear about what smart devices you have in your home right now and what you like, what you don't like, maybe, if you're on the market for a new one. We'll start with you, Andy. Andy Munoz: Okay. So, right now, I don't have any. I'm in the market. I've got a pretty archaic thermostat. The thing is huge, but the problem is I can see the numbers, but I can't see how it programs. I certainly want something that I have a little bit more that I can do with it then having to rely on somebody else to set it up. Jeff Thompson: What you're saying is you want to be the master of your own domain. Andy Munoz: There you go. Jeff Thompson: There you go. Serena Gilbert: Seinfeld reference. Andy Munoz: Primarily, I'm just looking for a thermostat. Ceiling fans would be nice. Serena Gilbert: They make smart ceiling fans? Andy Munoz: Yeah, they make ... Serena Gilbert: I didn't know that. Andy Munoz: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Serena Gilbert: That would be really cool. Jeff Thompson: Oh, yeah. They invented the ceiling fan right after the phonograph. When I was looking up the Google Home Hub, the GHH, they claim that it can connect up to 5,000 different devices. So, that probably includes the phonographs and let's see, what came out right after phonographs? Ceiling fans, Serena. Yeah, there's probably a smart gidget or gadget out there for pert near anything. Andy Munoz: Oh, yeah. When I was working with Apple, I got a guy that called in that was setting up a smart garage door opener. Serena Gilbert: Now, why do we need that? I really don't understand that. What does it recognize your car when you drive up to it? Jeff Thompson: Well, when you have your smart Amazon Drive in your car, you can then just say, "Open, sesame." Serena Gilbert: Oh, my God. Jeff Thompson: Lower the drawbridge. Serena Gilbert: Secret passcode, right? I really don't understand what a smart garage door would do that a regular garage door ... You push a button and it opens. What else do we need it to do? Jeff Thompson: You have to actually move your arm to push the button. Serena Gilbert: I get it because ... We laugh at how lazy this is making us 'cause we don't have to leave our couch to turn the light on or off or adjust the thermostat, but it truly does open up accessibility for tons and tons of people with disabilities that have mobility impairments or maybe even a cognitive impairment where it just makes a life a lot more independent and affordable. Before, doing something like this would be thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars, now they can just get it right on the market. Andy Munoz: Or, even just the simple fact that you either make some sort of adjustment cosmetically or what have you so that it could be used or you stay reliant on somebody to help you with that. Having these smart devices, they are truly game changers. For the rest of us, yeah, it makes us lazy. Jeff Thompson: As long as your wi-fi doesn't get knocked down. Andy Munoz: Yeah, that too. Yeah. Serena Gilbert: I was just thinking that. I was just about to say, "Until somebody hacks it." Then, it will drive you crazy. Jeff Thompson: One of the concerns I would be looking into is if I was going to get the Canary or the HomeSafe alarm system that hooks up to your wi-fi and is a smart device, that, just like the bridge and the hub, are these connected to just your wi-fi or if someone cuts your wi-fi cable, will it give you an alert through cellular or run off the cellular? Andy Munoz: I believe that they do because actually my brother-in-law just made some changes. He gave up his business-class wi-fi and went back to residential and they bundled it all and got the security system. Yeah, if the wi-fi goes down it then does go to cellular. Jeff Thompson: Oh, that's nice. Serena Gilbert: Yeah, 'cause we have a Honeywell Lyric. With got it for free from our home owner's insurance company and they gave us four of them. What it is is you put anywhere that there's water that could possibly leak and it's connected to wi-fi. It also puts this obnoxious, loud beeping sound A, when there is water that it detects and B, just when the battery is dying. Andy Munoz: Does it go onto the floor? Serena Gilbert: Well, you can do it two different ways. We have one on the hose of our washer and it's got this cord that you can wrap around it that if it detects the water then it will set off the alarm. Or, you can just set it on the floor and you don't need the cord then. As soon as it detects water it will start beeping and it will send a notification to your phone. Serena Gilbert: When we changed our wi-fi, we never put them back on the new wi-fi 'cause I frankly couldn't remember how to do it. When we changed our router out and had to get a new wi-fi network put up, it sent emails to me saying that they were offline. That's really cool because your hot water heater could be leaking for days and you'd never know. Ours is in the basement. We don't go down there but maybe once a month. Jeff Thompson: That's neat. That's less invasive. There's a more invasive one that actually goes right into your plumbing system. You cut the line and you put this device in there and it will notify you if the pressure drops. If you're on vacation, your lines should have no open valves so there should be a constant pressure and if that pressure drops significantly, then it will give you a signal and notify you that there's been a change, possibly a leak, that could really devastate your home. Serena Gilbert: Yeah, that could save a lot of money. Imagine if you came back from vacation and there were six feet of water in your basement. Jeff Thompson: Swimming pool, yeah. Serena Gilbert: Yeah. Andy Munoz: Well, I was talking to somebody that they were out of town, but their son was there. He didn't realize it, but there had been a leak. So, their basement flooded and, on top of it, they ended up with a $5,000 water bill. That was in the course of three weeks. Serena Gilbert: Oh, my God. I would cry. Oh, my God. Andy Munoz: Yeah, it was pretty crazy. Jeff Thompson: Oh, wow. I think a lot of these devices, like you're saying, for someone that has a speech impediment of some sort or something, that there's alternative devices now that through your wi-fi, making the home smarter. We just usually think about these devices that we're using today, but a lot of these switches and commands that we're using are pretty versatile and available to other people. Like you said, it used to be tens of thousands of dollars to make a home accessible for someone with a disability that it may help them open a door or turn on lights as you said, but now, these devices are stuff we buy off the shelf. Jeff Thompson: You can get the Hue lights and dim your lights and do other things and the switches and put everything on a timer. My driveway lights ... I have a WeMo light switch that my driveway lights come on when it gets dark, sunset, and goes off at a certain time. Then, I have some lamps in the living room that come on at the same time and go off at the same time. I have three switches working like that, plug in switches and one light switch. I like that automation because kind of get it. The lights come on. Oh, it's dark out, if you can sense that. If someone comes over, the house isn't just totally dark. Andy Munoz: Well, it's nice especially in today's society, you definitely want to have those lights on on the outside. You don't want people creeping up on your house. For me, I look at the negative side of that just because it is real. You definitely want to make sure that you have some light so your house can be seen, and I think it detracts from people wanting to do anything to it in a negative manner. Jeff Thompson: Plus, when you're away from home ... When I was in England, I could actually turn the lights off or on just from a flip on my phone, from the app. Andy Munoz: Right. Jeff Thompson: Something to remember about some of these home devices, it seems so great. Hey, just put a light switch in, but to put a light switch in with the WeMo and other ones, you do need all three wires there. You need your positive, your negative, and your neutral wire. Andy Munoz: Right. Jeff Thompson: Typically, a house that was built pre-90s, I believe, somewhere around there, switches were interrupters. So, they only ran the hot wire down to one side and to the other so when you switch is down, it breaks the connection. Lot of houses either had them drop down from the ceiling or they came up from the basement. The switches were not the place to run all the wires. They ran those to the lights above and just dropped down the ones. Jeff Thompson: That may be a problem if you want to add a light switch or a dimmer switch, but you will need to have all three there. If you don't, then you have to have an electrician come in and run a neutral wire up and facilitate it that way. So, that could get expensive. Andy Munoz: Right. It's good just to know that in general. Jeff Thompson: Oh, for sure. It also might justify spending the money for a smart light bulb where you can control that specific light bulb or a group of light bulbs with a command from an app or a voice command directed at one of your personal devices such as an Amazon, Google, Apple device, your smart speaker device. Jeff Thompson: Another device that I'm kind of interested is the Look or Nest makes a product, a couple other people make these products, they're cameras on your doorbell. When motion happens at the front door, you'll get a message on your phone that says, "Motion at front door," and that solves the problem of thinking, "Why do I need a camera at the front door?" Well, the camera does give the indication that there's motion, which then triggers the notification that you'll get, but these two need the existing wire that the previous doorbell used because they need a transformer. So, that's something you want to look into. Jeff Thompson: If you don't have a doorbell, then you'll have to install this pre-wiring beforehand. If you do have one, you have to make sure that it's 24 volts running to it because all these devices do need a power source to be running. Just beware, when you're thinking and considering and buying these products, read the small braille. Andy Munoz: Love it. Love it. Small braille. Serena Gilbert: Oh, man. Isn't all the braille small? Jeff Thompson: There is jumbo braille for people with neuropathy. Jeff Thompson: Serena, what kind of devices are you working with? Serena Gilbert: I have a WeMo plug. One thing I wanted to share with you guys is that, if you have Amazon Prime, there's been a few times just in the last few months where they sent out a deal where you can get a smart plug or a smart light bulb for only $10. We bought one when they did that and, sad to say, it's still sitting in the package because I need two and I've just been too cheap to buy the second one for my lamps downstairs. Serena Gilbert: It was summer when I bought them, so I was like, "Oh, we never need the lights on anyways." Now, it gets dark at like 6:15, 6:30 and it would be nice to just go on my phone and turn them on or use the Echo to turn them on. Jeff Thompson: Yeah, I noticed and that's how I've got ... I don't know why I'm coughing. Serena Gilbert: You're just getting too old over there. Jeff Thompson: Geez, you're sticking with this one. Serena Gilbert: See what happens when you tell me I'm getting fat? Jeff Thompson: I didn't say that. I know not to say stuff like that. Serena Gilbert: Would you like to share what you said? Jeff Thompson: I said you could grow into that Blind Abilities t-shirt. Serena Gilbert: No, you said I'm going to grow into it because of the shake that I had. Jeff Thompson: Why don't you tell the listeners what you put in your shake tonight? Serena Gilbert: Shameless plug for Five Guys Burgers and Fries. I had a shake and I added Oreo to it and Oreo cream and Double Stuff Oreo. I see nothing wrong with that. Jeff Thompson: Plus, some ice cream, right? Serena Gilbert: Milk, with sugar. Jeff Thompson: Yeah, so I'll repeat it. You'll probably grow into that t-shirt. Serena Gilbert: This is not helping you. You're going to get some hate mail from all the ladies out there. Jeff Thompson: If anybody else would like to grow into a Blind Abilities t-shirt, email us at info@blindabilities.com. Andy Munoz: Yeah. Serena Gilbert: Oh, my goodness. Not very nice, Jeff. Andy Munoz: But, it is funny. Serena Gilbert: I'm telling my bestie on you. Jeff Thompson: You do have a HomePod, right? Serena Gilbert: I do. If anyone's ever listened to me on any podcast, they know I absolutely adore that HomePod. Jeff Thompson: Yeah, I hear it is good sound. So are the Sonos. The Sonos are pretty good and with the smart device built into those too. The thing is, with API on those since it's not a true Amazon device, you only get partial use of the full functionality of what you'll get out of an Amazon device like the Dot or the Echo. Sometimes you forget that you only get that limited usage out of them. I wonder how much the Facebook Portal will have? Serena Gilbert: It's probably the same API that they have on the Sonos because the Amazon's got to give you some reason to buy theirs. Why would you ever buy the Amazon one when the Sonos clearly sounds way better sound-wise. There has to be some incentive. Jeff Thompson: Yeah, just be aware when you're buying these devices what they connect up with. Some connect up with more than one platform. It might connect up to Amazon or it might connect up to Apple, but just check that out. Jeff Thompson: With the HomeKit app in your iOS device, that application is your hub, your bridge, and that might be the thing of the future, using your wi-fi. Whereas the hub, it just may be ... Serena Gilbert: I feel like it's another way for them to get you to spend- Jeff Thompson: More money. Serena Gilbert: $100. With me, 'cause I have the HomePod, I have the Amazon device, I'm trying to be smart about the devices that I choose since we don't have a smart home yet where either I can find some that work with both or depending on where the device that I'm buying is going to be, it works with whatever is closest to it. Andy Munoz: Definitely some strategy into it. Serena Gilbert: Yeah. One weird thing that I noticed when I did get the HomePod is, for some reason, and I don't know if it's the way that Apple's system is so locked down, but the devices that say they're compatible with HomeKit, they're never the ones ... They're always more expensive it seems. The ones that are compatible with the Amazon devices, there's so many of them that the price has come down on them. When you look at the ones that say HomeKit, it's like upwards of double the price for the same functionality. Andy Munoz: I'm guessing you're right that Apple is so locked down with everything that they do and you don't have a lot of choice as you do with Amazon or Google. A lot of the coding and development and stuff that goes into all that stuff is open source. Not to dog Google in any way, shape, or form by saying this, but their standards are more open than what you get with an Apple. I would venture to say that you're right on that. Jeff Thompson: When I first started down this path of adding smart switches and smart plugins, outlets to the house, I went with WeMo and I stuck with it. It seems to be doing good and just lately, I got an update and now the WeMo switches, the smart, mini WeMo switches, are able to work with the HomeKit, which is the native app in your iOS device titled, "Home," H-O-M-E. Jeff Thompson: The new ones that you get, they'll have a little code on them and you just scan it and it will register right into your application of your HomeKit and boom, there you go. That is very similar to my Nest Protect because all I did there was scan in the product and boom, it was connected up into my app, which just makes it very nice. Jeff Thompson: In the app, it does incorporate that these devices can now be synced up together. I have them synced up with my Amazon device, my google device, my iPhone. I can make my iPad, which stays at home basically, as the hub. By me invoking the HomeKit as my hub, do I really need a Google Home Hub? Do I really need a central device? I think I'm okay. Andy Munoz: I guess if you look at it from most people's perspective, we want it with generally a handheld device. Let's face it. There's times that we're not going to be in our home, when we want to be able to have that remote access, that remote control. I think that the hubs are a nice thought, but I don't know how realistic it is. Jeff Thompson: Serena, you had mentioned that you were considering a basement remodel. Have you thought about incorporating the smart home features? Serena Gilbert: It would be nice kind of thing, but yeah, we haven't officially done that. All I really want in the house right now is a smart thermostat because I really struggle with what temperature it is in the house. The house is only two years old. I meant the builder if they could put in a smart one for me and then I just spaced it. I regret that. Serena Gilbert: I really have to rethink it 'cause I know that my husband would like a doorbell camera at some point. It's like do we go with Ring; do we go with Nest because I'd like it to just all be the same brand just to make life easy. Jeff Thompson: I have a Nest Protect and that's a smoke alarm that mounts to the ceiling. If I buy another Nest Protect, they communicate with each other and announce their location. In a case of an emergency, you will know where the smoke is coming from. Speaker 4:           Emergency. There's smoke downstairs. Jeff Thompson: If I do get a Nest thermostat, that too will connect to the family of Nest products. If there is a fire, it will shut off the furnace so you don't have the air blowing around and flaming the fire ... Flaming? Wafting the flame. Serena Gilbert: Good job. Your old brain worked. Jeff Thompson: Oh, it may not be as quick as a Millennial, but it's wiser. Jeff Thompson: So, having items from the same family, the same Nest products in my situation pays off for me. I would also like to mention that the Nest Protect, the smoke alarm that's in the ceiling, has a glowing light on it and it comes on when it senses motion. So, in the middle of the night, if you walk past it, it will glow brighter. Serena Gilbert: That's cool. Jeff Thompson: Yeah, so that's a neat little feature that will help family members as well. Serena, you mentioned the doorbell with the camera. Now, some people may say, "Why do I need a camera when I can't see who's out there?" However, the camera senses motion and then it will send you a notification that there's motion at the front door. Serena Gilbert: That's very cool. Jeff Thompson: I see the benefits in that as well. Jeff Thompson: Now, a friend of mine, just to be fair, has the Honeywell thermostat. Serena Gilbert: Is the Honeywell app accessible? Jeff Thompson: He says it is, however, he doesn't use voice over but he tested it and he says it is. I haven't put it through the rigors, but it's $100 cheaper and Honeywell is a good product. It has high ratings on it as well. However, being in the same family and interconnecting as such, I think Nest makes a good line of product that really should be considered. Plus, Nest is owned by Google, right? Serena Gilbert: Is it? Jeff Thompson: Yeah. Serena Gilbert: [inaudible] conspiracy. Andy Munoz: I have to say though, I'm with Jeff on the whole ... Usually, if I buy a brand, that's usually what I like to stick to and keep it consistent. A lot of it, I think, has to do for me about what the previous experiences have been. If I bought something like a Samsung TV and it's worked well for me, I'm going to be more inclined to go back out and buy that same brand just because I've had that good experience and I trust it. I think too, part of it too is if they can communicate with each other in some way, shape, or form, all the better. Jeff Thompson: Yeah, safety first. That brings up home security systems in your house that hooks up with wi-fi from doors to windows. I'm starting to wonder how many devices you can have connected up to your wi-fi system before it becomes over-weighted or strained. That's probably where a hub comes in because it would take that load. Until you get to that point, I think that's when you start wondering about a hub. Jeff Thompson: I just want to use the apps that each thing comes with. Set it up one time and move on. I don't want to have to pull that out all the time and say, "Honey, let's set the mood lighting for this movie," or have all my Christmas lights on my iPad so I can spell words or have special designs going across. That's not my bag. I just want these devices to work out of their own app. I just think the HomeKit, the home app, will suffice for most people that are venturing into the smart home devices. Andy Munoz: Well, because I think too we all have this thing where we generally know when we're going to be home and when we're not unless you have something where you're out of the norm, you have a function that you're going to go to or what have you. In my house, I generally know who's going to be home and when they're going to be home. To be able to say, "All right, yeah, let's have a heat come on at this time. Have it shut off at this time," that kind of stuff is super convenient. Andy Munoz: Because right now, it's one of those things where because I can't program it the way that I want and my wife isn't able to program it, she's [inaudible]. It's just an archaic thermostat. There's times she'll say 8:30 at night, "It's cold." I have to turn it up because yeah, it shut down when it really should have been on. There again, it would be nice to have something where definitely have that control and to be able to do that and know that it's going to be consistent. Jeff Thompson: Serena, do you want the Amazon Bathroom where you walk in and the lights come on, the toilet seat heats up, and boom, music comes on and six sheets of toilet paper pop out? Serena Gilbert: If you can find a way to heat my floor in my bathroom, I'd be happy. Jeff Thompson: Oh, they have that. Serena Gilbert: I don't know if I need the toilet seat heat. I'm okay. But, I was thinking about what you guys were talking about and I was just thinking of the cost savings with that. Just the heat alone to save it ... 'Cause right now, our heat's just either off or on. Then, we all know the theory behind how long it takes to raise the heat so many degrees. It's more expensive then to keep it steady. Serena Gilbert: Then, there's also the cost savings of if you own your house. Especially with the smoke detectors that you have, Jeff, I'm sure you're saving money on your home owner's insurance too. Jeff Thompson: Yeah, that's great, Serena, because if you contact your insurance company you can find out so much more about what you could be doing to your house for safety-wise that will ultimately save you money in the insurance policy premium. Serena Gilbert: It'd be totally worth it. Jeff Thompson: Oh, yeah. You want to tell them you have a smoke alarm. Don't call them and tell them you don't have any. Serena Gilbert: What do you mean you didn't have one? Hold on a minute. We need to raise your premium a little bit. Jeff Thompson: Back pay. It's just really nice that there's devices out there that we can implement into our lives. Like you said, Andy, just make it more convenient and ... Especially the doorbell. I'm really intrigued about that, the camera. I was the one that would always say, "Why do I need a camera? I can't see blah, blah, blah," but that it alerts you, you know? Serena Gilbert: Some of them have it where you can speak to them. Jeff Thompson: Oh, yeah. Yeah. Serena Gilbert: And, hear the sound. Jeff Thompson: That's a neat alert. You know someone's at the front door. Andy Munoz: Yes, I was just going to say, "And, they have no idea that you're not even home." Jeff Thompson: Right. I'm going to get one before trick-or-treaters come out. This will be fun. Serena Gilbert: Scare them. Oh, my goodness. Well, it will especially help during the holiday season when you're expecting your Amazon packages 'cause if there's sound with it too, there's pretty distinct noise when the UPS truck pulls up. Jeff Thompson: I think if you do it right ... We should appeal to all the truck drivers that deliver packages to wear little bells on their shoes so we know it's them. Serena Gilbert: It's like a code. That reminds me though. I was watching Shark Tank a few weeks ago and there was a business on there and they didn't get a deal, but it was a smart device that it was a box that the driver would scan the code on the package, it'd open up the box, they'd put the package in there, and then it would close back up again. They didn't get a deal for obvious reasons because, frankly, the UPS drivers probably aren't going to scan it. They're just going to sit the package on top of the box and keep going. Serena Gilbert: It did bring up an interesting thing though. If they could have licensed that to UPS or FedEx or USPS, made it part of their flow, that could really curb porch pirates. Jeff Thompson: I got a question for you guys. What device isn't out there yet, but you would like to have a smart device as? Serena Gilbert: Oh, you know what I'm going to say as my son always says when I ask him questions. I want my smart self-driving car. Jeff Thompson: That's coming. Serena Gilbert: But it's not accessible. There's too many laws. Jeff Thompson: They'll probably have a little screen to open the door and it will be like, "Everything's accessible except you can't get in the door." Serena Gilbert: Yeah. You have to put in this passcode that's on this touchscreen. Jeff Thompson: They'll have a Captcha. Serena Gilbert: God, I hate those things. Then, you try to listen to it. Jeff Thompson: Oh, yeah. Four seven three apple two orange W. Serena Gilbert: You're like, "Are you in a call center doing this?" I don't understand. Jeff Thompson: I know it's crazy. It's like, "Gosh, I had good hearing until I heard that." Andy Munoz: If you'd get you a tin can that would sound so perfect. Jeff Thompson: Yeah. Serena Gilbert: I hate those things. Jeff Thompson: I was on a website today. I know this is off topic. I was on a website today. It was all about accessibility. It's supposed to be an educational accessibility thing and all this stuff. It was really interesting. I was actually intrigued with the layout and stuff and they had a Captcha that was inaccessible. It's like, "Really? You did all this and now that." Andy Munoz: Somebody did not think that through. Jeff Thompson: No. Serena Gilbert: #accesibilityFail. Jeff Thompson: They have accessibility in their name. Serena Gilbert: Did you send them an email? Jeff Thompson: No. Andy Munoz: Wow. Jeff Thompson: I got off of it and I just sat there for a minute thinking, "That's so stupid." Serena Gilbert: You didn't make your trademark noise? Andy, what's the smart device that you're hoping for? Andy Munoz: Wow. That could be plenty but something that would open up my dryer and pull out my laundry and hang it up. Serena Gilbert: Oh, so you want the robot from the Jetsons. Andy Munoz: There you go. Jeff Thompson: That's be Judy wouldn't it? Serena Gilbert: Just your luck 'cause wasn't George always getting all this technology failing for him? Andy Munoz: Yeah, she malfunctioned one day and she did a bunch of different weird stuff that was all backwards. Jeff Thompson: I think for a device that I'm looking forward to and I hope they have it someday, is really a personal assistant, but not a physical one that would actually do things for me but you know how you think of to-do lists and you think of all this stuff? Something that follows your thought like that. When you wake up the next day, it's like, "Jeff, remember the garbage." Serena Gilbert: You want a chip implanted in your head. Jeff Thompson: Just call it the thought bubble or something. Serena Gilbert: Thought bubble. Jeff Thompson: Yeah, an accessible thought bubble. Just like, "Lori told me three things yesterday. What was that?" "Jeff, you weren't listening where you?" I want that companion, that thing that actually helps me move along. Serena Gilbert: Jeff, all you have to do is win the Powerball and then you can just pay someone to follow you around for the rest of your life. Jeff Thompson: But, I think this would help people. We're talking about old age, but people who have memory issues and stuff. That seems to be a prominent thing in today's world. Everyone knows someone that might be going through it or someone that is affected by it. Something that could shadow you, your shadow. If your shadow could talk, it would remember. Serena Gilbert: So, you want a smart shadow? Jeff Thompson: Yeah. Do you guys think that's far off? Andy Munoz: Time wise maybe. I don't know. Technology's so rapid that anything's possible at any given point. I think, for me, it's even pointless half the time for me to put stuff even as reminders 'cause I just ignore them. Serena Gilbert: I'm the same way. Andy Munoz: For work and stuff, obviously, I pay attention to my calendar and that sort of thing, but outside of that, I'll say, "Yeah, I put it in my calendar. I'll do this, that, or the other." It's like it's there but nine times out of 10 I'm just going to blow it off and ignore it anyway. Serena Gilbert: I have a reminder on my phone right now that's 19 days old but I still didn't do it. Like, "Oh, I'll just ignore it and it will pop back up in a couple weeks." Jeff Thompson: Avoid shakes from Five Brothers. Serena Gilbert: Five Guys, get it right. Jeff Thompson: Avoid shakes from Five Guys. Serena Gilbert: You guys don't have Five Guys up in Minnesota? Jeff Thompson: No. We only got three guys. We're working on it. Serena Gilbert: You don't know what you're missing. You don't have Dutch Brothers. You don't have Five Guys. God, how do you live? Jeff Thompson: Well, you're in the fastest growing city in the United States right now. Serena Gilbert: It's 'cause we've got all these Millennials. They love it here. Jeff Thompson: Really? Serena Gilbert: That's why we're getting all these cool home deliver things. We just got Prime Now here. We can get Whole Food delivered in two hours for free. Jeff Thompson: That's awesome. Serena Gilbert: Yeah. Jeff Thompson: How big is Cold Spring? Serena Gilbert: Old Spring? Jeff Thompson: Colorado Springs. How big is Colorado Springs? Andy Munoz: The general city is like 400,000, but then you've got the surrounding areas that make up more and we're probably closer to 650 to 700,000. Jeff Thompson: Really? Serena Gilbert: I think they said by ... Do you remember what year it was, Andy? Maybe it was like 2050, which sounds far away, but it really isn't if you think about it. We would actually be bigger than Denver technically. Andy Munoz: That's what they're saying. Serena Gilbert: Yeah. Andy Munoz: It's ridiculous to think because when you go to Denver, you go to downtown Denver and you see all the big high rise buildings and stuff and then you come to Colorado Springs and you look at our downtown. It's like no comparison. I think the highest building we have is maybe 20 stories. Serena Gilbert: I don't even know if there's a 20-story one, honestly. If there is, then it's one of the hotels. Jeff Thompson: Which leads into is Colorado Springs going to be a smart city? Serena Gilbert: I don't think we will. Just politically, our city and then the other city, there's another small city that's in between Denver and Colorado Springs called Castle Rock, our two cities had the option to be part of the light rail system that's in Denver and they refused. Every time that it comes back up, they keep resisting and keep refusing because they don't want light rail here for some reason. I don't get it. Andy Munoz: Smart city means that you have to have some intelligence and Colorado Springs operates on the motto, "If it doesn't make sense, do it." Jeff Thompson: Yeah, it's really neat here because we do have the light rail running right through Fridley and it's neat. Even our buses and our light rails now have wi-fi while you're on them. Serena Gilbert: Very nice. Jeff Thompson: Yeah, we're not a bustling city anymore, but it's a big area. I think two-thirds of the population of Minnesota is located right in the twin cities, Saint Paul-Minneapolis and the seven-county area. It's nice that you get those little amenities like that but I always thought Colorado Springs was a ... Well, it's not Denver. It's a quaint little town. But, wow, number one in the United States for growth. Serena Gilbert: Real estate too. Andy Munoz: It's really been in just the last several years. It's just really kind of just took off. Serena Gilbert: Well, a lot of it is the people from Denver have moved down here so they're still making their Denver wages. So, they move down here and we're buying Colorado Springs waged houses and then that's driving it all up, but then they're still commuting to Denver for work. That's contributing to the traffic problems too. The commute's about an hour, hour and 10 if you go early enough. Andy Munoz: Yeah, if you go early enough. Jeff Thompson: They need to get that tunnel. Serena Gilbert: I still want my hyperloop. Jeff Thompson: That's ready to open up, isn't it? Serena Gilbert: No. There's a test track in L.A. it's either two minutes or two miles. It's probably the same difference, but they're going to open that up and let people actually be able to test run it. Like, regular people. Jeff Thompson: As opposed to the irregular people? Serena Gilbert: Hey. Jeff Thompson: No, I think it's really neat that smart cities are coming about. A lot of devices are happening. A lot of transportation things like you want the car and I think everyone's been thinking about that and dreaming about that and wondering. Now, we say it's right around the corner, but that's a long ways to that corner sometimes. Serena Gilbert: You know, it will be interesting though because you just told me the NFB conference next year is in Vegas. Vegas is testing a... Lyft is testing a whole fleet of driverless vehicles on the strip there. Jeff Thompson: So, beware. Serena Gilbert: That would be interesting. Andy Munoz: Stay off the sidewalks. Jeff Thompson: Tap widely. Serena Gilbert: But they're safer than human drivers you guys. The accidents they have are only when the human does something to it to cause it to happen. Jeff Thompson: Well, I think ideally it's all going to be safer when there's more and more of them because they'll be able to communicate with each other just like my Nest will be able to communicate with things. Those cars will communicate with the other cars so it will almost be like a light rail once you get a stream of them going in a sense. Serena Gilbert: The only thing I worry about is because obviously to get where you're going it's reliant on some sort of GPS. So, you know there's a couple things that go with that. When the network's down, what happens to the cars? Or, when you're like my house where you weren't on the GPS for two entire years, where does it go? Does it stop somewhere and say you're there when you're really not? Those are things they'd have to definitely fix. Jeff Thompson: From smart devices, smart houses, it will be interesting to learn more about smart cities and smart automobiles. Probably by next show we could get a smart host. Serena Gilbert: I guess I'm coming down off my sugar high. Andy Munoz: She's thinking, "I smell smoke. Is your Nest going off, Jeff?" Jeff Thompson: Maybe the wi-fi went down and the house is burning. Andy Munoz: Uh-oh. Serena Gilbert: Oh, my goodness. I could just see a comic right now where there's a drawing and there's clearly smoke and fire, but the person's just looking at their phone and it says they are like, "Nope. Smoke detectors say that there's no fire." Serena Gilbert: Well, I have had tons of fun talking with you guys. Hopefully, we've got some ideas for our Christmas list right, Jeff? Jeff Thompson: Mm-hmm. CSUN. Serena Gilbert: Still haven't sold you on the HomePod have I? Jeff Thompson: Well, I'm going to be here to look under my tree or I'll just listen under my tree. Maybe it will tell her how to set it up too. Serena Gilbert: But, it's Apple. It just works, right? Jeff Thompson: Oh, yeah. Andy Munoz: There you go. Jeff Thompson: I have to say that I sit amongst an orchard of Apples. Serena Gilbert: You've got every color Apple there is. Jeff Thompson: Oh, by the way, what color is your iPhone X? Serena Gilbert: Silver. Andy Munoz: Space gray. Jeff Thompson: Gold. Serena Gilbert: You got a pink one, Jeff? Jeff Thompson: No, I didn't get rose gold. I got gold. Serena Gilbert: Are you sure you didn't get rose gold? Jeff Thompson: Well, I don't know. I got the case on. I'll never know. Serena Gilbert: Exactly. I just find it so funny with the last podcast we did how much you guys specifically said, "Nope, I don't think I'm going to upgrade," and both of you did in like a week of each other. Jeff Thompson: I walked into the Apple store. That's what went wrong. Andy Munoz: Yeah, I walked into the Sprint store with my son and there we go. I have to run guys. I do have an errand that I need to run. Serena Gilbert: That sounds awful suspicious considering that it's like 10:00 at night. Andy Munoz: Got to go to the pharmacy. Serena Gilbert: I don't even want to know, Andy. Serena Gilbert: Anyway, I enjoyed talked with both you guys and I can't wait to record the next episode and until next time, bye. Andy Munoz: Peace. Jeff Thompson: Bye-bye. Serena Gilbert: Get off the phone. Andy Munoz: I want to thank you for listening. Be sure to follow Tech Abilities on Twitter. That's @AbilitiesTech. A big thank you to Jeff Thompson for the beautiful music. Once again, I want to thank you for listening. We hope you enjoyed. Until next time, bye-bye. [Music]  [Transition noise]  -When we share -What we see -Through each other's eyes... [Multiple voices overlapping, in unison, to form a single sentence] ...We can then begin to bridge the gap between the limited expectations, and the realities of Blind Abilities. Jeff Thompson: For more podcasts with a blindness perspective, check us out on the web at www.BlindAbilities.com, on Twitter @BlindAbilities. Download our app from the App Store, Blind Abilities. That's two words. Or send us an email at info@blindabilities.com. Thanks for listening.

Episode 22 Summary   Welcome back to another episode of That Blind Tech Show (TBTS). Allison Brian and Jeff swap talk about the latest and greatest news in the accessible device world and even more! We dip our toes into the Selfie world of the sighted and rest assured we be smarter than that. Well, most of us. Facebook opens it’s doors and the guest leave with 50 million names and contact info possibly but don’t worry, be happy, no one knows nothing. Hmm. Amazon will begin to ship everything but the kitchen sink but give them a week or two and I am sure they will have one by then. Alexa, drain sink. Alexa, fill my cup to the rim. Hey, why not a toilet seat as well? Below is a list of the topics we cover plus there is so much more. Jeff demos the Hearing feature with the Air Pods that amps up the sound like having hearing aids I imagine. Just put it in the Control Center. IOS 12, Watch OS 5, Mojave and the Watch and iPhone reviews by the TBTS Team. No, we don’t actually have Jerseys or a club house but just close your eyes and, oh wait, just imagine we do and we have T-Shirts and Hats for sale and a Facebook TBTS group and…. Ok, wake up. Yea right. Check out the emails we have received and Emily, You Rock! No, I did not call you a rock but You Rock. We hope you enjoy and thanks for listening.   Here are some topics and links from the show, our show, this episode, yea.   Scientists in India are calling for no Selfie Zones to protect against Selfie related deaths! Facebook 50 million accounts hacked https://mashable.com/article/facebook-50-million-accounts-hacked/#gBRsZMNiBuqk Amazon taking on Sonos? Or the entire World? Amazon has announced a staggering number of new Echo devices — here's everything you can pre-order right now https://www.businessinsider.com/pre-order-new-amazon-echo-devices-dot-microwave-plug-alexa-2018-9   Lazarillo Major Update Now with Step by Step directions   Amazon taking on Sonos? Or the entire World? Amazon has announced a staggering number of new Echo devices — here's everything you can pre-order right now https://www.businessinsider.com/pre-order-new-amazon-echo-devices-dot-microwave-plug-alexa-2018-9 https://gizmodo.com/google-is-bringing-a-bunch-of-changes-to-search-1829277809 Did you just drop $1400 on a new iPhone and get one charge out of it? https://9to5mac.com/2018/09/29/iphone-xs-automatic-power-charge-issue/   Is your Belken charging dock no longer compatible with your iPhone? https://9to5mac.com/2018/09/29/belkin-valet-powerhouse-iphone-xs/ Password auto fill and Apple create issue  and Air Drop Password and One Password. https://9to5mac.com/2018/09/17/1password-password-autofill-ios-12/ Apple Watch: Series 4 and Watch OS 5https://appleinsider.com/articles/18/09/23/psa-apple-watch-series-4s-fall-detection-is-off-by-default-for-most-people How to wipe your products before exchanging or throwing awayhttps://lifehacker.com/how-to-wipe-your-smart-gadgets-before-you-get-rid-of-th-1829140525   Email Apple Bias Much Doing a disservice to the blindness community Emmi from Finland  Email You make me laugh rolling on the floor a lot and remind me that I am not the only blind person in the world Denise  emailed in Anyone using the Microsoft Surface Go and Full Windows Mode New! That Blind Tech Show Feed: Https://www.ThatBlindTechShow.Libsyn.com/RSS   Contact Thank you for listening. Send us Feedback via email Follow us on Twitter @BlindTechShow That Blind Tech Show is produced in part with Blind Abilities Network You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store    

Episode 22 Summary   Welcome back to another episode of That Blind Tech Show (TBTS). Allison Brian and Jeff swap talk about the latest and greatest news in the accessible device world and even more! We dip our toes into the Selfie world of the sighted and rest assured we be smarter than that. Well, most of us. Facebook opens it’s doors and the guest leave with 50 million names and contact info possibly but don’t worry, be happy, no one knows nothing. Hmm. Amazon will begin to ship everything but the kitchen sink but give them a week or two and I am sure they will have one by then. Alexa, drain sink. Alexa, fill my cup to the rim. Hey, why not a toilet seat as well? Below is a list of the topics we cover plus there is so much more. Jeff demos the Hearing feature with the Air Pods that amps up the sound like having hearing aids I imagine. Just put it in the Control Center. IOS 12, Watch OS 5, Mojave and the Watch and iPhone reviews by the TBTS Team. No, we don’t actually have Jerseys or a club house but just close your eyes and, oh wait, just imagine we do and we have T-Shirts and Hats for sale and a Facebook TBTS group and…. Ok, wake up. Yea right. Check out the emails we have received and Emily, You Rock! No, I did not call you a rock but You Rock. We hope you enjoy and thanks for listening.   Here are some topics and links from the show, our show, this episode, yea.   Scientists in India are calling for no Selfie Zones to protect against Selfie related deaths!  Facebook 50 million accounts hacked https://mashable.com/article/facebook-50-million-accounts-hacked/#gBRsZMNiBuqk Amazon taking on Sonos? Or the entire World? Amazon has announced a staggering number of new Echo devices — here's everything you can pre-order right now https://www.businessinsider.com/pre-order-new-amazon-echo-devices-dot-microwave-plug-alexa-2018-9   Lazarillo Major Update Now with Step by Step directions   Amazon taking on Sonos? Or the entire World? Amazon has announced a staggering number of new Echo devices — here's everything you can pre-order right now https://www.businessinsider.com/pre-order-new-amazon-echo-devices-dot-microwave-plug-alexa-2018-9 https://gizmodo.com/google-is-bringing-a-bunch-of-changes-to-search-1829277809 Did you just drop $1400 on a new iPhone and get one charge out of it? https://9to5mac.com/2018/09/29/iphone-xs-automatic-power-charge-issue/   Is your Belken charging dock no longer compatible with your iPhone? https://9to5mac.com/2018/09/29/belkin-valet-powerhouse-iphone-xs/ Password auto fill and Apple create issue  and Air Drop Password and One Password. https://9to5mac.com/2018/09/17/1password-password-autofill-ios-12/ Apple Watch: Series 4 and Watch OS 5 https://appleinsider.com/articles/18/09/23/psa-apple-watch-series-4s-fall-detection-is-off-by-default-for-most-people How to wipe your products before exchanging or throwing awayhttps://lifehacker.com/how-to-wipe-your-smart-gadgets-before-you-get-rid-of-th-1829140525   Email Apple Bias Much Doing a disservice to the blindness community Emmi from Finland  Email You make me laugh rolling on the floor a lot and remind me that I am not the only blind person in the world Denise  emailed in Anyone using the Microsoft Surface Go and Full Windows Mode  New! That Blind Tech Show Feed:  Https://www.ThatBlindTechShow.Libsyn.com/RSS   Contact Thank you for listening. Send us Feedback via email Follow us on Twitter @BlindTechShow That Blind Tech Show is produced in part with Blind Abilities Network You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store    

Tech Abilities: Maxing Out Your Apple Orchard Or Not to Max. It’s Apples to Apples Mr. Cook After the dust has settled and the quick triggered Apple purists satisfied their Apple harvest, Tech Abilities takes a patient look at the new Apples in the Orchard. With us having iPhones 7, 8 and 10 running IOS 12, we sit back and chat about the offerings from the Apple Gods themselves. We talk about the biggest change brought forth by the Apple team during the 2-hour Apple Event, the new Apple Watch 4. New size options, 40 and 44 and just a bit slimmer. With the medical advances and sensors this device is now FDA approved and may be telling your doctors more about you than you even know.   The team then began rolling out the 3 new iPhone offerings. The iPhone XS, XS Max and the iPhone R. The X is pronounced 10.   All of them will be sporting the new processor developed by Apple and the price point for the R remains attainable at $759. While the S and the Max sky rocket to new levels of the stratosphere. Over $1400 for the model packed with 512 gigabytes of storage. And that XS is not far behind with a starting point of $1099 at 64 gigabytes of storage.   All said and done, were talking some serious Apple picking and the fruit is not hanging too low anymore. So, the R model is the lowest hanging fruit on this Apple picking fest, but you will have to decide on what your needs are and if your present iPhone just needs a fresh battery and a shiny new case.   We use to say, get the latest because they are changing so fast. Well, not so fast any more. The iPhone 7 and 8 are reduced in price from Apple and with the $29 charge for a new battery, that old, 2-year old relic will carry you through till next year’s Best Time of the Year – Apple’s Event. And I am sure, just as they said it this year, that the iPhone will be the best ever in the World!   Join Serina, Andy and Jeff in this after the dust settles look at the Apple Event.   You can follow Tech Abilities on Twitter @AbilitiesTech You can find more Tech Abilities podcast on the Blind Abilities Network. Thanks for Listening! You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store  

(Full Transcript Below) Welcome to TechAbilities, the AccessAbility podcast from the Blind Abilities Network With Serina, Jeff and Andy. On this episode we are speculating about the upcoming Sept. 12 Apple event. We may be way off or right on but the excitement is always high when Apple announces the new toys and Christmas comes early to all and to all a good buy. :) You can find TechAbilities on the Blind Abilities Network.   Thanks for Listening! You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store Full Transcript: TechAbilities Is Here With Apple Speculation Hype and Some Advice on the Upcoming Big Apple Event Sept 12 Serena Gilbert: There's not even a blue iPhone, but there might be. Jeff Thompson: It's got a white case on it. Serena Gilbert: Oh my goodness, you guys. Jeff Thompson: I don't get it. I don't get what the colors really mean. Serena Gilbert: Stop it,   Jeff. Jeff Thompson: Oh, do you have the rose gold? Serena Gilbert: There's no rose gold 10. God, get with it. Jeff Thompson: I like these people and they say, "I just got the 10." It's like, "What do you mean, just?" Serena Gilbert: Yeah. This is the worst time of the year to buy a phone. Wait until after the announcement, and if you still want the 10, they have 100 bucks. Andy, you know that, right? Andy Munoz: Oh, yeah, unless you're new to this game. This is what Apple people live for. Jeff Thompson: It's the most wonderful time- Andy Munoz: Of the year. Serena Gilbert: I need you guys to make sure that's in our intro when we start talking about it. Andy Munoz: We're waiting for you to kick it in. Serena Gilbert: I can't know. You knew I wasn't going to. All right. Let's try this again. Welcome to the Blind Abilities Network. I'm Serena Gilbert. Guess what guys? We have a brand new tech show that we're bringing to the Blind Abilities Network and I'm super excited to introduce it to you. The title is ... Drum roll please. Drum roll please. Welcome to the Access Abilities Podcast. I have with me two, very special co-hosts. I have Jeff Thompson and Andy Munoz. How are you doing, Jeff? Jeff Thompson: I'm doing great, Serena. Serena Gilbert: Andy is brand-new to Blind Abilities Network. How are you Andy? Andy Munoz: Doing well, thank you. Serena Gilbert: Do you want to share a little bit with our audience about your background and why you love tech so much? Andy Munoz: Certainly. I'll try to be as brief as I can with this. I've got roughly 20 years of tech experience and most recently I actually worked for Apple in their accessibility cue, and then now I work for the division of rehab in the state of Colorado. My passion at this point is certainly working with folks who have disabilities, primarily blind and low vision, and that's a little bit about me. Serena Gilbert: Andy, I have a question for you. Andy Munoz: Certainly. Serena Gilbert: You are literally one of the Apple geniuses. Andy Munoz: I wouldn't say I'm an Apple genius. That's actually a store term. Jeff Thompson: But can we call you the Apple genius? Serena Gilbert: Yeah. We'll call you that. Andy Munoz: I guess you can call me whatever you want. I feel pretty confident in my knowledge of the Apple product so- Jeff Thompson: We'll just stick with AG. Serena Gilbert: Apple Genius. Unless you've been living under a rock, certainly you know that September 12 is going to be a big huge day for us Apple nerds out there. Jeff, do you know what September 12 is? Jeff Thompson: The most wonderful time of the year. Serena Gilbert: No backup from Andy. Jeff Thompson: It's the most wonderful of the year. Andy Munoz: Most wonderful time of the year. Jeff Thompson: Oh, you're going for the last chorus? It is the most wonderful time of the year. I'm excited about it. Serena Gilbert: It is the best time of year. I look forward to this day even more than Christmas because I'm just the biggest Apple nerd there is probably and hopefully we haven't lost you with our super fun and amazing singing that we had there. But next we'd like to talk a little bit about what the rumors are and maybe make some predictions and- Jeff Thompson: It's all speculation anyways. Serena Gilbert: But it's fun to talk about it. Although I will say a few years ago before there were leaks left and right, it was a little bit more fun because you really didn't know what was coming and you had to really pay attention and now we're like, "Oh, there might be this and that and let's see if they were right." 90% of the time they're completely on point with it. Traditionally in this temporary event Apple announces new iPhone models and this year they're rumored to not only announce new iPhone models, but also Apple Watch and I believe their new wireless charging pad. Serena Gilbert: Let's start with the iPhones. According to nine to five Mac, there's at least two versions of the new iPhone 10S coming out which are rumored to be called the 10 S. There will be two different sizes, a 6.5 inch and the traditional 5.1 inch which is what the 10 is right now. What do you guys think of those? Are you looking forward to an even bigger iPhone 10? Jeff Thompson: I kind of am. I've seen the pluses before. I never owned a plus so I was thinking about it. I thought it was going to be called XS. Serena Gilbert: We have had this argument so many times, Jeff. Jeff Thompson: It just sounds excessive, doesn't it? Andy Munoz: You can go either way with it. Even being a former Apple employee, I think we even referred to it in both ways, either the iPhone 10 or the iPhone X. I think it goes either way. Jeff Thompson: I'm excited. I am excited because my phone's two years old. It works fine. It works fine, so I don't have to make a decision. But if I'm going to pull the trigger on something, I think I'm going to go with a plus. Serena Gilbert: Well, it seems like there's not going to be a plus. It's just going to be the 10 S and just come in two different sizes. It looks like they're going to completely take away the models that have the home button. Andy Munoz: I think the one thing I saw too is I think the smaller of the two is actually going to be an LCD display as opposed to what it is now. Pardon me, I don't have the terminology on it off the top of my head. But I think the smaller one is going to be an LCD display, so that's going to be a little bit different. Serena Gilbert: Are you referring to the rumored SE? The new [inaudible] SE? Andy Munoz: No. I was seeing something where they were talking about the two models and I thought they said that the smaller of the two iPhone 10S was going to be an LCD. I was trying to find that source right off the top and I can't. One of my former colleagues, Zach, I shared an article in a group text that we have and- Serena Gilbert: That would be really odd if they did that because the smaller version is going to have the same form factor of the 10, which has the OLED screen so that Coast-to-Coast screen with no bezels. If they did decide to do that, that could be a way to cut the price down to maybe get more people to upgrade who aren't willing to pay the 900 to $1,200 dollars for a new phone. Andy Munoz: I'm thinking that's kind of what they're going for. Jeff Thompson: They're looking around that 699, 799. Someone even said the lowest 600. The speculation ... That's what makes it fun though. We're anticipating what's in Santa's sack, right? Serena Gilbert: It's also rumored to have some new colors the silver and the traditional space gray, but this time they're also going to have the rose gold. Either one of you looking forward to a nice pink phone. I know you guys are super comfortable on your masculinity to be able to have a pink phone. Andy Munoz: I know my oldest son. He was wanting me to let him upgrade to the 10 initially, but I'm sure come September 12th if he sees the 10X or XS if I can learn how to talk, would be in rose gold. I'm sure he'll be hitting me up that, "Hey, can I upgrade to that?" We'll address that I guess as it comes near. Jeff Thompson: I really don't have a preference for color, really doesn't do much for me because first thing I do is I put a case on it and that's it. Serena Gilbert: Funny story about cases. This is totally like me having a squirrel moment, but I think you guys will find this humorous. Every once in a while, I'm like, "I'm tired of my case." I'm going to try to take it off and I have an iPhone 10. I try to take it off, guess what happens as I'm taking the case off? Jeff Thompson: You drop it. Serena Gilbert: It goes flying across the laundry room and hits the wall. It mostly survived. There is a crack on the back of it right above the camera though now. That'll show me. Jeff Thompson: Wow. Serena Gilbert: The case was just on there that good. Jeff Thompson: Well, that's the thing. I have two cases. I have a leather case and that comes from Apple and you can get that for I believe 50 bucks or something of that nature and I really like it. I've had it for three, four years. The leather style works fine for me, but Lori bought me a charging case and that's where I have to take the leather one off and slide it in so it charges while I have it. I like that but it is always a moment when I take it apart and pull it apart because it's naked. When you pull that out, that's when the vulnerability happens. Andy Munoz: Phones are so slick. Jeff Thompson: Oh, yeah, especially the rose gold ones. Serena Gilbert: Well, and when the whole entire phone is literally made of glass. That's what cause it to go flying across the room. Jeff Thompson: Now, what kind of backing is on the 10? That is glass, isn't it? Serena Gilbert: It's glass, which is why it's cracked above the camera right now. Jeff Thompson: But once you put the case back on? Serena Gilbert: Oh, you can't even tell. Jeff Thompson: Right. And it still works? Serena Gilbert: Yeah, but I'm afraid I won't be able to upgrade this year because I'm on that upgrade every year plan with Apple and I don't know how it works when you have damage to the phone if you want to upgrade. But I'm not usually one that wants to upgrade on the S cycle of everything because it's usually the same form factor. I usually like to wait till every other year to get like a new form factor. Jeff Thompson: That's what I'm doing. I'm on the two years. When my one year came up and the eight came out, I was not in the mood to do it. It's just cost. I didn't want to be stuck with the eight for two years knowing that 10 is lurking or it was out but the next iteration of wherever it's going on. Andy Munoz: Really the eight was really no different than the seven other than the fact that it had the capability of wireless charging. Serena Gilbert: It's so true. It was basically this- Andy Munoz: Honestly, if they hadn't come out with the 10, I think last year Apple would have shot themselves in the foot by just coming out with the eight because it wasn't anything exciting. That was just kinda one of those throw ins I guess. I mean, they would have been better off just calling it the 7Sis my thought process on that. Serena Gilbert: I do understand it had quite the speed boost. I will tell you that because I had some people upgrade from the seven to the eight for whatever reason, I don't know. But they said it was massively fast. Jeff Thompson: Oh, yeah. They got a bigger chip in there and processor in there. I heard the speakers are better. Everything has a little bit better. The cameras are better especially on the 10. Have you noticed anything about OCR? Is the 10 better using Seeing AI than a seven? Serena Gilbert: I never had a seven because when I ... I had a six. Andy Munoz: Wow. Serena Gilbert: The dinosaurs- Andy Munoz: The big leap. Serena Gilbert: I'm not sure that as far as OCR goes, it's any better, but it is faster. If I'm using ... Because my work phone is still an iPhone 6 and then I have my iPhone 10. That's my personal phone. If I use Seeing AI on my work phone, it takes way longer. Not like it's minutes longer, but it's definitely longer before it starts by humanizing things. Andy Munoz: Obviously, that's going to be just because of the chip that's in that six as opposed to what's in the 10. But honestly, my work phone is an eight and then I have the seven. I honestly don't see any difference between the two. I mean, like I said, the only thing really significant to me it'd be the wireless charging. Other than that, even the sound quality and whatnot, I've not noticed anything that really would have made me jump out and spring for that. Now the 10 obviously, the camera aspect of it because I do take pictures and take videos. For me, that would certainly be a seller. Just wasn't sure that I wanted to spring for the 900 or 1,200 bucks depending upon the amount of storage I wanted, just wasn't sure I wanted to pull that trigger. Serena Gilbert: Well, and that brings up a really sort of related point to what I was thinking about. If you recall last year, the eight and the eight plus released, Gosh, I don't know, third or fourth of September, but then the iPhone tends didn't release until November. I wonder if that's going to impact people's even ability to upgrade this round because of the fact that you didn't get your phone until November or December this time as opposed to September or October. Jeff Thompson: Well, I think one of the things too to think about is again, coming up if they're going to release more phones. Let's say they're going to release the iPhone 10S or XS whatever we want to call it, and then let's say they decide they're going to throw in maybe an updated version of the SE. It's going to be dependent I think on how they decide to release it because I think purposely they did the 10 last year because they wanted that holiday push. I think on that part they knew what they were going to get more sales closer to the holidays. Are they going to release it in October or are they going to hold out till November? Andy Munoz: Well, it seems like there'd been holding out on the charging pad that they talk about. I think it's been so long. I've forgotten the name of it. Jeff Thompson: Because I'm pretty sure they talked about it at the keynote last year. Andy Munoz: Well, it's going to be here this year because they've talked about the case coming out for the Air Pods that's going to be waterproof and be able to just set it right down to charge it right on the flat pad. That's why I believe everything's coming out this year and I heard a rumor that next year, you're going to get the next iteration of the Air Pods in 2019. Serena Gilbert: Maybe this is just me being ignorant to what people do with it, but are the Air Pods going to be waterproof or just the case? Andy Munoz: I believe it's the case because that's the new form factor that they're coming out with is the case. Jeff Thompson: I guess the question I'm going to ask on that too, because there's two different terms, waterproof and then water resistant. The newer phones are water resistant, they're not waterproof. I was kinda thinking the same thing. I mean, what would be the point? I mean, I guess maybe have like your Apple Watch and then you have your Air Pods so that you could listen to music while you're swimming. That certainly could be a use for it, but I was kinda thinking that same thing. What would be the point? Andy Munoz: I think if you have it in your pocket and it goes through a wash or it goes to something that it adds another layer of defense for that or if you just drop the case. Some people drop things into the toilet or into the sink or whatever that could happen. It's supposed to prevent just that instantaneous dunking of something. I've heard Air Pods go through the washer and dryer and they still work fine. I wouldn't recommend trying that or testing it and emailing me and saying, "Hey, it didn't work." Serena Gilbert: Insert disclaimer here. Andy Munoz: I think the idea that they're doing is just for those instantaneous things that ... not instantaneous, just those- Jeff Thompson: Just those accidents, those freak accidents that happen. That makes sense. Serena Gilbert: I guess I'm just the oddball that I've never ... I mean, I say this now and then I'll probably be like on the next show I'll be like, "So yeah, I dropped my iPhone in the toilet." But I've just never had that happen to me. I know that it happens, I know people who've dropped in bodies of water and things like that, but with the Air Pods in particular, I guess I could see how it could happen, but it's like- Jeff Thompson: I think it really happens to people who put the phone into their back pocket. I don't want to go through any description here, but that's my guess. I don't know. Serena Gilbert: Jeff, this has happened to you then? Jeff Thompson: No. I'm with you. I've never done it, but I don't want to jinx myself, Andy Munoz: For me personally, I've always been, "No way. I'm not putting the phone in my back pocket," because I worked through the time when band gate happened, we got a lot of those calls. I put it in my back pocket and it bent well. Serena Gilbert: Or you sat on it. Andy Munoz: I see people do it and I cringe. I'm just like, "No, don't do that." Jeff Thompson: I don't do that and I don't put my wallet in my back pocket. It's just something that I have never done it and I usually don't carry anything in my back pockets. Serena Gilbert: For those of you who want to pick pocket Jeff, don't waste your time. Jeff Thompson: It's really interesting in the fashion and everything. They talk about wearables and everything and how we use their device. I don't even put my phone in my front pockets because when you pull it out, anything else can come out with it. I like having it in my shirt pocket. A lot of my shirts now have pockets in them, so I like that. Andy Munoz: I put mine in my pocket but I usually it's dedicated so nothing else actually goes in that pocket but my phone. Of course now trying to juggle two phones, that's a trick. But anyway, another story. Serena Gilbert: You can get your man bag. Andy Munoz: No, thanks. Serena Gilbert: Jeff has a man bag. Jeff Thompson: Yes I do. I actually call it like a recording bag or a man. Yeah, it's a man bag. I don't care. It's a purse. Serena Gilbert: Just embrace it. It's a purse. Jeff Thompson: It's a purse. I got it in England and I'm going back there so I get to bring it back. It's like going home. My man bag is going home. Serena Gilbert: Now that you say you put your phone in your pocket because the 10 is surprisingly heavy. Jeff Thompson: Oh, really. Serena Gilbert: It's the difference between ... Do you guys remember the four to the 4S and how the 4S just felt like a really nice expensive phone and how it was a little bit heavier. That's how the 10 is compared to when you hold an eight. Just feels BNC Jeff Thompson: I'm always scared to like put it in my front pocket, like in my shirt pocket because I just, I'm always doing something. For me, I feel like it's safer in my front pocket. Like I said, I just dedicate, that'll put nothing else in there. To each their own whatever you're comfortable with, but at least for me it's ... Serena, how do you carry your phone? Serena Gilbert: Well, I'm a girl so I have these little teeny tiny pockets in all my pants. I don't have like the two feet pockets that you guys have. It's usually in my purse. Andy Munoz: They should come up with something and they should come up with something. It's- Serena Gilbert: Well, they have like the belt clips and stuff like that but they're not convenient. Andy Munoz: I hate anything attached. When iPhones were really brand new, had that leather thing, you put it on your belt, so I went and got one. I thought that was really cool until you go through a doorway and it takes it right off and just kaboom. It's like- Jeff Thompson: For whatever reason my hip always catches a corner. Give you an example. My son busted a screen on his iPhone 7, ended up going and didn't have the Apple Care, which I told him to buy, didn't do it anyway. Ended up having to pay like 180 bucks to get its screen fixed, Serena Gilbert: Which is about how much Apple Care costs because it's usually like 200? Jeff Thompson: it is for the 10 or for the X, whatever we want to call it. For the older models it's roughly 100 was 129 after taxes, something like that wasn't too bad. I mean, for what you got for it, you get the two accidental damage claims and then of course then you get the screen replacement or repair at a lesser cost. I mean, certainly can't beat that. Andy Munoz: I brought my seven end because in the Betas they had a battery Beta where you can go in there and we'll say how much juice it's still has that's worn down to its potential. Mine was at like 82% possibility and so I brought it in there and I said, "I think I just want to get a brand new battery." They looked at it and they said, "Okay. Yeah." Because when it gets to 80, that's when they like to replace them. They said, "What we'll do, we'll just waive it, we'll just do it for you. I thought that was really cool because I had Apple Care and it was nice. Jeff Thompson: Of course, some of that store dependent from other stores might want to charge you because I've worked with folks that actually did time in different stores and so you got different feel for it. But either way I'm glad it worked out. Andy Munoz: If you're looking for a new phone and these phones that they're going to spring upon us. I heard there's going to be three of them that when you do go for your purchase plans, that's a big thing to consider. Do you want to do it through your phone company or do you want to do it on a yearly basis where you pay? I don't know, anywhere from 40 to $50 depending on tens or little higher, right Serena? Serena Gilbert: Yeah, I pay like 49. The extra cost is actually just because you're paying for Apple Care. Then I have the option to upgrade this year if I want to and trade in the old one or if I keep paying on it Then I just own the phone after the two years. Andy Munoz: It just continues on another two years, right? Serena Gilbert: Well, yeah, I'll just own it outright after the two years. Andy Munoz: That's what I did. I actually paid mine off early just for that. I was just getting tired of mine was like $36 or something because of the seven. It's a different feeling because this is the first time actually outright own my phone actually outright paid for it. It's always been on those plans. Like with Verizon a two year plan every two years you get a new phone. Serena Gilbert: I miss those plans. I miss being able to pay 199 99 or 299 99 because I've been at the same phone carrier for ever. The fact that I'm on a two year agreement doesn't bother me, I'd rather save the $800. Andy Munoz: Exactly. Exactly. Apple's got a racket, but I still got to pay my phone company. Wait a second. There's that $800 you're talking about, right? Serena Gilbert: It was when I bought my six, was the last year that they did that. You paid 199 or 299 depending on the model you got. The phone company subsidize the rest of it, so Apple was still getting all their money, but since you signed a two year agreement with let's say AT&T or Verizon, then that phone company thought it was worth it to them. Then all of a sudden, one company decided that they weren't going to do it anymore. All of the others followed suit. Andy Munoz: Lori is still on that plan. Serena Gilbert: She's lucky. If she ever needs a new phone, she's going to pay out right now. That's part of why I didn't upgrade because I used to upgrade like clockwork every other year and one year AT&T messed up my upgrades. I got to upgrade two years in a row. I was like, "Sweet." If they still had that plan where your phone was essentially subsidized, I probably would have gotten the seven and then the 10 I guess. But instead, I waited years and years to get a new one. I think a lot of people are doing that now. I think I've seen some people that still have 5Ss want to pay for the upgrades. Jeff Thompson: I think part of it ... I mean, even for me, I just finished up a lease. I'm still kind of in that limbo motive, what am I going to do? I'm actually on an extended lease, but it's like I can do one or two things. I can either pay 200 bucks now and have my phone own it outright or I can upgrade and continue paying X amount of dollars on a phone bill. It's like, "Okay, do I want to lessen my phone bill and maybe have that for a while and then kind of decide where am going to go?" Now obviously part of this is now that we have these new models coming out, once I see what those features look like, is it going to be something that's going to sell me that says, "Hey, go ahead and pull the trigger on the upgrade." Or, am I going to hold off again? Will pay that by year, but I think that's part of it. Obviously, if you can save a couple bucks on your phone bill, why not? Serena Gilbert: See? That's where those leases really almost irritate me because then when you get to the end of the lease, you're going to pay $200 for a felon that came out like three years ago. That just seems ridiculous. Jeff Thompson: The lease was 18 months, so I got it. The phone had only been out maybe two months. It wasn't a big deal. When you do the math, you're spending a little extra. It's like 32 a month, which basically came out to like 576. They're making a little bit extra money just based on the fact, you pay that extra 175 or 200 bucks, whatever it is to pay it off outright because you could actually buy that phone for I think ... What was it? 649 plus tax. They're making a little bit but not too bad. Andy Munoz: I think you know how you go about it, you're going to be paying at least anywhere from $40 to $50, 55 nowadays probably. And or you're going to be paying it straight up. There is no really wiggle room around it. It's just something that for the rest of our lives, we're going to be paying 50 bucks a month to have a phone. Serena Gilbert: As much as it costs us and it's super irritating, I can never imagine not having this device. Not because I'm spoiled and obsessed with technology, but because it is an accessibility tool now where even if you say, "Okay, this is $1,000 dollars." Well, even five years ago $1,000 would have maybe bought a portable magnifier, maybe. I remember my first KNFB reader, the portable one that was like the PTA and the digital camera attached to each other. Jeff Thompson: They give that care? Serena Gilbert: Yeah. That thing was $2,200 and that device served one purpose. As much as we like to be like, "Oh my God, it's so expensive." If you really put your perspective, given what we use it for, the accessibility factor, it's actually a bargain. Andy Munoz: They got to stop calling it a phone. I think it's more of a personal. It's more of a PDA than PDAs were. Serena Gilbert: Jeff, remember when you were trying to make a phone call to me and you ... so funny. I called Jeff and the call wouldn't go through and it kept dropping. Then he finally just ... What is it? WhatsApped me, I don't know. We finally used WhatsApp and he goes, "Well, how did you call me?" I was like, "I used the phone." Jeff Thompson: By the way. It is a phone. Andy Munoz: Oh, the thing is these devices are seriously game changers and it really didn't occur to me until two and a half years ago when I jumped into the accessibility role. I started learning how folks were using their devices and I was just completely blown away. Then obviously now that I use them on a daily basis, it's like, "Yeah, I use it for so much." Technology, it's never going to be cheating. Jeff Thompson: No. Andy Munoz: That's just the nature of the beast with it. It doesn't matter what it is, it's never going to be cheap and we just have to realize that, "Hey, we want to continue having our sense of independence and whatnot," and even for those that don't use it for the accessibility features, I mean those that use it for just everyday stuff, we've all become super dependent on technology in some form of fashion. Jeff Thompson: Well, it's access to information that you're readily on the go. You can't carry a wall calendar around with you. So many gidgets and gadgets that you would have to load up your backpack with that, you can do pretty much all of this on the phone. We're talking about putting it in pockets. I think this year I'm going to do the extra costs and have it surgically embedded so I don't have to lose it, dropped it. Serena Gilbert: Maybe sometime. Jeff Thompson: We've been talking about the phone and the plants and all that, but there's some other devices that they've been real bring up out. I heard something about it could be the 13 inch air coming out or it could be an iteration of the 13 inch MacBook. Serena Gilbert: So they're finally maybe going to refresh that? Jeff Thompson: Yeah. What has been 2014. Serena Gilbert: I don't know because I have a MacBook Air and I got it like three years ago and it said it was like from the year before. I don't know if that just means that's when it was manufactured or the last time that it was refreshed. Jeff Thompson: Probably 2014, but don't believe me. This is just speculation. I've heard a lot of people talk about the Air and some people has claimed that it's the best Mac that they've made. Serena Gilbert: Oh, it's my favorite, for sure. So fun. Jeff Thompson: Is it really? Serena Gilbert: Yeah, because it's thinner than the pros or even the regular MacBook, the one that's the 12 inches. I can fit it into my purse, believe it or not. Jeff Thompson: Oh yeah, that's really convenient and that's why I have a new iPad just because I do a lot of meetings and a lot of council stuff. It's so easy to carry that and just open it up and I got the Filo case where the keyboard is right there and I can take notes on a plane. I don't use it at home as much because I got my computer but when I'm out and about, I can just throw it in my backpack or throw it in my man purse, if I may. Serena Gilbert: I don't know why you're calling it a backpack. Jeff Thompson: Good one. Serena Gilbert: Well, we talked a little bit about the wireless charging pad too. We barely touched on that, but if they actually come out with that, which gosh, I'd probably be like a couple hundred dollars because nothing an Apple of sheet. But would that be something you would consider, especially if you updated your phone too? Jeff Thompson: If I got the phone then I would have to consider that when you pull that trigger and you go in and buy one. I don't know if you do it online or if you ordered it online and I'll send you realize you need that. You get off the phone, you went into it thinking it's going to be 899, then it's going to be $900. Then you get off the phone and you're sitting there at $1,499 because, "Okay, I wanted 256 gig, I wanted the pad, and I wanted the case and I wanted the Apple Care. So beware, buyer beware. Andy Munoz: Oh, I know personally for me, I'm one of those that I won't just buy a bare bones model. I've never felt good about like with Microsoft and stuff when they've done that where they just give you a bare bones, "Oh yeah, your machine will run just fine on this negative." I've never had good success with that. Because of that, I've always bought extra. You definitely come out of there spending more than you initially intended. Jeff Thompson: 16 gigabyte in a small phone was really impressive back in the day. Serena Gilbert: Oh, man. I did buy the entry level model of the 10 because the bare bones model was still 64 gigs, which is plenty of space for me. Andy Munoz: Well, in that case. I mean, even I did go 32 gig on my seven. That for me has been good. I mean, I still have about 18 gigs of space available. Jeff Thompson: You got very short videos. Andy Munoz: I mean, I don't take a whole ... My videos are super long. If I'm not using an app, I get rid of it. I'm always a space saver and even like my text messages. I have my text messages set to delete after 30 days. 32 was fine on that, but I was more or less talking from the computer side of things. I mean, they'll do all right, but eventually they're going to slow down the more you start using them and things like that. Let's face it, most folks don't do the maintenance that they're supposed to, so you're going to end up putting stuff on there that you didn't want. It's just going to slow it down. For me personally, it says minimum requirement for gigs. I'm going at least go six or eight as far as RAM is concerned. If I can get a faster processor in it, I'm going faster processor. Jeff Thompson: I think that's what people are looking at today. I heard someone that had 64 gigabyte RAM. I was thinking to myself, "Wow." Serena Gilbert: That was a new MacBook that just came out. The one that was like, will we price it out at like $6,000 or something? Jeff Thompson: Yeah. Yeah. You can build that sucker up to ... Oh, can I say sucker? You can build those things up very high and it's just fun. Once you get into that page, you start clicking on this stuff and the surface book two. I went in and checked it out and I started clicking on the 13 inch and bang I was up to $3,000 and that was for a 16 gigabyte I7 processor and a terabyte $3,000 Boom. Serena Gilbert: For a windows computer. Jeff Thompson: That's one thing that I'm really concerned about and we're talking about Apple stuff here, but Apple products, they say they're expensive. You saw the price tags on some of those things that we're just talking about. But even the surface pros, the surface stuff that's coming out, it's not cheap, Serena Gilbert: I get that the Apple computers are expensive, but I have a PC downstairs in our office and I have my MacBook Air The PC gives me way more trouble. My MacBook has never had one thing ever wrong with it. It's never slowed down. It still works like it's brand new and I've had it for like five years almost. Jeff Thompson: You want to know what the biggest seller for me was when it comes to Mac and PC? The fact that Mac has far superior accessibility built into it because obviously you have voiceover. Of course, that's nice because if you have a track pad, you can use some of the same voiceover gestures that you use with your iPhone or your iPad. Then of course, it has screen magnification. You have the ability to do dictation. You have all of these things already prebuilt in. The counterpart, Microsoft, has some of those things. They're just not to the same quality at least in my opinion, but then of course then if you don't use those then you're having to go out and you're having to spend ... What is it? $1,400 or something for jaws or $500 for zoom text. If you use a screen magnification and then of course whatever it is for fusion, if you decide to go with both. Andy Munoz: Well, you can get those third party stuff, but the thing that sold me on the Apple is when my PC fried. This is back when seven was coming out in the windows jaws and all that stuff. Jeff Thompson: It was seven. It was right after XP second edition. But anyways, when it fried I decided to go Mac and I really liked the part that they make the equipment. They make the software, it's one house, one company making everything. It just works fit for so many years. Today, I don't know if they use that as much, it just works, but I do like that. It's neat to see that Microsoft is coming out with their own surface line of computers and it just like ... I had to cock my head to turn and look. I had to give them some attention because that was interesting. When I priced it out, they're no cheaper than an Apple product. Serena Gilbert: There's some other rumors of what might come out as well. Do either one of you have an Apple Watch? Jeff Thompson: Yes, I do. I have the two. Serena Gilbert: I believe mine is a two as well. Do you have one, Andy? Andy Munoz: I do not. I've toyed with the idea. I was wanting the three, but- Jeff Thompson: Serena, he doesn't have a watch and you brought them on the show? Serena Gilbert: Hey. Andy Munoz: She- Serena Gilbert: Who did the screening? Andy Munoz: She noticed I really do want the watch. I'm actually curious as to the new series four that's coming out because what I was reading on that, especially as it's supposed to give more screen surface- Serena Gilbert: I was going to say you might really Andy Munoz: ... small bezels yeah. Serena Gilbert: The way that they displayed it, I think it had next year, like three complications on it, which normally there's four I believe. Maybe it was next year four, but either way there was one- Andy Munoz: I think next four because the analog face said it could hold up to eight complications. Serena Gilbert: That's double. Jeff Thompson: Complicated. Serena Gilbert: Somebody said that on the picture that got leaked of the series four not that this is a useful feature, but whatever. Because we don't live in places like this. It's called the UV Index. It could read if it was safe to go out in the sun. Andy Munoz: Oh, really? Serena Gilbert: Yeah. There's that trademark. Andy Munoz: It makes you wonder this stuff that it's capable of doing. Serena Gilbert: I wonder because I haven't seen the series three, so I don't know. Is it thinner than the two do we know or is this the same form factor? Andy Munoz: I believe it's the same. They didn't change the size. There's 42 and 38. Serena Gilbert: I'd like to see it get a little bit thinner, honestly. Andy Munoz: I have to agree with that. I remember bulky watches especially on a girl's wrist. I see the problem right there, bang. It's like, "Hello." I was really wondering because the 38 is not really a compromise. There's still both big. Serena, you want a thinner? Serena Gilbert: Yeah. I want the actual form factor to be a little bit thinner to make it just look a little sleeker. Andy Munoz: Any of you ever done archery or something? They use those wrist pads that cover so the string doesn't. I wonder if there's ever going to switch to the phone or to the watch, be more oblong. Give you more surface. Why can't you have a come up here? It's a little bit further. Serena Gilbert: I'm sure that they've done some weird Apple study and found that people would just turn like that. You know how Apple is? Andy Munoz: That's so 2024. Serena Gilbert: We are already in 2052. Jeff Thompson: We're just not there yet. But I'm really excited. I've heard rumors about the Mac Mini getting a refresh, but these are just people. They got to put so much ink on the paper, so we don't know what's really coming out. I've heard the Mac Mini. I've also heard Apple TV that they're going to do something. If you get on Google long enough you'll find everything. Serena Gilbert: What they haven't ... Or at least, I haven't read anything about any sort of rumor about. I know they're not going to refresh this, but I have a HomePod and I know that I have to refresh the actual form factor or anything. But there has been absolutely no talk about what IOS 12 will bring to the HomePod at all. Andy Munoz: Didn't you just get your AirPlay 2? Serena Gilbert: Yeah, but that's weird. I don't have two HomePods. I don't really care. It is nice that from my phone I can tell it to play on the HomePod that's kind of convenient. But as far as actual features and Siri actually being smart on the HomePod, it's super disappointing. Andy Munoz: You can tell your phone to play music while Siri is built into the HomePod and you could just tell Siri. Serena Gilbert: If you're upstairs doing laundry or picking up your phone from the floor. Andy Munoz: Is that where you kept all the time doing laundry? Your phone breaks same day, you're playing music from the laundry? Serena Gilbert: That's usually where I listened to the Blind Abilities Podcasts. Andy Munoz: Serena- Jeff Thompson: Then you got to hope Siri understands what you're saying? Andy Munoz: Yeah. That's always- Serena Gilbert: I just don't understand why Siri is so lacking. They need to show her some love this year. Andy Munoz: They have. They've been trying to create shortcuts. If you look into the Betas or on your phone right now ... I believe if you're running the Beta, which I am, you can see the shortcuts and it's just redundant to things that you've already done. Serena Gilbert: I am looking forward to the series shortcuts being able to be more integrated with third party apps. It would be really nice for me to be able to tell Siri to play a specific station on Pandora. That is something that I don't understand never could do that in the first place, but it will be nice for those things to be able to open up a little bit. But I also feel like this is almost like a lazy way the Apple took of making Siri smarter by just opening it up a little bit differently to third party developers and then being make it do all these things that it should have already been able to do. Jeff Thompson: It's a workflow. Serena Gilbert: Which is what they purchased a couple of years ago. Jeff Thompson: I mean, I've gone into the workflow and I sat there for a little bit and it's like, "Okay." After about 15 minutes, I just closed it up and go, Andy Munoz: I don't know. To me there's just no excuse. I mean, when you've got a counterpart in Alexa who's fairly useful, at least from the things that I've done and heard from other folks, you would think that that would be something that Apple would bump up. Serena Gilbert: Especially since they were the first ones to even have the digital assistant. That's what makes it even more ... And I get when you're the first, somebody always makes it better, but I feel like they always say every year when they release the new IOS, Siri can do all these other things. Every time that they say all the things that Siri can do now I find myself thinking, "Oh my gosh, you already could do that. So okay, awesome." I have no faith in it now. I'm like, "Yeah." Jeff Thompson: Well, it was something that I've always thought about. It's like okay, you come out with a new phone every year or you come out with maybe a new model iPad, you're adding Siri to the Mac. But at some point, these products just become products. You've got to do something else that makes them stand out even more so than your competition. You give that an upgrade and you make it comparable to an Alexa. It's definitely going to make it a bigger seller. You're already one of the largest companies in the world as it is, but still as in anything, there's always room for improvement and I think even in the accessibility side of it, I mean, granted it's great. I'm not going to knock it, but really there are still some things I think even with some dictation on the Mac side of things, make it somewhat similar to dragon where you can create a voice file because it definitely has some nice things built in. Jeff Thompson: I mean, you can certainly do some text editing and do some different things like that, but there's certain things that it still can't do. If you start focusing on those areas, you're just going to enhance your product that much more. Andy Munoz: Well, with all of the voiceover stuff that we have, we got it on the watch. We have three heads Siri on the watch. We have all these ... It can tell your heartbeat, it can tell you, "Jeff breath, Jeff stand," and all that stuff. I want it to get to the point where I pick up a piece of fried chicken, it says, "Jeff, hey dude, dude, dude let's talk. Let's talk." I want that type of interaction where ... I'm serious. I mean, I want something that's smart. They're talking about artificial intelligence. To me, it's just database driven information. You go to the Amazon devices and stuff and they got 10,000 different skills that you can do. Give me 20,000, I'll use it just as less. Their stuff is games. Andy Munoz: There's other things, informational stuff, but I want the thing to actually be smart. Not just a resource, a dictionary or encyclopedia or a Google search, I want it to be intuitive, smart. I see the shortcuts, it sees that it's remembering things that I've done. I wonder if that's going to build a database so it will be able to predict my tendencies, but, "Hey, let's talk Siri. Let's talk." Serena Gilbert: I just want something incredibly simple that they released in IOS 11 with voiceover. I just want it to actually recognize pictures. We've got this great feature that you released last year and I find it completely useless, honestly. I find it easier to take a screenshot and send it through Seeing AI than to even attempt even just the simple gesture because it's just so unreliable in my opinion. Andy Munoz: Well, that new feature in Seeing AI where it will actually label the pictures? Serena Gilbert: Yes. That is ingenious. Why couldn't Apple have built that in? Andy Munoz: That's amazing because you can't even go into your camera or your photos and you can actually label the photo. But as soon as you take the next pitcher and it moves. So I don't even know if it can do that. But it was a silly thing because I spent about two hours, one time labeling like 30 pictures and also I took a picture and it all shifted and it all went away. Serena Gilbert: You can still label them and that shifting must have gone away because I labeled a ton when I first got my new iPhone and I was like, "I'm going to label every picture that I take," because I was naive and so I started labeling them as I took them and they did keep the labels, but it's just so tedious. It's easier ... Even what I want to share a picture now I just go into Seeing AI because they do have that share button in there where you can push it out to whatever you want when you know for sure that's really the picture that I wanted to just send out. Jeff Thompson: It's coming a long ways and I think what they're announcing I'm going to be riveted to this. I'll be in England at the time, so it'll be 6:00 PM for me and Central Time I believe it's 12 because it comes on it what time? Ten o'clock in California? Andy Munoz: 10:00 Pacific. Jeff Thompson: 11:00 Time Mountain we got to get Colorado in there and- Serena Gilbert: [inaudible]. Jeff Thompson: I don't want to lack this- Serena Gilbert: At 2,000 podcasts here, Jeff. Jeff Thompson: I know. Hey, I'm looking up to you guys, my Ohio, right? Serena Gilbert: Goodness. All of the jokes. Jeff Thompson: I just think they put on a great show. I mean, they come out and it's the same old, same old. Now we're going to call out and the guy comes out or the girls over there and she's flicking on the phone and doing all this stuff. It's exciting. What do you guys predict is going to be the thing that we're overlooking? Do you think there's going to be a surprise? Serena Gilbert: You mean the ... But wait, there's more moment like there always is. Every year. Jeff Thompson: Drum roll. Serena Gilbert: I think that ... But wait, there's more. It's going to be the refreshed I see. Jeff Thompson: Really? Serena Gilbert: Because people still like the smaller form factors and there's still a niche for that. Andy Munoz: Well- Jeff Thompson: 6.1 is not the small form factor? Serena Gilbert: No, a lot of people don't like that, Andy Munoz: In speaking with a lot of ... Obviously being in that support role for the last several years, I've found that a lot of our blind and visually impaired customers did like that smaller phone. I personally, I could go either way. I'm not so much a big fan of the plus just because it just doesn't feel right in my hand even using an iPad. If I'm going to use it, it's got to either be on a flat surface or it's got to have a case that's got a stand where I can use a keyboard and navigate it that way because for me it just feels awkward. I guess it's all in who you are and what you feel comfortable with. Andy Munoz: But I've found that a lot of folks that have the SE or have a 5S and would like to get an SE but just didn't want to get the current one because again, as we all know, their lifespan is only so long and they'll only take so many updates. That was a question I got all the time is, do you know if they're going to make a new SE? I was like, "Well, you just never can tell." I mean, if Apple holds true to form at some point, yeah. I thought it was going to be this last year and it wasn't. We'll have to wait and see what turns up. Jeff Thompson: I'm excited for the SE for people if it does come up because I understand the real SE and you're right about the iPad. I don't like using it just as an iPad, I use it as a keyboard input type of device in meetings. It's portability, everything like that. There's a reason to have certain pieces of equipment. I'm just excited to ... I keep saying the plus but is it the 10S? I said you guys's style, the XS. Isn't that going to be as big as a plus though. Serena Gilbert: What they're saying is that the ... because you know how they just call the iPad, the iPod now. They don't call it ... Because I do know that they have the iPad Pro but they have two sizes of the iPad Pro, but they don't call them something different. They're saying they're just going to bring the whole iPhone 10 under one name and then you're just either getting the 10S 5.1 inch or whatever it is or the 10S inch. I forget what the measurements are. That's the- Jeff Thompson: XS, 6.5. Serena Gilbert: Then the first one is what the original form factor is and then there's going to be one that I guess will have the same screen real SE as the pluses currently have, but it will actually be a smaller form factor because of the Bezel being gone. Jeff Thompson: That makes sense. We're all going to be surprised maybe what's coming out and if you're in line for a certain product, hopefully, this is your time to pull the trigger. I know I always get tempted, but lately you said, Andy, when the eight came out and I'm sitting there on a seven, there was no reason to make any big changes, so the thing that I will be moving into is probably something that I'll be charging on a flat surface, hopefully, if that ever comes out. Serena Gilbert: Jeff, if you get the 10, I can send you Me-mojis. Jeff Thompson: Oh, that's right. Awesome. Serena Gilbert: I haven't seen it that's accessible yet. Andy Munoz: But isn't that the one where you can take the different emojis like an animal or something and you can actually do the recording? Serena Gilbert: That's like the Animoji but then IOS 12 you can actually make a Memoji. Andy Munoz: Oh, okay. Serena Gilbert: This is a very important feature you guys, seriously. It can tell if you stick your tongue out or if you wink. Andy Munoz: Oh, wow. Serena Gilbert: It's very important because you want to be as expressive as possible, right? Jeff Thompson: Of course, yeah. I mean, hey. It's all about being expressive. Serena Gilbert: This is why you should upgrade to the 10, but you're completely forgetting about a piece though too, is if you're not impressed with the 10S or whatever they're going to call it, you can always just get the 10 and save a little bit of money but have a really solid phone. Andy Munoz: I think they should call it the XSF. That way, it would be totally excessive. Serena Gilbert: Oh. Jeff Thompson: I always like when you do that because it saves me a sound effect. Andy Munoz: One last thing, I can't remember where I saw this. I almost want to say that I saw something that even the iPads are going to soon be ... the home buttons are going to soon be gone. Serena Gilbert: I totally forgot about that. I have read that too. They traditionally have an event in October. Usually, they refresh the Mac Books and stuff in October. But they already did that, so I bet it'd be refreshing some brand new iPad. Jeff Thompson: I heard that the new phone is not going to be equipped for the pencil either. Serena Gilbert: Does anybody use the pencil? Andy Munoz: With me, no. I mean- Serena Gilbert: I mean, I know that in certain education environments and things like that and obviously maybe graphic design and stuff like that. But I wonder if the everyday person uses that. What is it a $200 add on? Jeff Thompson: It's $100 add on, isn't it? I have no use for it. It's just one of those things that are out there just like the color of the new phones. Serena Gilbert: Oh my goodness, you guys. I have one final question for you guys and we'll check back to see how, if we're right or not. How many times do you think that Tim Cook or ... What was the other guy's name? Phil, whatever his name is [crosstalk 00:47:07] all the Apple nerds, how many times do you think they're going to say, "No, isn't that fantastic?" What is the word they like the most and- Jeff Thompson: If you can actually count that and be accurate ... I know I'm not going to try it but if you could come up with that number, I'd be impressed. Serena Gilbert: If one of our listeners can count how many times they say, "Fantastic," or, "Innovative," Blind Abilities' T-shirt. Jeff Thompson: There you go. There you go. We got to come up with a number. Serena Gilbert: I mean, if you played a drinking game to that, you would just be absolutely on the floor. Jeff Thompson: How is your Gatorade by the way? Serena Gilbert: It's all gone. Jeff Thompson: We guess it was a Gatorade? Serena Gilbert: It was definitely Gatorade. Jeff Thompson: Well, I'll be watching from England. I'll be tuning into it 6:00 PM in England. Andy Munoz: By the way, I was off on my price of the Apple Pencil. It's 99 bucks. Jeff Thompson: Jeff, you were right. Andy Munoz: Jeff is on the money with it. Serena Gilbert: Add that to your two times that you can write. Jeff Thompson: Well, three times is right is the left, isn't it? Serena Gilbert: I confused. You just made my head hurt. Well, I've enjoyed chatting with you guys and I can't wait for us to do a recap of this special event next week. We will somehow catch Jeff in the middle of the night, I hope so. We shall figure out the logistics, but we will definitely be back to recap everything that you hear from the special [inaudible] and thanks for listening to you the brand new Access Abilities Podcast on the Blind Abilities Network. We look forward to hearing from you and we will talk to you next time. [Music]  [Transition noise]  -When we share -What we see -Through each other's eyes... [Multiple voices overlapping, in unison, to form a single sentence] ...We can then begin to bridge the gap between the limited expectations, and the realities of Blind Abilities. Jeff Thompson: For more podcasts with the blindness perspective, check us out on the web at www.blindabilities.com, on Twitter at Blind Abilities. Download our app from the App Store, Blind Abilities. That's two words. Or send us an email at info@blindabilities.com. Thanks for listening.

That Blind Tech Show 21: Thinning Down the Crew, Bulking Up on Goodies, Picking Apples on Sept 12th and Brian Enters the Dark Side Welcome back to That Blind Tech Show. This is episode 21 and we got a lot going on here. From D-Day arriving on Twitterific and other 3rdparty Twitter apps but it appears the fall out is nowhere near the horrific dooms day scare put upon the Tweeters out there. Almost reminded some of us of the 2000K hysteria. Brian aims to wear women’s pants in the near future and that is not even his dark side confession he makes on this episode 21 of That Blind Tech Show, (TBTS). Apple Pods vs Sonos 1 speakers, Apple employee gets punched in face over Face ID, the iPhones are coming, the iPhones are coming. Yes! September 12 and the speculation is running wild. You gonna get something? Sure, do it, just do it. A new Mac 13”, Mac Mini, Air Pod case, and is the expected new iPhone X-s a bit to excess or is that name just right? Xs, hmm. Verizon is throttling like wild fire, Brian sneaks into England and Jeff is actually headed there soon. We also now have our own RSS Feed! www.ThatBlindTechShow.Libsyn.com/RSS And you can also search for That Blind Tech Show in your most handy podcatcher of choice. There seems to be a podcast catcher app coming out every week. Same with the IOS 12 betas, and beta 12 seems to hit it right out of the park. Join Allison Hartley, Brian Fischler and Jeff Thompson in this effort to do something productive. Let us know how we are doing and check out the links below to see where we do our reading. J Links from the show: Thai man punches Apple sales woman in the face over Face ID not working Science Proves Women’s pockets are to small for iPhones Everything new with Siri in iOS 12 Apple September Product rumors And you thought throttling your Netflix was bad? Coding Class Would you trust a Facebook Voice Controlled Smart Speaker Elago Wrist Fit Accessory and Leather Snap Pouch  Air Snap Leather Pouch   Contact   Thank you for listening. Send us Feedback via email Follow us on Twitter @BlindTechShow   That Blind Tech Show is produced in part with Blind Abilities Network   You can follow Blind Abilities on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store.  

That Blind Tech Show 21: Thinning Down the Crew, Bulking Up on Goodies, Picking Apples on Sept 12th and Brian Enters the Dark Side   Welcome back to That Blind Tech Show. This is episode 21 and we got a lot going on here. From D-Day arriving on Twitterific and other 3rdparty Twitter apps but it appears the fall out is nowhere near the horrific dooms day scare put upon the Tweeters out there. Almost reminded some of us of the 2000K hysteria. Brian aims to wear women’s pants in the near future and that is not even his dark side confession he makes on this episode 21 of That Blind Tech Show, (TBTS). Apple Pods vs Sonos 1 speakers, Apple employee gets punched in face over Face ID, the iPhones are coming, the iPhones are coming. Yes! September 12 and the speculation is running wild. You gonna get something? Sure, do it, just do it. A new Mac 13”, Mac Mini, Air Pod case, and is the expected new iPhone X-s a bit to excess or is that name just right? Xs, hmm. Verizon is throttling like wild fire, Brian sneaks into England and Jeff is actually headed there soon. We also now have our own RSS Feed! www.ThatBlindTechShow.Libsyn.com/RSS And you can also search for That Blind Tech Show in your most handy podcatcher of choice. There seems to be a podcast catcher app coming out every week. Same with the IOS 12 betas, and beta 12 seems to hit it right out of the park. Join Allison Hartley, Brian Fischler and Jeff Thompson in this effort to do something productive. Let us know how we are doing and check out the links below to see where we do our reading. J   Links from the show: Thai man punches Apple sales woman in the face over Face ID not working Science Proves Women’s pockets are to small for iPhones Everything new with Siri in iOS 12 Apple September Product rumors And you thought throttling your Netflix was bad? Coding Class Would you trust a Facebook Voice Controlled Smart Speaker Elago Wrist Fit Accessory and Leather Snap Pouch  Air Snap Leather Pouch   Contact   Thank you for listening. Send us Feedback via email Follow us on Twitter @BlindTechShow   That Blind Tech Show is produced in part with Blind Abilities Network   You can follow Blind Abilities on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store.  

TBTS will soon have it's own feed and you will be able to follow the show on any of your favorite podcast apps or devices. With that said, Brian brings us a demo of the GE Microwave that takes commands through his Echo Dot. Join the gang on That Blind Tech Show, Brian, Allison and myself, Jeff. Thank you for listening. Send us Feedback via email Follow us on Twitter @BlindTechShow   That Blind Tech Show is produced in part with Blind Abilities Network   You can follow Blind Abilities on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store.  

ThatBlindTechShow19: From Chrome, Surface Pro, VoiceView, MacBookPro’s New Line-up, and yes, more mention of the Cluckin’ Gobble… Chirp That Blind Tech Show 19 is jammed packed with… well, it’s nearly an hour of…. Well, we are back in the saddle and letting it rip. News from the convention, Twitter’s clamp down on 3rd party apps, Microsoft’s Surface Go is now gettable and Voice view steps in-line with gestures. And lookie lookie at that there Chrome Vox.  Not to forget, Brian talks about himself, again and again and on this episode he will not let his fan boys down. Allison is all moved in and Jeff is headed West for a bit while Brian is busy searching the internet and Amazon for that next tidbit of news or that gadget he feels he needs and can’t live without. Ok, that is a stretch, Brian ain’t that busy, he does it all from the couch. So kick back and join Brian on the couch and find out what’s happening in the world of That Blind Tech Show. With Co-hosts. Brian Fischler, Allison Hartley, and Jeff Thompson. And a big thank you to Serina Gilbert for tolerating Brian and Jeff last episode. We owe you big time! Here are some links to the topics and products mentioned in episode 19 of That Blind Tech Show: Ok, it is now time to panic. Twitterrific removes push notifications and live timeline streaming More than 1 of 10 consumers  want Voice Control in the bathroom Why are blind people being replaced by blind cheetah robots? Thank you for listening. Send us Feedback via email Follow us on Twitter @BlindTechShow That Blind Tech Show is produced in part with Blind Abilities Network. You can follow Blind Abilities on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store.

That Blind Tech Show 18: My TV’s On Fire! GPS, GPS, GPS 3 Times Fast, Lazarillo App, Pete’s Amazon Fire Cube Demo and BETA, BETA, BETA.   That Blind Tech Show sneaks right up to the start of conventions and on Episode 18 Serina Gilbert struts her microphone magic and puts the boys in their place. Join Brian Fischler, Serina Gilbert and Jeff Thompson as they roll out some pretty good news, opinions and possibly a little humor to bring a little sunshine into your day. From the Amazon TV, the Amazon Fire Cube, in which the totally awesome Pete Lane demonstrates, to some neat little gadgets Brian is collecting, sharing and keeping the economy moving by purchasing anything under $35. Oops, he may of blew that budget. J Jeff gives a little peek at the LazarilloApp that rivals the BlindSquare App but does it really? Download this free app and find out yourself. Lazarillo on the App Store. Serina, Co-Host of the Job Insights podcast on Blind Abilities does a sensational job and if she could just laugh a little bit more… Believe me, her laugh is infectious! Join the That Blind Tech Show crew and kick back for a good listen and be sure to check out some of the links from the show below:   Did you hear the one about the all you can eat Chinese Restaurant that went out of business?   Don’t Take your iPhone to World Cup. Is there anywhere you won’t take your iPhone?   Do you plan to run the iOS 12 public beta on your devices   Talk Smart Wearable Bluetooth Button Reizen Talking Wand   Thank you for listening. Send us Feedback via email Follow us on Twitter @BlindTechShow   that Blind Tech Show is produced in part with Blind Abilities Network.   You can follow Blind Abilities on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store.

WWDC, World Wide Developers Convention, is Apple’s big day to highlight to the world what is cooking for the developers kitchen. Basically, Tim Cook and the crew at the Apple orchard talk about the tools developers will be able to utilize for apps and software on their devices. iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, and the Mac are the big stars and this year, the Apple Watch took over part of the big stage. On this WWDC episode we brought on a few team members who usually hang back but if Apple can bring out the crew, will so can we! Serina Gilbert, Byron Lee and Nick Dambrosio share their thoughts and highlights from the big WWDC event. So, join us as we scream with delight, become perplexed and even vexed, an of course, one yawn included, too, as the WWDC news continues to make the Apple herd migrate to their TV’s, Apple Devices to hear what the Apple gods are tossing down from the Heavenly Orchard in the sky.   Thank you for listening. Contact the show by email Follow @BlindTechshowon Twitter   That Blind Tech Show is in part produced by Blind Abilities Network   You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities Appon the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store.

Episode 16 is really Sweet 16 as Allison and Jeff show their love while Brian remains an 80’s guy deep inside. But that’s as far as we want to go with that. General Electric’s Alexa controlled Air Conditioner gets a demo, as well as the new FaceBook Notifications Settings. We hear from across the pond and from the developers of FlickType and the upcoming release of the 3rd party keyboard is announced. How much fun can you have with a wireless memory stick? We tried, boy, did we. Remember to Back up your devices, computers and make it lazy proof without failure. WWDC is knocking and we crack the door open just a bit and expose our thought bubbles without risk to our integrity. Hmmm, protect that, eh? Coffee and Beer brewing machine, New ovens getting some smarts and Comcast spills the beans, again. And, how to save money on your modem. Don’t lease... Buy! This was to be a quick episode and you probably know how some of the best plans go astray? Well, our planned plan panned out without planning and we still hope you plan to listen as Allison, Brian and myself, Jeff roll out episode 16 with that chagrin smile we wear so well. We hope you get us into your listening playlist, into your pod catcher of choice and in your Amazon device with our Alexa Skill, Blind Abilities. So don’t be afraid to send us your feedback at ThatBlindTechShow@gmail.com and follow our vibe on Twitter @BlindTechShow. That Blind Tech Show is part of the Blind Abilities Network so be sure to check us out on Twitter @BlindAbilities and on the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Here are the links from the show: Amazon $7000 for toilet paper Amazon Portable Battery for Alexa Smart Microwaves Coffee and Beer Brewing Machine Sandisk Wireless Stick   Thank you for listening. Contact the show by email Follow @BlindTechshowon Twitter   That Blind Tech Show is in part produced by Blind Abilities Network You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities Appon the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store.

In episode 15 of That Blind Tech Show Allison Hartley, Brian Fischler and Jeff Thompson announce the release of the Blind Abilities Alexa Skill, the Android version of the Blind Abilities App, GE’s announcement of air conditioners controlled by your home assistant devices, Zoom Pizza’s made by Robots, Amazon and Best Buy Hooking up without the use of the upcoming Facebook Hookup site and how to get a charge out of a rubber case for your iPhone. Believe me, there is more! And I can’t run this sentence on too much longer so give the TBTS episode #15 a listen and be sure to send us feedback, suggestions and hey, just say, “Hi.” Here are the links to the news and products mentioned in this cast: GE’s new line of Smart Air Conditioners Amazon Prime hiking prices to $119. Will you stay Prime Zoom Pizza to expand AI beyond just making pizzas Skynet Facebook taking on Tinder with new Dating option Ford car window would help blind people feel the view Say Hello to the all new Gmail with self destructing emails New iPhone 7 - 8 charging case from Smiphee New USB Wall Charging Unit for $7.00! Thank you for listening. Send us Feedback via email Follow us on Twitter @BlindTechShow     That Blind Tech Show is produced in part with Blind Abilities Network.   You can follow Blind Abilities on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store.

Welcome back to another That Blind Tech Show, well, at least that is what the script says, now if Bryan can only untie his tongue. Allison and Jeff join Bryan for episode 14 and although Bryan had his foot in his mouth, he did manage to figure out how to converse without even thinking about removing his foot! From the Twitter API announcement, to FlickType storming back form it’s Flexsie beginning, reading hand written messages, working with developers and by the way, What floor are you on? Are you using RSS feeds for your news? Have you tried the Lire App? Did you hear about the new AFB Board member from Apple? Join the crew and have a chuckle on us as we take a stab at the news making headlines and the comments we probably should of edited. Ok, my bad. Become a Beta tester for FlickType at beta@FlickType.com Why is Twitter such a, such a, such a...? Will this kill Twitter #BreakingMyTwitter for you? Apple Granted patent to tell people what floor they are on! AFB welcomes Sarah Herrlinger to its board Apple hires Google Chief of AI Bone Conduction Sunglasses Zungle Thank you for listening! Send us Feedback via email Follow us on Twitter @BlindTechShow That Blind Tech Show is produced in part with Blind Abilities Network.   You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities Appon the App Store.

Welcome back to another TBTS as Allison, Brian and Jeff dig into the news and happenings around the tools and gadgets with accessibility in mind. In Episode 12, Skype continues to Un-amuse the Blindness community with broken accessibility and mostly a usability that is failing fast. Delta Airlines enhances its policy on service dogs and basically gets it right. IOS 11.3 Beta brings us more feedback to the life of your battery and it’s shortening of life. Jeff’s battery has dropped 2 more points since the podcast was recorded. Hmm. We touch base with the Business Enterprise Program for the blind. Allison continues to bring us Home Pod news and AirPlay2 is coming to more devices soon. So grit your teeth and bare down as the That Blind Tech Show Episode 12 invades your privacy, and takes away your precious time but hey, it’s all about the moments we have together, the content, the unbelievable audio quality, the conciseness of delivery, the humor and lighter side the show brings and most of all, Bryan’s comedic attempts at being funny. I know, you are trying to recall a funny moment. I am with you. LOL. Bryan never reads show notes so hey, thanks for listening and have a great day. Be sure to follow the show on Twitter @BlindTechShow And send your feedback and suggestions to us via email. Thank you for listening!   that Blind Tech Show is produced in part with Blind Abilities Network.   You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities Appon the App Store.

Allison Hartley and Jeff Thompson join Bryan Fischler on this 11th Episode of That Blind Tech Show. With some helpful demos and chat about how to improve your Facebook Timeline and experience, to Siri stepping up to the Home Pod expectations, to Smart Glasses getting more and more attention and stepping away from the Mac into PC, yes, Allison is doing it. Plus, a lot more in this episode 11 of That Blind Tech Show. Join Co-hosts,Allison Hartley Bryan Fischler and Jeff Thompson for some real virtual reality and check out all the That Blind Tech Show by subscribing to Blind Abilities podcast network. You can find That Blind Tech Show on twitter @BlindTechShow and contact Bryan and his team of co-host by email You can find Allison on Twitter @Hot4Technology Bryan Fischler on Twitter @BlindGator and Jeff Thompson on Twitter @KnownAsJeff Check out these links from the topics from the show: Facebook to radically change the way we view our News Feed Rolling Back to the old Skype The Robots of CES Thank you for listening!   That Blind Tech Show is produced in part by Blind Abilities Network.   You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities Appon the App Store.

That Blind Tech Show Ep. 10 brings a vast array of topics and information from the Apple Watch experience, to the Talking Amazon TV, Amazon Echo waking you up in song or your favorite station, Turning off the Echo dot microphone, and a bit about using the app or the #FB SelectiveTwweets App in Facebook to post in both in one step. Bryan talks about the Air Pods and setting the volume on his new Apple watch. Allison talks about a new game coming out for the PC called A Hero’s Call from Out Of Sight Games. We sail through this episode covering more gidgets, gadgets and news stuff that you better wear a life jacket, or, knee high boots if you’re going to wade through all this. Check out the links below to some of the topics mentioned in Episode 10 of That Blind Tech show.   Amazon Prime Video arrives on Apple TVin over 100 countries Seeing AIGets money, handwriting, color recognition Amazon Echo can now wake you up to music Apple reportedly buys podcast search engine Apple Pay Cash now availto send money to friends Apple and indoor mappingnow avail at 34 airports and malls Apps We like Get Human App on IOS Twitterrific for the Mac Office 365 for the Mac Audible On IOS Thank you for listening!   Send us Feedback via email Follow us on Twitter @BlindTechShow That Blind Tech Show is produced in part by Blind Abilities Network.   You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities Appon the App Store.

Allison, Jeff and Bryan bring you another That Blind Tech Show talking about some of the tech news with a blindness perspective. This episode has gadgets, deals, suggestions and a lot of Allison’s cool tools. Learn about the Sonos 1, the GE Laundry box that talks, Content blockers, chargers and we almost cover everything there is to cover but that would put a lot of news people out of business. So, we kept it to about 50 minutes. Be sure to check the links below to learn more about what the heck we were talking about. :) Hey Apple I want my FM radio! You think pop Up Ads are bad, they are even worse for the blind How to teach Siri to properly pronounce a name Jackery Chargers with Both Cables Attached. [Jackery Bolt 10050mAh High Capacity External BatteryPack, Built-in Lightning & Micro USB Cable Portable Power Bank for iPhone (Black) Jackery Bolt 6000 mAh Portable Charger- iPhone Battery Charger with Built-in Lightning Cable [Apple MFi certified] External Battery Pack Compact Power Bank, TWICE as FAST as Original iPhone Charger Thank you for listening. Contact the show by email Follow @BlindTechshowon Twitter   That Blind Tech Show is in part produced by Blind Abilities Network You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store.

That Blind Tech Show Rolls Again. Bryan brings Allison and Jeff back to the sho to talk about some of the latest Tech news, gidgets and gadgets and the latest from Sonos. We are proud to announce that Twitterrific for the Mac is Back, Downcast just got an update and AOL Messenger is no longer. Jeff gives us an update on the fire that hit Enchanted Hills Camp above Napa, CA and how we can all contribute and support #RebuildEHC. Be sure to check the links below to learn more about what the heck we were talking about. :) Check out the Twitterrific Blog and Subscribe to keep up with the latest from iConFactory Google Bought Apple or Did they! Twitterrfic for Mac is here How to get apps back in iTunes 10 Safari Long Press Shortcut Gestures. Do you remember to ever long press? Read more about Enchanted hills Camp #RebuildEHCand contribute what you can and lend your support. Give by phone: Call Jennifer Sachs at 415-694-7333   See Transcription below.   Thank you for listening. Send us Feedback via email Follow us on Twitter @BlindTechShow   That Blind Tech Show is produced in part by Blind Abilities Network.   You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Transcription: That Blind Tech Show: Twifferrific on the Mac and Downcast is Back andSonos Gets 1 Bigger. (Transcription provided) [Music] Alison: Sonos One's which are the newest iteration of the play one, are the ones that have Lady A built-in. [Music] Alison: I did put the Eyes Free Fitness app on my phone and I'm hoping that you know buying some of the workouts for that, I will literally have no excuse not to, not to do it because my phone is always with me no matter where I go. Bryan: Somebody in New Zealand had something about unboxing one very early before the rest of the world which..... Alison: Oh yes Jonathan was very very happy that you know when he get, when these items come out he gets them a day ahead everyone else because New Zealand is a day ahead. Bryan: He should let people know that. [Laughter] Alison: He really doesn't gloat about that enough, but yeah. Jeff: So Alison you use your phone on a daily basis. [Laughter] Alison: The face ID, I'm still, I find myself still kind of getting used to this new thing called face ID. Jeff: I want to see the Grinch again this year. Bryan: So you want me to come visit? [Laughter] Big smiles okay, three, two one, welcome back to yet another episode of that blind tech show. I know it's been a very long time since we've been here in fact you've probably heard a lot of us on other great technology podcasts. I know our friend Allison Hartley recorded one of her regular tech doctor podcasts as well as she was on with the great people over at main menu. And you may have heard Jeff Thompson on with AT Banter and I believe he's got another podcast coming out with the good folks over at Mystic Access and you may have heard me on Blind Bargains but we finally got the band back together again and we're here to talk you through some of the holidays and the goings on now, so I'm going to go ahead and say yeah how you doing over there Allison. Alison: I'm doing okay, it's the day three of a four-day weekend so I'm just kind of milking the the time off work for all it's worth, I've been reading good books that I'll talk about later and eating lots of food, lots of pie, so much pie. Bryan: There's never such a thing as too much pie. Alison: No never. Bryan: What about you Jeff, how has your Thanksgiving holiday been? Jeff: Well pie is a continuum. Alison: Yep. Jeff: It's been great here, I've been bacheloring it, the family's been gone, and I'm living it here with the dogs, happy Thanksgiving, it's Thanksgiving everyday now. Bryan: I'm actually down in Florida still recording you see, we're all about bringing you the show. Holidays don't stop us. One thing I was very excited though on the plane ride down here, I was very excited some of you might have heard about therapy pigs getting kicked off planes. [Pig noises] I'm happy to report there was no therapy pig on my plane down here, just get old Nash in me. How about you Allison, have you ever been on a plane with a therapy Pig? Alison: I have never been on the plane with anything more exciting than another guide dog, I have to say. Bryan: What about you Jeff have you ever traveled with any pigs? Jeff: No but it, it would wouldn't be that bad if it was therapy bacon. Alison: Oh yeah. Bryan: That is true, that is true and for those of you not hear about that story it's actually not the first time a therapy pig has gotten kicked off a plane so, go ahead and check that out, it was one of the more humorous stories and, you know, it's great that they stand up for our rights as guide dog service dog users, but seriously, therapy pigs. [Pig noises] Now Allison, I think you're probably the only disappointed one because I'm hearing the Soup Nazi said no soup for you, no home pod for you this year? Alison: Yeah I mean I have really no reason to be disappointed. I have speakers coming out of my ears. [Spring noise and laughter] Alison: Quite literally right now cuz I'm wearing headphones but, I am, I am still interested in getting the home pod when it comes out, home pods I should say, cuz I want to get a stereo pair. I have my Lady A controlled Sonos speakers now, and I'm finding that that is honestly filling a lot of my needs in terms of playing satellite radio and playing any song that I could possibly think of. I do still want to get the home pods because I hear that the sound quality is gonna be even that much better than the Sonos speakers, but I'm not, I'm not tearing my hair out, if these new Sonos hadn't come out I might have been a bit more disappointed, but I'm okay. Jeff: Now you said they're gonna be better sounding than the Sonos? Alison: They are, they're going to have more tweeters and better far-field microphones for understanding you, the only limitation in my opinion it's gonna be Siri, I know this is a controversial subject on an Apple themed podcast but, Siri is terrible. Bryan: You will get no argument out of me, Siri and I, we're not even dating anymore, the relationship is over and.... Unfortunately this is not surprising news, Apple you know when they used to meet their deadlines, we talked about it this summer, it was a little odd that Apple was talking about this, it almost reminds me of you know back 10 years ago when they used to say there's an attack coming, it's not coming today, it's not coming tomorrow, but it's coming, and I kind of feel that's the same thing with (inaudible) Alison: Yeah. Bryan: Apple pod, they're not gonna be out today, they're not gonna be out tomorrow, but they will be out, probably around the same time that the Amazon app comes to the Apple TV. Alison: I would, I would say you're probably right there, and I would say that when they do come out they're gonna be a couple of years behind all of the other smart speakers with better AI. It's really, it's kind of gonna be sad almost. I really I want to see Apple push forward in this arena, but unfortunately you know, I, I've played now with Google assistant, I've had a Lady A in my life, I have been playing even with Bixby on a, on a Samsung phone, and yes you give something up in terms of your data, and in terms of your privacy, but when you're putting security above all, the AI, and the assistance itself becomes very limited in what it can do, and it's really starting to show in Siri when there are so many more worthy competitors. Bryan: Yeah, the Apple really missed the boat on the the home assistant and you know, Tim Cook was wishy-washy on it for several years and now it's just gonna be a speaker, I really have no interest, I mean I'm very happy with my Echo devices, heck, I got a small apartment you know, I've got one in the living room. They're $30.00 now over you know, the weekend... Alison: God Yeah. Bryan: I just don't have, I'm like, well do I really need another one, and I'm like, I've got one in the living room, one in the bedroom, and I don't spend much time in the kitchen so you know it's, there's no point really in getting another one but I, you just can't say no at that price and, how was the Google assistant, did you like it? Alison: I do, I actually I have a Google home speaker that I don't have plugged in at this point but on the Galaxy I mean it's just, you can just ask random questions and instead of saying, let me check the web for that, here's what I found, it actually just gives you the answer to your flipping question. Bryan: Yeah. Alison: It's really amazing and then you can ask like follow-up questions and it jives with what you were talking about and it answers intelligently. I just, you know maybe the home pod speakers will come out and something about Siri will blow us out of the water or something out of the speakers, about the speakers will blow everything else out of the water because they've had a little bit more time, but I'm starting to get a little impatient with Apple's obsession with, I know they want to get it right, and I know they want to have a really polished user experience, but that user experience is starting to suffer because of that need to be so meticulous, and so perfect. Jeff: Well I think they've actually, having it come out next year might be a good plan for their stocks in a way because people are buying the eight, or the ten, those are big items, and you're talking about $349.00 here. It's hard to comBryan when everybody else is you know flooding the market with these $29.00 minis, and dots, and Amazon, what do they have seven different items now in this department? The Look, the Show, the Tap. Alison: Now Google has three, I mean, it's a lot. Bryan: And, I'm hearing about headphones, Bose, I think there is a set of Bose headphones which you know, I couldn't afford those, but that have the Google Home built into them so we're starting to see more and more even headphones with these kind of assistants built into them and, I think Apple, you know, they've just been left behind and, not every company needs a home assistant so, I really don't see what the marketplace unless you are a big music listener, you know, or have capitol to spend, I really don't see the point to it, I guess I don't have a fine ear for music because I think the Echo speaker sounds fantastic and everybody I know that's into music says, "Are you kidding?" Alison: Oh no, oh God, no no no no no. Especially the Dot. The Dot is barely passable for spoken word, but even the big Echo, drives me crazy because it tries to simulate fake stereo, but it doesn't quite get it right on the one speaker so, it's, it drives me nuts. Bryan: What's the opposite of perfect pitch? Because that's what I have. [Laughter] Jeff: Either you have it, or you don't. Alison: Yeah. [Laughter] Jeff: So with the Sonos, you have two of them, that's the Sonos one you have two of them. Alison: Yep. Jeff: That does perfect stereo? Alison: It does, yeah I have them equal distant from each other on a table, and the stereo separation is amazing, it's really beautiful. Jeff: Oh that's great. Bryan: Are there multiple different kinds of Sonos? I've just heard phenomenal things about Sonos speakers, or is there one product line or are there different kind of product lines for the Sonos speakers. Alison: There are in the non smart, non Lady A connected Sonos products, there are three, well four technically different tiers of Sonos products, and it all depends on the number of tweeters that are in each speaker, and with all of them you can pair to get a stereo pair with the Play Ones, Play Threes, and Play Fives, but they become very expensive, and they have a sound bar, and they have a subwoofer for the television, but you couldn't pair Lady A with a skill now, to make all of your Sonos products somewhat controllable via Lady A, but the Sonos One's which are the newest iteration of the Play One, they look exactly the same except they have microphones, are the ones that have Lady A built-in. Bryan: Yeah well everything, everything seems to be getting smarter except Apple News, which you know, I often go through Apple news and my subscriptions when I'm putting this show together and, lately I've been noticing there's about two articles and then everything goes back six weeks, and they just don't seem to be coming out with a lot of content and as Jeff and I were talking about, a lot of ads you'll see an article, title of an article, title of an article, then an advertisement, and then a bunch of text, this is something about Apple and an ad and everything. Jeff have you been using Apple News, and have you noticed how down hill it seems to have gone? Jeff: I've noticed it's changing a little bit at first, the ads you can't even read the ads because that, all it does is give you description of it, and you have to skip over it, so they're not trying to sell to the blind. The thing that I noticed about Apple News is Apple shuts down at about four o'clock on Friday, there's no new news, they just kind of rehash the same stuff until Monday, and it's just like looking for an app update. If I get one on on Saturday/Sunday, someone paid extra to have that pushed out. Bryan: Yeah maybe I should go back to Newsify and actually reading my RSS feed for technology news. I'm not seeing that much content coming through there, I was I was really excited when Apple news came out because I thought it was gonna be great and I enjoyed it at first, I was using it all the time, but now I'm seeing less and less content and a lot of that content, there's nothing worse than when you're reading an article and like a paragraph into the article, all of a sudden advertisement is starts being read to you... Alison: Yep. Bryan: It drives me absolutely bonkers, and Jeff you actually said, and I'm curious because I read a lot of television recaps in Safari, where I'll say, Arrow episode, season six episode three recap, and it will, I'll find an article that will describe the action and a lot of times these articles, a paragraph in it starts reading an ad to me, you just got a pop-up blocker, now do you think those pop-ups might block those in article advertisements, or just really block pop-ups. Jeff: Actually it's not a pop-up blocker, that is native to the Safari app where you can turn that on or off and it blocks pop-ups. Now some colleges, if you're a college student, they use pop-up so you might want to beware that you might be shutting off something and not being able to gain access to so, try it out. What I got was Purify and that's P U R I F Y, it's a content blocker, and when you get that you, you purchase it, and I got it for a dollar ninety nine, I don't know if that was a Black Friday deal or a special over the holidays but, a dollar ninety-nine, it's very popular app according to Nick, my buddy up in Canada, and what it does is it works on your browser. So what you do is you purchase it and then you have to go into your Safari app settings, go down and just below pop-up blocker, you're gonna find content blocker, and then you have to enable it by turning it on. Bryan: Allison, have you ever used any kind of pop-up or ad blockers or anything? Alison: I do also use Purify and I find that that eliminates a lot of the ads on the websites that I use. What I love now also is reader mode for specific websites in iOS11, if you activate reader now, it's an actionable item and you can go to Auto reader and you can tell it that I either want reader to be active on this website all the time or, all the time for everything, so I have some very specific websites for which I just have reader all the time and I never have to worry about any extra crap on the webpage. Bryan: Where is that setting where you could set it specifically for an individual website? Alison: When you actually turn on reader and you've got reader selected, then there's an actions available, it might even be available for you to select it, and one of the actions is automatic reader when you flick down. You double tap that and then it comes up with a message that says do you want to enable reader for all websites or just on this domain and, you could turn it on for just on this website, and so like 9 to 5 Mac for example and a couple of other more the, more of the busy Apple news sites, I have since I do so much Twitter reading on my phone, I've got automatic reader turned on and it's changed everything. Bryan: Yeah that's something I'll have to, you know I I use the reader all the time, but I, and I remember hearing about, that you know, you hear, about so many new settings but I've never played around with it so, that's something I'm really gonna have to make use of, and by the way if you're out there and if you know of any specific ad popup blocker that might work in individual apps, let us know, you could tweet us in at BlindTechShow or shoot us in an email at thatblindtechshow@ gmail.com, let us know about that. This next thing is really interesting because I was down here listening, I have an app where I'm able to get any NFL audio feeds and everything, and the one thing that drives me bonkers because my dad's a little older so sometimes he forgets is I'm watching the Washington Redskins game here on Thanksgiving with him and I'm listening to the Redskins radio, the only problem is streaming audio is a good minute and a half to two minutes behind real time, and he keeps commenting about what's on TV and it's just driving me insane, I'm like Dad, remember it hasn't happened again you know, so, one thing that would be nice is if FM radio actually just worked on your iPhone which supposedly it could according to this article, we'll put in the show notes that it's built into the phone but Apple just will not activate it. Have you guys been following this story? I know it's been in the news a lot lately. Alison: I've heard two things about this, I've heard that Apple for whatever reason has just decided not to activate it but then I've also heard that the newer modems actually don't have the FM radio so it's a moot point. Bryan: Mmm okay, what about you Jeff if you've been following along to this? Jeff: Yeah I have but, you know it's to me it's like, is it, is it, am I dying for it, I don't know, I really don't know. Bryan: I think it'd be nice, just, you know to be in real time. I don't understand why they can't get streaming audio to be at least maybe you know a second or two behind. I mean it's just such a significance difference, I've got it put on do not disturb, otherwise I'll get notifications about a score in a game, you know, before it happened. The fascinating thing is during the, the Yankees playoff run, I went to my local bar with a pair of my head with the headphones with FM radio, and sure enough FM radio would get it like 30 seconds before television would. [Laughter] Alison: So there's no perfect solution. Bryan: No, there's not, I'd be like, I'd yell out "damn it" and people were like "What are you talking about, they've yet to throw the pitch". [Laughter] So yeah, there's there's no perfect solution. Jeff: I like tuneIn radio, I like stuff like that. Alison: Yeah. Jeff: If there's an emergency or something we got those alarms that go off and everything. I don't see myself turning it on, I don't know, it's just, it so interesting, there's so many resources, so many different avenues that I can get information that, just one more to be on the phone and then, where's my antenna. Alison: Yeah. Jeff: You know it's, now that we're Bluetooth everything so, do we have to wrap it in tinfoil? I don't know. Bryan: You just hold it up in the air while you're walking down the street like an umbrella. [Laughter] Am I getting a signal now? Damn it, the signal is better over here. You know it's funny because the one thing my headphones don't get is AM radio. Jeff: I think it's just as important to think about this. Now do we really want that on there because everyone was so excited when like your Amazon device could make phone calls. As soon as you make that phone call you're standing there for about two minutes going I can't walk away. Alison: Yeah, yeah. Jeff: It's not fun. Bryan: No no no, like I've said for a very long time, the worst app on the iPhone is the phone, and it's also my least used app. I wonder if I could take it out of the dock and put it on like page nine. [Laughter] Alison: You could yeah. Bryan: Yeah, you know it's funny yeah I've been down here in Florida like I said for a week and everything, so I've been in a lot of automobiles which in New York City you know I'm not in cars a lot, and I've noticed my phone still thinks I'm driving sometimes. Alison: My phone thinks I'm driving when I'm not even in a car, like I'll be laying in bed and all of a sudden that do not disturb while driving thing will pop up and I'll be like I'm just reading a book, can you go away? [Laughter] Bryan: But do you have a waterbed so maybe you're moving. [Laughter] Jeff: Too much coffee. Alison: Unfortunately no waterbed, but it's crazy I wish, I have it set on activate manually, so it should not be popping up at all, but it's driving me nuts. Bryan: Real quick for a millennial crowd, water beds were beds with water in them in the 1980s. [Laughter] Look them up. Jeff: California has regulations on waterbeds. Alison: Yeah. [Laughter] Right. Jeff: The other thing is someone told me about the notifications you know that, while you're in a car if you turn it to what is that the Bluetooth setting in your car mode, that that's supposed to trigger it, I don't know sometimes that some things are on, some things are off, I don't know. Bryan: Yeah, and I've got mine set the manual where I'm supposed to be able to turn it on, I have read in a lot of places and I think we may all be running different versions of betas, or some people may be having this problem, others may not and supposedly some people claim it's fixed in a certain beta. I don't even know if I'm running that beta, I think I'm one update behind, you know there's been so many betas out that I can't keep up with them, and a lot of updates coming out too, I notice all the time I seem to have like 80 to 90 updates every few days cuz, I self update, what about you? I know you guys self-medicate, do you self update? Alison: Well I'm constantly working on self improvement, self updating, oh oh you mean apps, yeah. [Laughter] Bryan: The apps, I like to make sure tha,t I like to read those little release notes, and the worst is we update our app fairly regularly, we're not going to tell you what we're doing. Alison: Nope. Jeff: If you get a self-improvement app, would that be self defeating? [Laughter] Bryan: I don't know, you know what, email us and let us know what you think. You know a lot of people are big fans of the Star Wars saga, but have you guys been following the blindfold game saga. Alison: It's been it's been rather epic. Bryan: It has, there's been multiple parts you know. We had, we even had my favorite was Blindfold game Strikes Back you know. Alison: And they did to their credit. Bryan: They did, they struck back hard. I'm a, you know I am a big fan of the games. Blindfold Uno, I've bought plenty of them, I know some people don't like them, I think Marty does a phenomenal job and, God I love the trivia games, and there's nothing like when you've got a, you're sitting in the store you got a few minutes to kill. I've actually set my Blindfold Uno to unlimited scoring so I've got like thirty thousand points in there, it just keeps... [Laughter] Every time the computer gets within ten thousand points of me I think it's cheating you know, but, he really does a great job with a lot of those games. Marty is a businessman and he makes these games you know, out of his love of making games for the community as well as to make money and... Alison: Sure why not. Bryan: I couldn't believe what, when Apple was telling him he needed to roll them into tab less apps in the App Store. It really seemed like Apple didn't know what they were talking about I, you know you could Google Marty's website, I'm not sure the exact site but blindfoldgames.com probably, or just google it, and he's got a blog that'll explain everything that happened if you're not aware of it but, I was really shocked at the stance Apple took against him starting out. Alison: I can summarize briefly if you'd like. Bryan: Sure. Alison: I've been fairly involved in reading about it. So essentially what happened was, and there's a whole detailed timeline on the website. Bryan: Start with episode 1. Alison: In episode one Apple was going through the review process for some iOS11 related updates for Marty's games and they noticed that a lot of the games used the same template. Now Apple technically has a rule that apps cannot be clones of one another, and not looking at the content of the games which are all different decided that these games are too similar and so we're going to have to reject these updates because they have the templates are too similar and you have to make the the gameplay different. Well the whole beauty of the blindfold games is once you know how to play one, you can pretty much figure out you know, several more, so Marty defended himself and said look while these templates are all very similar, the content within them is very different, but Apple didn't want to hear it, they heard, they're like 80 apps is too much. You have to compile them into less. Bryan: A handful, yeah. Alison: Amounts of apps. So Marty's stance, with which I agree, is that then that would make the apps too large to download because they all contain different voice files, and sound effects, so they're already you know pretty sizable downloads anyway, and it would hurt discoverability. For example if all the card games were in one app, somebody might only play one or two, and that might hurt his chances at making more revenue, and the man has got to be able to make some sort of money off it. Bryan: Sure. Alison: I get it. So eventually it came down to a lot of members of the community myself included, advocating with Apple to make them understand that this is a different type of situation than just the average you know, Yahoo up there trying to clone a bunch of flappy bird apps for example. And it worked, they understood, they eventually understood and had a conversation with Marty about, hey we understand that these games are different and now it's it's okay, when the review was passed and Marty at one point he was going to be taking down the games because he just didn't have the resources, either financial, or time wise to do the rewrites that Apple was starting with, so I'm really glad that this ended up, ending happily, and I got into some, some real Twitter spats with a couple of people who really think that, that oh, it's just blind people whining. No, it's, it's people advocating for games, which are truly different in the App Store, and yes blindness does have a little bit to do with it because we have a shortage of accessible games as it is, so don't take our choices away. Bryan: Would you summarize saying basically that Marty basically after the the Clone Wars beat the Empire? Alison: He did. Bryan: Yes. Yes. [Laughter] A Star Wars theme, yeah, no, not to make light of it, it was great that Apple reversed it's course and, Jeff, any comments? Where you following along on the Blindfold saga? Jeff: I was more or less following Allison on Twitter, I'm stalking again Allison. Alison: Oh no. Jeff: But Jonathon Mosan wrote a letter, other people in the community got going on, it was nice to see everybody come together for that you know, like some people were pretty negative, they were saying like "oh yeah, they come together this, but not for jobs" Alison: Some people were jerk faces about it, and I will call them out for that. Jeff: Other people were saying like "Oh Apple, they played the blind card to Apple" it's not that, it's like Allison just explained, it's more like that. It is kind of neat to sit back and watch how different people rise up to certain things and other people take sides, you know the bottom line is the guy is doing something. he has to make money. If he bundles them all up, and you only like one of them, you're not going to buy 8 you know, it makes sense, business sense for him, and I'm glad Apple saw it that way. Bryan: I think he's got a great price plan, because you know, yes, he's got a ton of games you know, nobody buy them all. You could test them out, you know he gives you a free amount of games with each one which I think is fantastic. How many mainstream games out there allow you to test it out before buying it? Alison: It's true. Bryan: So basically what we are saying Marty, "Stay Strong!" Jeff: And may the Force be with you. Bryan: You know something that just came to the app store new and I, I've gotta actually take a look at this, because I haven't exercised since last millennium, The Eyes Free Fit, you know Blind Alive some of you may know it as, I looked up Blind Alive, i couldn't find anything related to exercising. But if you look it up under Eyes Free Fitness, and this just came to the app store last week, and I looked through it, you gotta buy the programs, but it looks like they got a ton of different exercises in there, and I know they've been around for quite a while and on a lot of podcasts. Have either of you guys ever done any of their exercise programs? Alison: A long time ago I bought Cardio Level 1, and it is really great, and really descriptive. I did it a couple of times, I'm really bad with sticking with exercise routines no matter how accessable they are. So, it's really a motivation issue, its not an issue with the workouts themselves, but now I did put the Eyes Free Fitness app on my phone and I am hoping that, you know buying some of the workouts through that, i will literally have no excuse not to do it because my phone is always with me no matter where I go. Bryan: Yeah. How about yourself Jeff? You're an outdoor mountain man, have you ever indoor exercised? Jeff: I was actually testing her website with her so I got to get a few of those and she was next to me in the booth at ACB in 2016. It was in Minneapolis, it was really fun, it's really great that she's taken it to this level now that, you can even hook it up to your health app inside your phone too so.... Bryan: Wait a minute, there's a health app in the phone? [Laughter] Jeff: Page 9 Brian, Page 9. Alison: Page 11 yeah. [Laughter] Bryan: It's next to all of my pizza services. [Laughter] Jeff: So I suggest if people want it, it's Eyes Free Fitness, it's well described, that's the whole intent of it. She uses people who are professionally trained to come up with these exercise routines, but then there's also some stretching ones, and all that stuff. So it's pretty versatile, and they got some Yoga stuff in there, and then there's.... Alison: Pilates. Jeff: Yeah, lots of good stuff in there. Bryan: Yeah, yeah, my only complaint about this app and what she does, is she makes the rest of us look lazy. [Laughter] Can I set a New Years resolution in November, where that's my plan is to, exercise and, you know, a lot of people say they want to get in better shape. I would just like to get into a shape so.... [Funny sound effect and laughter] Alison: See it's a good time for me to get back into this because now I'm walking everyday with Gary with our neighborhood in Napa being so walkable that I actually am in a little bit better shape, so I feel like these exercises would be really great, you know especially if on the weekends when we walk less, it would really help me to get in even better shape. I'm still a far cry off from where I want to be and I still eat to much, but that'll never change. [Laughter] Bryan: I don't even eat that much, I just eat all of the wrong things, I've learned if I like it, it's bad for you. Alison: Yeah, that's kinda where I'm at too, I don't find that I eat these ginormous portions, I mean although I do like a healthy portion of food, but yeah, it's not the good things. It's a little light on the leafy green vegetables and such, although I like fruit. Jeff: You know one of the main things about exercise and all this stuff that we're talking about is the mindset and it takes a while to get your mind wrapped around it. I've been using a trainer for, it'll be coming up on a year and I finally got my mind wrapped around it after 10 months. I mean, it really takes something, I used to be in really good shape, I used to do a lot of stuff, I used to run and all sorts of stuff. But I am not being chased anymore so... you know. Bryan: It's may favorite line, "Do you still run?" "Only when chased" [Laughter] Jeff: Yeah, I think people who want to get back into it sometimes it takes a little commitment. You can buy these from $19.00 to $25.00 or something like that, but you have it, you can do it in the privacy of your own home, it's accessible, and it describes all of the stances, all the positions, well described steps, so if that's what it takes to get your mindset involved in it, it might be a good start for you. Alison: Yeah. Yeah can get as of out of breath or sweaty as you want, as quickly as, however quickly it takes and it doesn't matter because it's just you and yeah. Jeff: But make sure you have your phone notifications for driving set right. [Laughter] Bryan: Either that or in my kind of condition make sure you have 911 on speed dial. [Laughter] I got a good work out there, you know we're recording this the day after Black Friday, it's not even Cyber Monday yet but you'll hear this after Cyber Monday, and it was a low tech Black Friday for me because I got some clothes and everything, no technology but I wanted to ask you guys, what about yourself Allison was it a techie Black Friday Cyber Monday for you or no? Alison: No cuz I, I bought what I want throughout the year, I don't, I don't have the the impulse control to wait three months for something to go on sale on Black Friday, I just buy it when I, when I have the money and what I want it / need it. So Black Friday / Cyber Monday are always kind of a bit of a letdown for me cuz I'm like, oh this thing's on sale, oh wait, I already have it, this thing's on sale, wait I already have it. ]Laughter] Bryan: Got it got it got it got it got it need it you know. Alison: Yeah. Jeff: I just went shopping at Allison's place, I just walk to her house. [Laughter] I'll take that, that, that. [Laughter] Ain't got it, ain't got it, ain't got it. Bryan: You know it's not a big tech year for me because I'm not upgrading, I do need to get a new key chain cuz I have one of those key chains with the Lightning charger and for some reason the Lightning charger broke off of the key chain so, one of the things I heard somebody talking about was you know I've got all these kind of what I call lipstick chargers where you have to plug the cord into the charger. I heard they now got a charger out there that has the lightning charger built into it as well as a USB built into it and I think I'm gonna probably get something like that. Alison: Send me that when you find it. Because, send me the link, yeah because that is something, you know, I love my anchor batteries. I have the ones that are like even 20 thousand milliamps witch are a little bit bigger but I just put them in my purse, but yeah you've got to have the little the cables for your Apple watch and for your micro USB devices and your, your lightning cables all together and it's just it's a little bit much, it gets to be a little bit much to carry around. Jeff: Jack really makes a couple of these. One is a six thousand, one is a ten thousand fifty claiming that X needs more power so they made that one. They do have two cords, one is the Lightning port cord and the other is for all the Android stuff, your mini USB plug, and there's a third you can plug a USB into it so you technically you can actually have three by both outputs going at one time. My concern since their dedicated cables on there, are you committed to that if, what if the cable goes bad you know, I, I don't know but it does get a 4.5 out of 5 ratings on Amazon. Myself I like the big ones. Alison: Oh yes send me that one. Jeff: Cuz size does matter. Alison: It does. [Laughter] Bryan: Hey hey, this is a PG podcast. [Laughter] Alison: What, we're talking about, we're talking about batteries. Bryan: Oh. Jeff: I must admit I like big batteries. Bryan: I've heard that about you. Now Allison you've had the iPhone for a while now what are your thoughts? Alison: I basically really like it, it's nice and fast, I like the size, I have it in a leather case because it's glass on both sides and I do not trust myself with glass on both sides and I have dropped it and the leather case has saved me a couple of times. The face ID I'm still, I find myself still kind of getting used to this new thing called face ID. I find that it's very accurate. I find that even when it doesn't get your face it learns from the experience and it has been consistently doing better but it's not as fast as touch ID, the gestures for bringing up home and app switcher are pretty fluid and elegant I think. Bryan: Are you used to doing those after having the press on the home button for so long or does it take a little training yourself? Alison: I'm used to it now, I've had the thing now for a couple of weeks so I've gotten it back into my, into my muscle memory now that this is just what you have to do because there's no home button and luckily I'm not using any other older devices to confuse me, that's convenient but yeah it's it's never going to be as fast I don't think. Jeff: So Alison you use your phone on a daily basis? [Laughter] Alison: Pretty much almost every minute of every day. Bryan: Are you happy with the purchase, are you happy with the upgrade? Alison: I am because I wanted, I wanted the latest and greatest technology and now I've got it and I realized that sometimes that comes with some caveats so I am happy with it, there are some times though when I have just become resigned to entering in my passcode. For example if I'm laying in bed and I want to unlock my phone, I don't want to have to sit up put the phone all the way in front of my face, get face ID to authenticate me, wake up the husband, wake up the dog, so I just enter in the passcode and it's that's even become a little bit faster. Bryan: My dad was having trouble with his phone recently and I finally found out what the problem was. Alison: Yeah. Bryan: He's running an iPhone 4. [Laughter] Alison: Oh for goodness sakes. Bryan: Yeah, I said.... Jeff: Wait, you, you said it's running. Bryan: Yeah, barely, yeah he can make phone calls that's about it, I said no wonder you're having so many issues with everything else and yeah, he's getting ready to get a new one because my mom did order the iPhone 10 and he's gonna get the hand-me-down. I guess he's gonna move up to a 6 which is all he really needs. Alison: Yeah. Oh that'll be quite an upgrade for him. Bryan: Oh yeah, yeah, so but, my mom's got the 10 coming, she's got the, she ordered it online and has the two to three week wait so, I will not, not get to play around with it while I'm down here and everything but I've been you know listening to you on with Dr. Robert Carter not to be confused with Dr. Richard Kimble. Not that anybody but me. Alison: Not to be confused with John Kimble yeah. [Laughter] Bryan: I thought of Richard Kimble immediately but I'm probably the only one that did that so but you know you guys had a great walkthrough of the iPhone 10 and somebody in New Zealand had something about unboxing one very early before the rest of the world which... Alison: Oh yes Jonathan was very very happy that you know, when these items come out he gets them a day ahead of everyone else because New Zealand is a day ahead. Jeff: He should let people know that. [Laughter] Alison: He really doesn't gloat about that enough no but yeah. Bryan: Allison did I hear you do laundry every now and then? Alison: Every now then, you know I, the house-elves or my husband will not comply and I have to do my own. Bryan: Are you testing out that new GE, was it the GE product that you're testing out? Alison: Yeah so, so I have purchased the GE talking laundry box and actually we were in the market for a new washer and dryer anyway so we got the compatible washer and dryer and I've actually been doing a lot more of my own laundry and enjoying the heck out of it now that we have this talking machine because it's so easy to set all you really have to worry about is the start button and the little knob that controls the settings because the different wash cycles, because it verbalizes everything, you turn the knob, it verbalizes if you're on like cold wash, or towels and sheets, or casual wear, or bulky items, and you press Start and it says starting load on bulky items with an estimated 70 minutes remaining and there's a button on the box that you can press if you need an update of what, of time remaining and the dryer is much the same you just mess with the one knob, you can set your cycle and it just works. Our old washer and dryer we had the little arrows marked, but the one thing would spin, and there was another arrow that you could accidentally move, and Jeremy was really the only person who could set it without getting the other thing to spin, so I'm glad to be able to have some agency over my laundry once again. Bryan: And this works with all GE washer and dryers I believe right? Alison: So on the website it does say that it is, should be compatible with most, it should be compatible with the ones that have the ports in the back, the technician ports, but then it says these are the compatible models and it lists just a couple of different models. Slightly more expensive, that are compatible, I think that you can get this to work with older GE models if it has the port for technicians to hook up, but it's better I think in terms of the software working is optimally as it can if you can buy the the newer ones. Bryan: Yeah full disclaimer if your washer and dryers from 1974 and is GE..... Alison: Probably not going to work. Jeff: I do laundry and the thing on my washer and dryer mostly my washer is, there's that plastic cover that covers things up so you can't really tell the dial, so I took a needlenose pliers, it was excruciating sounds but I got that piece off of there, then I put some little markers on there, so now I just put my finger down there and I just turn it and everyone uses it that way so, yeah I don't recommend anybody to take a needle nose and tear that apart unless you know what you're doing but, yeah that's how I access that. Bryan: Yeah when you're like me and you live in New York it's great because I've got like fluff and fold where they pick it up and deliver it and it's pretty cheap and yeah I'm spoiled like that I think I've mentioned that on the show before. One of the things we did want to mention to the listeners if you do not have knfb reader you're just making your life harder, and it's a phenomenal app, I believe and don't quote me on this but I believe it's on sale at least through Christmas for about 50% off. Normally it's $100.00, I believe now it's $49.95. Go ahead and get that app, you'll make your life a lot easier if you want to read your bills or anything along that. Jeff: I really think if you're a student that that's the app to have. Seeing AI is a good app for a convenience, it's just a quick shuffle through the mail, but if you're gonna do bulk reading or if you want to save it and all sorts of things, you know, that's a workhorse the knfb reader app. Alison: I agree. Bryan: Yeah luckily I think all of us have easy names to pronounce, but I have a friend named Keith Strohak, and every time I tell Siri call Keith Strohak, it says did you mean Keith Sholstrum, did you mean Keith Beyer. It drives me bonkers, I have to go in and manually do it and I will put this link in the show notes. Did you know that you could teach Siri how to save names properly? Jeff: Mm-hmm. Alison: Yeah. Bryan: Okay I was the one who didn't. By the way ask Siri to pronounce Charlize Theron because I heard that's another name that she can't pronounce. Alison: Oh boy. Bryan: Yeah so if you're if you're one of those people and your name is Mustafi Mustafasin or something, go ahead and read this link and you know, maybe you could teach Siri how to read your name and everything. Jeff: The trick about it is that it asks you for the first name and then it asked for the second name, well I didn't know it was doing that so I said Laurie Thompson that's my wife, and then I said Laurie Thompson again. I wondered why it asked me twice, so every time she calls, are you sure you want to call Laurie Thompson Laurie Thompson? I left it I thought it was kind of cute. Alison: That is. Bryan: Now Jeff was a great guy and he posted you know happy holidays to everybody on the Blind Abilities Facebook page and I chimed in with my typical bah humbug and he thought that was you know the happiest he's ever heard me, and that's because he didn't hear how mad I was that my old Grubhub app that I've been running for several years because GrubHub has refused update is now officially dead. I finally had to update it and I don't know what I'm gonna do because this happened shortly before I left New York. I kept getting server error, server error, and I could not do anything so I had to update the app, GrubHub prepare for the barrage because I am gonna be hammering you every day now with fixing your heading navigation. I don't know. Alison: Now that your life depends on it yeah. Bryan: Yeah you know. Jeff: It's time to get that Blind Alive app, get that exercise going. Alison: Yeah. Jeff: Screw GrubHub. Bryan: I still gotta order dinner. I still gotta order dinner and everything. Alison: Try Postmates, try Doordash, you said Eat24 doesn't.... Bryan: Doordash I just heard about so yeah that's one I want to check... Alison: Yeah Postmates is also very good. Unfortunately in Napa our only choice really is Eat24, and that only has a couple of options. Bryan: Yeah you know one of the other things I plan to do when I get back from Florida is, because I've been running my old laptop here my Mac air, and it's so nice because it's running Sierra, and things have been running so smooth, as soon as I get home one of my first acts to do, I'm rolling High Sierra back, have you guys, I know Jeff's been playing High Sierra, Allison, are you still using High Sierra..... Alison: I am and for the limited number of things that I do on my Mac it's absolutely fine, I haven't really had any problems. Bryan: Editing text, when you're working with a lot of text and emails or documents and everything, it just befuddles me and everything, you know sometimes you gotta use the option key, and I did report this to Apple, quick nav does you know, when you use quick nav with words, it does not follow the insertion point, we did test it it is getting kicked up to engineers, there is a navigation problem with quick nav in Hi Sierra. Alison: That's unfortunate. Jeff: Yeah I'm using the beta's and you know it keeps on changing so I don't really complain about it I just keep using it and I know, I know it'll get better, so I just putz with it. Bryan: Yeah well Jeff you said you're running the latest beta and it's, you've noticed an improvement so, maybe it won't be the first thing I do when I get back to New York you know, maybe I'll give it one more update. I am not running the beta so I never run the betas on my computer and the word to the wise if you value productivity do not run those betas. Alison: Yeah, or have a partition on your hard drive or a separate hard drive on which to run them. Jeff: Oh my MacBook Pro [Inaudible] I'm not doing the betas on that so I can always go back to that if I need to but, you know I I usually forget that I'm slowly tweaking my muscle memory like you said Allison, and pretty soon I'm just readjusted. Changes happen and I don't know. Alison: Yep. Bryan: Chit chit chit chit oh wait, do we have to play now to use that song? In a more positive segment, I know we've rolled through some some negativity here, we don't want to be negative all the time but you know these are just some things that were pissing Brian off now because, Brian's been known to get pissed off. I always like to hear you know, what you guys watching, what you're reading, you know especially the holiday time of the year, there's a lot of great content out there. Netflix just seems to be piping everything out. Allison what you watching, what you reading? Alison: Well I'm still trying to work my way through Narcos, I have not had as much time for for Netflix recently, but I've been reading this really great book, I'm not sure if it's available on any of the freebies, unbarred or well book sure it's not free but it's practically free. I got off of Audible it's my Brandon Sanderson it's called "The way of Kings" it's part of the Stormlight archive series, it's an epic fantasy series, long long books, the first book I think is 45 hours long and I'm about 2/3 of the way through it, and it is absolutely amazing it's quite frankly taken over a lot of my life this holiday weekend. [Laughter] But it's amazing. Bryan: Well we're thankful that you were able to fit time in for the podcast. [Laughter] Alison: I did, I did have to interrupt my reading to.... [Laughter] Bryan: That 45 hours, that might take me 4 and 1/2 years to get through. Alison: Well I read at speed, I'm not gonna lie, I cranked it up to 3x and I can understand it just fine, so I'll get through it pretty quickly, but there's then two other main books, and then a little novella in the middle to read so. Bryan: That's a, that's a big.... Alison: It's gonna be ten books so... Bryan: Wow, wow, what about yourself Jeff, you been reading anything, watching anything? I know you've had some time alone there or are you just thinking in the dark? Jeff: I really got nothing, I guess I am thinking in the dark, family's been gone and I've been catching up on a bunch of other things that I hadn't been able to get back t,o and yeah, I got to get back to it so sorry you don't have anything to contribute. Bryan: That's okay Jeff. Jeff: Oh sorry. Bryan: I just finished down here with my parents you know I, they they were very nice and they watched, because their sighted with described video, the second season of Stranger Things, and the first season if you have not seen it as phenomenal I said to myself I don't know how they're gonna do a second season. It was really good so, it was very enjoyable, if you have not checked out Stranger Things on Netflix, you're definitely gonna want to check that out. I know we're gonna watch another series on Netflix that just came out I'm blanking on the name, the guy that was in Dumb and Dumber, not Jim Carrey, Jeff Daniels is in it, it's a Western that just came out on Netflix. I'm hearing great things about it of course I'm, like I said, God, Godlessness, or Godless or something, it's a Great Western, and I've heard from other people it's very good and everything and, yeah I've still got the same four books. You know it's so funny I'm one of those people that loads up all the audio digital content to all the devices for the travel and then I end up listening to podcasts that I have on my phone. [Laughter] During the travels so, like I said this is a That Blind Tech Show, we're gonna wrap it up here. We are at Blind Tech Show on Twitter. thatblindtechshow @gmail.com if you want to email us in let us know what you think, let us know what you like. You can download our feed through the Blind Abilities podcast speed of your podcast player of choice, victor reader stream or download the Blind Abilities app. Allison what do you have coming up the next few weeks leading into what's that holiday Christmas? Alison: Just a quiet Christmas at home, gonna take maybe a couple of days off and just probably still be reading the Stormlight archive honestly, although I, although I may do a reread of Harry Potter, I lead such an exciting life. [Laughter] Bryan: Nothing wrong with that, nothing wrong with that. What about yourself Jeff, family coming back or have they given up on you? Jeff: My folks for 17 years they've been going down the Texas but they stayed up this year for the holiday so I got to go to spend time with them Thanksgiving. We were all up there and so they're here so we're gonna have Christmas there and my daughter and grandkids will be coming up mid-December, we try and offset it each year and so yeah, a lot of lot of family holidays and I want to, I want to see the Grinch again this year. Bryan: So you want me to come visit? [Laughter] Yeah I'm not a big holiday person so Thanksgiving I guess is our big holiday and, we just wrapped that up down here and Thanksgiving, I'll be heading back to New York in the next few days and you know, it's funny I'm sitting here in shorts and it's 80 degree weather so it doesn't feel like November, and then I'll go back to the 30 degree weather and, yeah amazingly Nash is not even shedding that much here in Florida, you would think he would get rid of that winter coat, but he is panting like it's August. This is That Blind Tech Show, maybe we'll have one more before the year hopefully, you know, all of our schedules have been so crazy we haven't been on a regular schedule, we plan to hopefully eventually get on it, but for now we are out. When we share what we see through each other's eyes, we can then begin to bridge the gap between limited expectations and the reality of blind abilities. For more podcast with the blindness perspective, check us out on the web at www.blindabilities.com, on Twitter at BlindAbilities. Download our app from the app store Blind Abilities, or send us an email at info @blindabilities.com, thanks for listening.

Allison Hartley and Jeff Thompson join Bryan Fischler on this 7th Episode of That Blind Tech Show. With the release of the iPhone 8 and the 8 Plus, a lot of people are interested in stepping up and shining their new apples. With the new iPhones came the release of the new iOS 11 and it’s all about the accessibility on this episode of That Blind Tech show. From Allison’s new Apple Watch Series 3, to the New High Sierra on Jeff’s iMac to Bryan’s Demonstration of NFB Newsline on Amazon’s Echo Dot, this episode brings out more than just Apples, yup, the entire orchard is coming out. Check out the related articles in the links below. South Park punks Amazon Echo owners Has your guide dog ever ordered anything from amazon? Amazon Alexa Coming to Glasses NFB Newsline Could be coming to the Amazon Echo. Currently they are looking for beta testers email them Is Bluetooth really off? You can find That Blind Tech Show on twitter @BlindTechShow and contact Bryan and his team of co-host by email You can find Allison on Twitter @Hot4Technology Bryan Fischler on Twitter @BlindGator and Jeff Thompson on Twitter @KnownAsJeff Thank you for listening!   That Blind Tech Show is produced in part by Blind Abilities Network.   You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities Appon the App Store.

Bryan Fischler is joined by Allison Hartley and Jeff Thompson for coverage of the Fall Apple Event where the new iPhone 8, 8+ and the iPhone 10 were announced. The Apple Watch Series 3, Apple TV4K and iOS 11 are all just around the corner. You can check out apple.comfor all the latest order, pre-order, and delivery estimates. A big ThankYou to Drew Weber for his original music and you can find more of his music on the web at www.Weber-Air.com Follow Drew on Twitter @RadioDrew1 You can find That Blind Tech Show on twitter @BlindTechShow and contact Bryan and his team of co-host by email You can find Allison on Twitter @Hot4Technology Bryan Fischler on Twitter @BlindGator and Jeff Thompson on Twitter @KnownAsJeff Thank you for listening!   That Blind Tech Show is produced in part by Blind Abilities Network. You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities Appon the App Store.

That Blind Tech Show Episode 5 with Bryan Fischler and Randy Rusnak. This episode is filled with tech news from a texting law suit to memories changing on Facebook. Check out the list below and the provided links to see what these two boys are up to in this episode of That Blind Tech Show. Judge throws out lawsuit of Apple being responsible for driving and texting accidents Facebook again making changes to your News Feed with memories First experiences with Aira NFB Newsline wants your feedback iOS and iPhone 8 expectations Has Apple lost touch with a price point of $1000 What are you excited for in the upcoming iOS 11 C. Anything you are looking forward to with the iPhone 8? Amazon Echo What Skills are you using? ESight Glasses What’s Pissing Off Brian Now An over reaction to Yahoo fantasy What’s Pissing off Randy?. Watcha Watching Whatcha Reading? Anything you have been watching and liking with described video or anything you have been reading. You can find That Blind Tech Show on Twitter @BlindTechShow Email us at ThatBlindTechShow@gmail.com   that Blind Tech Show is produced in part by Blind Abilities Network. Thank you for listening! You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities Appon the App Store.

That Blind Tech Show Episode 4 Co-Host Bryan Fischler along with guest Co-Host John Panarese from MacForTheBlind, talk the latest news from a Blindness perspective. From Alexa Siri, to disappearing Ubers, Nanos and Shuffles, to Artificial Intelligence on Artificial Intelligence, That Blind Tech Show covers it all and more. Did you hear about the rising Anker? And what about DickBars? Hmmm, Bryan commits and goes Aira! Listen in as Bryan and John talk the talk and take down Buffalo, sort of. See all the links below from the Episode 3 Show! You can follow TBTS on Twitter @BlindTechShow and drop us a line via email Facebook shuts down AI in Japan Woman named Alexa Siri in NJ Aira Expectation Credit card scanners for business Are you using one? PayPal and Square Anker presents the Eufy Genie with Alexa for $35 Bye Bye Home Button. Thoughts? Triple Click for VO. With the death of the iPod Nano and Shuffle is it time to whack iTunes? New ad blocker Unobstruct Declares war on dick bars! Whatcha Watching Whatcha Reading? Must be audio described for watching for reading must be from Bard or Book Share. Ok, Audible works, too. :)   Thank you for listening. Send us Feedback via email Follow us on Twitter @BlindTechShow That Blind Tech Show is produced in part by Blind Abilities Network.   You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities Appon the App Store.

that Blind Tech Show Special: Seeing AI Developers Anirudh and Saqib Talk App Infancy and Money Recognition on the way! With the huge response from the Blindness community the Seeing AI app available in the App Store has spread like wild fire and people are excited about the possibilities coming from the Microsoft Accessibility teams. Bryan Fischler, host of the That Blind Tech Show and Jeff Thompson from Blind Abilities have a conversation with Anirudh Koul and Saqib Shaikh, two developers from the Microsoft Accessibility team working on the Seeing AI app. You will hear about the Hackathon where the seed was planted and how the team uses the users feedback to determine the changes and improvements that have been coming fast and steady. The Seeing AI app is a project and uses artificial intelligence is some of the featured channels. Short Text channel is like taking a glance at your mail. The built in Optical Character Recognition (OCR) picks up the text through the camera and begins reading instantly. The Document Channel does more traditional OCR work and has audio indicators to help assist centering the page content. The Product Channel has an audible signal to assist in location the bar code and the signal speeds up when closing in on the bar code with the iPhone’s camera. The picture is taken automatically and the database is searched and the data is read to the user. Instructions as well as ingredients are also read if available. The Person Channel allows the user to take pictures of individuals and tag them as the facial recognition feature will know and say that person’s name when using the camera and glancing around the area. This is where AI comes in. The Seeing AI app will also describe the person and guess the age. The Scene Beta Channel is a feature that will describe the photo taken such as a bench in a park, or a person walking a dog. Photos can be taken, or imported from the camera roll to have the app describe the image. They say this app in in it’s infancy and there is a lot more to come. One feature coming to the Seeing AI app that was disclosed is a Money Identifier. Yes, this is a Swiss Army Knife of an App. You can follow the Microsoft Accessibility team on Twitter @MSFTEnable The Seeing AI appis only available from the App Store. Thank you for listening! Follow That Blind Tech Show on Twitter @BlindTechShow Send That Blind Tech Show an email   That Blind Tech Show is produced in part with Blind Abilities Network. You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities Appon the App Store.

Episode 2 of the That Blind Tech Show, I Don’t Like Span and I don’t Want It On My Phone! Brian Fischler is joined by Allison Hartley as they talk about the latest in Tech News as it relates to the Blindness Community. Here is a list of topics as they happened on the 2nd Episode of That Blind Tech Show. Would you use a Robot vacuum cleanerand what would your guide dog think? Laundry app for GE by 14 year old Is it about time Washer and Dryer’s have accessibility built in to them. Blind people do laundry, too. Spam phone call do not use your Mac until you call us! Adobe to kill off Flash by 2020 Using Flash through Google Chrome on the Mac My recent survey call and experience with Flash. Apple discontinues iPod Nano and Shuffle. Big deal or not? iOS 11: A. Notification center now Cover Sheet Apple New File Systemwill it make working with iCloud Drive less confusing? Xbox Accessibility Product Review: Plantronics Voyager 5200 bluetooth earpiece Whatcha watching, Whatcha reading: What’s Pissing off Brian: Fleksy is back. Worst company ever What’s pissing off Allison: Poorly written advocacy articles Be sure to follow the show on Twitter @BlindTechShow And send your feedback and suggestions to us via email. Thank you for listening! That Blind Tech Show is produced in part by Blind Abilities Network. You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities Appon the App Store.

Job Insights #9, A Success Story: Meet Emily Zimmermann – One in a Million – Survivor, Advocate and Accessibility Tester Full Transcript Below. Welcome to the 9th episode of Job Insights with Serina Gilbert and Jeff Thompson. We focus on Employment, Careers, enhancing opportunities and bringing you  the latest innovations from across the Vocational  Rehabilitation field to ensure your choices lead you down the career pathway that you want and succeed in gainful employment. From getting started with services, to assessments, Individual Plan for Employment (IPE) to gaining the skills to succeed and tools for success, Job Insights will be giving you tips and tricks to help your journey to employment and break down the barriers along the way. On this 9th episode of Job Insights Serina and Jeff bring you a success Story from Emily Zimmermann. Emily survived 4 major surgeries to remove a Softball-size brain tumor which ultimately left her totally blind and having to face major changes in her young life. Emily took on the challenges and transitioned from high school to college and is now approaching her year mark of her internship. She never imagined herself working with accessibility, computer coding and making a difference in the world of accessibility. Emily has a passion of telling her story and that is how Serina hooked up with Emily. After listening to Emily speak at a conference, she contacted Emily and asked her to join us in the Job Insights Studios. From her childhood to her graduation from college and her work testing accessibility, Emily will take you on her journey and give us great advice first hand on what it was like and is like to day doing what she does. It is not what she dreamed of doing but it must be what was meant to be.   We hope you enjoy this Job Insights episode and you can send your feedback and suggestions to the Job Insights team by email Follow the Job Insights team on twitter @JobInsightsVIP Job Insights is part of the Blind Abilities network.   A big Thank You goes out to CheeChaufor his beautiful music! You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store   Full Transcript: Job Insights #9, A Success Story: Meet Emily Zimmermann – One in a Million – Survivor, Advocate and Accessibility Tester Emily Zimmermann: I got the call saying that the MRI showed that I had a brain tumor, and it was pushing on my optic nerve. At that point, it was the size of a softball. Jeff Thompson: Job Insights, podcast to help you carve out your career pathway and enhance the opportunities for gainful employment. Emily Zimmermann: It was a long time where it was very hard. You're angry and upset and you don't understand. Now, I can look back, but that's certainly a process. It's not something you can just be at that point, and I think that's how a lot of things in life are. Jeff Thompson: To help you navigate the employment world and give you job insights and enhance the opportunities to choose the career you want. Serena Gilbert: But in middle school, you're really not ... for me, I just wanted to be, quote, unquote, "Normal." Jeff Thompson: And you can find the Job Insights podcast on BlindAbilities.com, part of the Blind Abilities Network with hosts, Serena Gilbert and myself, Jeff Thompson, and you can contact us by email at jobinsights@blindabilities.com. Leave us some feedback or suggest some topics that we cover on Twitter @JobInsightsVIP, and check out the Job Insights support group on Facebook where you can learn, share, advise, and interact with the Job Insights community. Emily Zimmermann: Going back to your home but small city, and you having all that independence just taken away is very difficult. I mean I'm definitely not super, super tech savvy, so half the stuff that's out there, I don't even really know about, which is super sad. Serena Gilbert: Oh, just keep listening to the Blind Abilities Network. You'll learn all kinds of new stuff. Shameless plug there. Sorry. Emily Zimmermann: Then I've gotten to do some coding, some different JavaScript and HTML and BSF, just different things like that. So it's so cool because there's such a variety of different things. I love it all. It's been great. Jeff Thompson: Whoa. Whoa. Let's back up here, Emily. You were just saying that you're low tech- Serena Gilbert: Yeah, I'm confused. Jeff Thompson: ... low tech, and now she's coding and going into [crosstalk] Serena Gilbert: JavaScript. Jeff Thompson: Learn about resources for training, education, and employment opportunities. Emily Zimmermann: Just many difficult things to get through, but you work through each one, and yeah. Jeff Thompson: Now please welcome Serena Gilbert and Jeff Thompson with Job Insights. Jeff Thompson: How you doing, Serena? Serena Gilbert: I'm great, Jeff. I am really excited today. We have a special guest with us. Her name is Emily Zimmerman, and I met her at a conference that I attended her in Colorado, and she shared an amazing story of her journey from the first diagnosis that she received all the way through finishing college her at Metro State University, and I'd thought it'd be a great idea for us to hear from her and have her share her journey with our listeners. Jeff Thompson: Great. Serena Gilbert: So, welcome to the podcast, Emily. Emily Zimmermann: And thank you all so much for having me here tonight, and very excited to be a part and to be able to share some of my story. Serena Gilbert: Well, we are definitely excited to have you. Jeff Thompson: Yes, we are. Nice to meet you, Emily. Emily Zimmermann: Nice to meet you all. Serena Gilbert: So I guess the best place to start, and I was just fascinated by your story, Emily. You did such a fantastic job over at the conference, and you captivated me from the moment you started talking. I don't know if you realized this, but everyone, there was not anyone in the room that was playing on their phone or doing something else. They were all super into your story because I know that you have a different type of story than most individuals that are in our field in regards to when your vision impairment began to onset. Do you want to start [crosstalk] Emily Zimmermann: Right. So I had grown up living a very typical childhood, and then when I entered high school, I went to a small public high school, and I never had any vision problems or medical issues, but I started to have trouble seeing the board in my classes. So my dad and sister both had glasses, of course. We thought I just needed glasses of some kind. Emily Zimmermann: So I went to the eye doctor, and they did tons of tests, one of which I can distinctly remember because I was looking at those famous eye charts that we all know so well, and with one of my eyes, I couldn't read the big E on the eye chart, and after growing up always having perfect vision, it was quite a shock. But then the worst part was the eye doctor said there's nothing he could do to correct my vision with glasses. So then we go to an eye specialist, and beginning to get a little more concerned because I just thought I needed glasses, which didn't thrill me, and now I'm finding out they can't fix it with glasses. Emily Zimmermann: So several visits to the eye specialist, many, many tests, and he finally said, "I don't think we'll find anything, but we have to start ruling some things out." So he suggested getting an MRI done. At that point, I was 14, and an MRIs a huge machine, super, super loud, and it was so scary. We actually got one. It was the last one of the day. They were just getting ready to close, and on the way home that night, we got the call saying that the MRI showed that I had a brain tumor and it was pushing on my optic nerve, and it was a one-in-a-million tumor, and at that point, it was the size of a softball. So it was going to require several surgeries. Emily Zimmermann: So, again, it was a complete shock and a huge adjustment to go from thinking life's all normal and then all the sudden it's not. So the first two surgeries, I actually came out seeing better than I had going in. There were many side effects to deal with, but they were things we could deal with, we could handle. We were working through them. We were just getting through it. Then, over the summer between my freshman and sophomore year, the tumor grew back and the doctor believed after a second surgery that he had had it all. They're not sure if there was maybe a small piece left. They're not sure if it was a new tumor that grew. They don't know, and ultimately, it doesn't matter. Emily Zimmermann: But the third surgery, the possibility that was always there happened, and I came out of the operation unable to see. The doctors and surgeons talked to my parents, and even though it was incredibly risky, they asked about going in a fourth time, just two days later, to try to repair my vision. And they did go in a fourth time, but it was too late and the damage was permanent. Emily Zimmermann: Now, on top of having to recover from two back-to-back brain surgeries and having to start to relearn how to live life, I mean completely relearn how to live life. I mean I can very vaguely remember nurses and people coming into the hospital room and they showed me basics of how to eat and orient myself with the food on my plate, things that seem so elementary to us, but here I was at 16 years old and I needed to relearn all these things. Emily Zimmermann: And then going back to school was a whole new thing, and, again, I had to relearn how to read using Braille and I had to relearn how to get around with a cane and all of those things, which was incredibly difficult. And, yes, we can't change the situation we're in. We can't change the situation we're given, but it's wonderful having had been able to see colors and see things, but the transition was very, very hard. Serena Gilbert: Now, Emily, you mentioned that you went back to school. So did you go back to the same high school that you were at prior to the diagnosis? Emily Zimmermann: I did, yes. I grew up in a small city, so they didn't have a ton of options to begin with, and while I could have, I suppose, gone to ... they had a school for the blind in Columbia, which would have been an hour and a half away or something like that, at that point, we didn't really think about or consider me going away during the weeks and stuff like that. So we made it work. Jeff Thompson: Emily, with all this happening so suddenly and so tragically, where did you find the drive to move forward, and where did you get the information to find a pathway forward? Emily Zimmermann: Honestly, for me, a big part of it is I have a strong faith, so my faith is a big part of what helped me just get through, but, like you're saying, I had a huge support system. Even though it was a very small city, I found through my church a visually impaired lady who gave me information on the National Federation for the Blind and the chapter for the area and just the community gathering around me and a closer knit community, people like that, just was a huge, huge help besides, like I said, my faith was a tremendous help. Serena Gilbert: I have another question for you, Emily, before we move past your high school days. Emily Zimmermann: Yeah. Serena Gilbert: Did you find that your close friends treated you any differently, or were they pretty supportive? Because sometimes that transition can be difficult not only for the individual experiencing the sudden loss of vision but also those around that person. Emily Zimmermann: Yes. So I'm going to say it was difficult for them as well because they were not there. They just were not supportive at all, and every one of my quote, unquote, "friends" left, and that also made just the transition and everything about it very difficult. It was a long time where it was very hard and very ... you're angry and upset and you don't understand. Now, I can look back, and be like, "If that's how they are, I'm better off without them," but that's certainly a process. It's not something you can just be at that point, and I think that's how a lot of things in life are. Yeah, they were, unfortunately, not supportive. Jeff Thompson: Emily, was there a sense of loss? I'm not talking about just a loss of vision, but a loss of identity, who you were, and how you would define yourself at that time? Emily Zimmermann: Very, very much so, just because everything I knew was different, and, to some extent, I mean not because of anything I could but because that desire was gone. All of my dreams were gone because they just had all changed. So I think very much so there was that feeling and that loss at first. But you refind yourself and you refind yourself in different ways, and you have to believe that those different ways are just what's supposed to be. Jeff Thompson: Do you have any key turning points that you remember? Emily Zimmermann: Well, one key for sure, I lost my vision as a sophomore in high school, and that after high school, I knew I needed some training, and that's when I came out to Colorado from South Carolina to the Colorado Center for the Blind. And I was out there one year at the training program they have because I just had so much I needed to learn. I was learning things in school, but it was just a half hour each day or something. So being in the intense, intense training program was a huge help, and at the same time, it was obviously incredibly difficult. Yeah, I think that was just one of the huge points where extremely difficult but totally paid off in the end. Jeff Thompson: You mentioned that you had someone from your hometown that was visually impaired, and she gave you some information. What was it like when you went to the Colorado Center for the Blind and found so many other students, so many other people that had blindness as well? Emily Zimmermann: It was honestly very different. I mean it wasn't, obviously, bad or good or anything like that. It was just different for me because being in a small town, there was just so little of that and just so few of us. I mean I know when I went out I was stared at, and, obviously, probably still am to some extent today, but we were just a very, very, very minority there. I mean the two of us probably were two out of maybe 10 in the whole city limits, all that area, and that's a big stretch. Jeff Thompson: So when you got to Colorado, that must have been a big change when you had so many people. Emily Zimmermann: Exactly. So when I got to Colorado, and then, like you said, was surrounded by them at the Colorado Center for the Blind, it was just a huge change, and not good or bad. It was just a huge change. Jeff Thompson: Did you find any role models? Emily Zimmermann: Definitely, and different things in different people because some people were extremely just adventurous in their traveling whereas other people just amazing in their cooking. So I totally had role models just with different skills and abilities, which was great. I liked that a lot. Serena Gilbert: Emily, what was the hardest part about transitioning to the Colorado Center for the Blind? Emily Zimmermann: Ooh, the hardest part. I mean I'm trying to think of the best way to put this. I think the fact that, for your own good, they push you so hard, but then if you break, they're not necessarily going to be there to help wipe your tears. You know what I mean? The pushing had to happen, and I understand that, but I never felt necessarily ... I don't know. I don't know how else to put it, but it was just a very tough program, but I think the toughness of it is what helped build the character. Jeff Thompson: I can understand exactly where you're coming from. I taught at Blind Incorporated. I taught woodworking, and I was a student there at one time, and I think you start to identify with some of the instructors or some of the other people and you find your own comfort zone within the confines of the camp, the training center. Emily Zimmermann: Yeah. Jeff Thompson: Kind of after hours when everyone goes back to the apartments and stuff, you start finding your own little group or comfort zone. Emily Zimmermann: Yeah. Jeff Thompson: Serena, you haven't been to a training center, have you? Serena Gilbert: I have not, so, Emily, to give you a little bit of background on myself, I have retinitis pigmentosa, so I've had that I guess throughout my whole life, but I really didn't start receiving blindness-specific services until probably ... it was like middle school, I want to say. But in middle school, you're really not ... for me, I just wanted to be quote, unquote, "normal." I didn't want a special lock on my locker. I'd rather struggle and put the wrong code in three times before I do it myself. I didn't want to walk around with a cane. I did not want to feel different. Middle school's awkward enough without adding, "Oh, this girl has a white cane too," on top of everything. Serena Gilbert: I really didn't embrace truly using blindness-specific tools and learning screen readers and things like that until I was actually a sophomore in college and that was more- Emily Zimmermann: Oh, wow. Serena Gilbert: Yeah, well, because I still have some usable vision, and back then, I had enough where I could even read regular print. It just took me forever, but in college, that doesn't cut it. So I finally realized ... I got a sample of JAWS and taught myself how to use it and all the sudden it was like, "Holy cow. This is way faster than struggling for an hour to read one chapter." And that's when I really started embracing using the cane and using some more blindness-specific tools. Serena Gilbert: They did offer me the opportunity to do a residential type of program, but at the time, I had commitments with college and I had a part-time job, so I could not be gone for that long. Emily Zimmermann: Yeah, that makes sense. Jeff Thompson: Yeah, and I think that's a big difference between ... so many people, it depends on where they are in life when it comes to a training type of center, especially residential, especially where you're living. And you traveled all the way from, wow, South Carolina? Emily Zimmermann: Yeah. Jeff Thompson: To Colorado. Now, how was that process when you decided you wanted to leave South Carolina to go to there? You must have went through your voc rehab to get authorized. Emily Zimmermann: Yeah. [inaudible] very smoothly. They were a huge part of the transition. They were the ones who recommended coming out to the Colorado Center for the Blind, and then when I decided I wanted to stay, they were totally helpful in the transition process. So it was honestly a very good transition. Jeff Thompson: Oh, that's great, because some people really find it a real stickler to get them to override being sent to somewhere within their state or someplace close and stuff. So that's great that you had that opportunity and took advantage of it. Serena Gilbert: I am curious though, Emily. How was that transition for your mom? Emily Zimmermann: Well, she actually writes about some of it. She has a book that she titled, "She's One in a Million," because the brain tumor I had was a one-in-a-million brain tumor. So she writes about some of those transitions in the book, but I know it was very difficult. The transition just with me losing my sight, and then when I came out here, it was very difficult at first. So just many difficult things to get through, but you work through each one, and yeah. Jeff Thompson: So I have a question for you. While teaching for quite a few years at Blind Incorporated, I watched students come and go and come and go, and I always remember once they leave through that door and go down the sidewalk and they go off into the world again, they've been at the training center for six to nine months, there they go, you just wonder what it's like, especially if they're going to go return to a small town where they don't have the transit system, where they don't have the grid system or the public transportation available to them. What was that like for you when you left Colorado? Emily Zimmermann: It was very hard because you're used to having all those things available, and you feel this liberation and independence that you can have and feel you do have, and then going back to your home but a small city and you having all that independence just taken away is very difficult. I mean that's a big reason why I'm back out here now is because you miss it, and it's hard to go from having it to not having it all the sudden. Jeff Thompson: Just like losing your sight. Emily Zimmermann: Exactly. [inaudible] changes you can avoid, by all means, avoid it. Serena Gilbert: And Denver has an excellent public transit system with the light rail, the buses- Emily Zimmermann: Oh, yeah. Serena Gilbert: I'm jealous, because I'm down here in Colorado Springs, and ours isn't the best. Emily Zimmermann: Yeah. Yeah, it's amazing down here, up here, whatever. Jeff Thompson: Well, likewise in Minneapolis, we have two training centers, probably a mile apart. There's always 30, 35, 40 students out there exploring, traveling, and doing stuff. So even the people of the city get acclimated to seeing people who are blind around. Emily Zimmermann: Wow. Serena Gilbert: So, Emily, how soon after you completed the program at the Colorado Center for the Blind did you decide to come back out for college? Emily Zimmermann: So I completed the Center for the Blind in May. Then I went back home. I had already applied at a couple different schools, and I had been looking at Metro just as a possibility. Then I applied ... I want to say early June and [inaudible] it all then came together pretty quickly because then once I got the acceptance, I thought, "Okay, well, then it's meant to be." And then you call ... I mean I had been accepted and everything at Winthrop and already contacted them to put all my scholarships on hold for a year when I was at the Center for the Blind. It's like everything that's all set up there was on hold for the year that I was at the Center for the Blind, and I was basically just coming back. Emily Zimmermann: So it was just surreal because all the plans I'd made were, in a good way, no more, but it's like I had to call them and change it, but it was all great. And then I just organized things with the disability office at Metro, and Metro was a great experience, great experience. Serena Gilbert: And Jeff and I have talked a lot about ... gosh, Jeff, it feels like forever ago, on our very first episode you remember we talked about the difference between getting accommodations in high school versus in college? Jeff Thompson: Oh, yeah. It's quite a difference because you have a disability services office that you got to get connected with, and then all your individual professors, you don't have a TVI anymore or a district teacher. You're got to put this all into action yourself. Emily Zimmermann: Yep. Absolutely. I totally agree. That was a huge thing I noted, and it was following up with professors, following up with different people, that's all on you. So I totally get what you're saying. Jeff Thompson: What tools did you use to keep all that organized? You were pretty new with Braille, and probably were using JAWS, I imagine. Emily Zimmermann: Yes. Jeff Thompson: So what was your go-to tools when you first started college? Emily Zimmermann: Definitely, like you said, JAWS. Honestly, at first, I didn't use many tools at all just because I was so new to everything. I used a recorder. I used the pure note-taker option they have, and then I did use, as my Braille got a little better and a little faster, I used a Braille note-taker, the Braille Edge 40, and that has been great, especially since Braille has improved. But those are really the main things for college that have been helpful. Emily Zimmermann: So, I mean, I'm definitely not I mean I'm definitely not super, super tech savvy, so half the stuff that's out there, I don't even really know about, which is super sad, but probably just as well because I can't afford it anyway. Serena Gilbert: Oh, just keep listening to the Blind Abilities Network. You'll learn all kinds of new stuff. Shameless plug there. Sorry. Emily Zimmermann: I'm sure I will learn way too much. Serena Gilbert: So, college went overall pretty smooth for you, Emily? Emily Zimmermann: It did. It certainly did. I mean I'm sure I had some professors ... I know I did, who handled my blindness better than others, but overall, I certainly didn't have any major problems by any means, and, overall, it was a very good experience. So it was good. It was very good. Serena Gilbert: And tell us, what was your major? Emily Zimmermann: Communications. Serena Gilbert: So, Emily, I understand that you're working at an internship right now. Emily Zimmermann: Yes. I'm super excited about it. I've been loving it. I've done it ever since this past September, so coming up on a year. And what I like is because I'm an intern, I get all sorts of different work. I've had the opportunity to test some of their products for accessibility, and then I go through all the different usability tests that they have, and I tell them what does and doesn't work for me being blind. Then I've gotten to do some coding, some different JavaScript and HTML and BSF, just different things like that. So it's so cool because there's such a variety of different things. I love it all. It's been great. Jeff Thompson: Whoa. Whoa. Let's back up here, Emily. You were just saying that you're low tech- Serena Gilbert: Yeah, I'm confused. Jeff Thompson: ... low tech, and now she's coding and going into [crosstalk] Serena Gilbert: JavaScript. Jeff Thompson: That's impressive. Serena Gilbert: I think it's really cool you do accessibility testing because you can see an immediate impact with what you're doing. That's awesome. Emily Zimmermann: Yeah. Yeah. I love it. I love it. Jeff Thompson: It is a great sense of being employed, even having an internship and it's coming up on a year, but it's a good feeling to being rewarded for the work that you're doing. Emily Zimmermann: Yeah. I totally agree. It's cool. What I love is to be able to fix something and to see the result right then. I love that just immediate effect and just to be able to think, "This is helping so many people like me be able to access the internet better and easier and more effectively." I love thinking about that, like a firsthand experience, just like I obviously get how it helps people. And so it's just ... I don't know. It's so cool. Serena Gilbert: So, Emily, this is going to be a question that I start asking everyone that's in the position that you're in as far as maybe fresh out of college or that sort of thing, and it's a cheesy question so I apologize in advance, but, Emily, what is your dream job? Emily Zimmermann: So my dream job would be to be a motivational speaker, to go to different companies, schools, churches, sharing how I lost my vision, but, more importantly, how I got through the difficulty of losing my vision and just sharing hope and that there's hope in whatever we go through, and whether what I'm doing now, the coding, testing, that's a part of that for a full-time job and just doing a lot of speaking on the side, I don't know. That'd be fine if that's the case, but the passion is in the speaking. Jeff Thompson: Oh, that's great. That's great. Serena Gilbert: And you definitely have a talent for it. Emily Zimmermann: Oh, thank you so much. Serena Gilbert: So before we wrap up the interview, we have a question that we ask every single person that we've probably had on the podcast so far, because it's been so long. Jeff Thompson: It's not a math question. Serena Gilbert: No, we promise. Emily Zimmermann: Good. Serena Gilbert: There's no wrong answers. You don't even have to study for it, but a lot of our listeners are either young adults that are right exactly where you're at, maybe even coming out of high school or finishing up college- Jeff Thompson: And we also have listeners who are newly blind, like you were at one time. Serena Gilbert: Exactly, or that are looking at career changes because of the new blindness. The question that we have is, "What advice do you have for somebody transitioning either out of high school or into a new career?" Emily Zimmermann: My advice ... well, it's multi-fold. First of all, it'd be, "Don't limit yourself," because doing something like coding or testing a website, I never would have imagined myself doing. The only reason I'm doing it is because of the internships I was pushed into when I was college. I needed an internship just to get something on my resume, so I went to my advisor, and that was the only thing he could really think of that'd be easy to get to, on campus, and so I took it because I needed something and that's when I fell in love with that kind of thing. So I think that's the biggest thing, just being open to try something you maybe wouldn't have tried and maybe it doesn't go perfect with your degree or whatever, but that's the big thing. Emily Zimmerman: Then, kind of goes with that, is also being open to people around you, your boss, your coworkers, the people you encounter. I think that just so helps form your work experience and being able to view people in a more positive way just, I don't know, helps your work experience be more positive. Serena Gilbert: That is great advice. Jeff Thompson: Well, Emily, I just want to say the component of an internship, I think they work that into degrees, and it's kind of like volunteering. Sometimes you get to explore some areas that you're maybe interested or not or just wanting to do it to stay busy, but you might find an interest. It's a opportunity. It's a safety net type of situation, at first. Then you found a love for it, a passion for it, and you're making the best of it. So good for you. Emily Zimmermann: Yeah. Well, thank you very much. Serena Gilbert: So, Emily, if any of our listeners would like to learn more about you, where can they find you? Emily Zimmermann: Absolutely. They can go to my website at www.brokencrayonsejz.com. Serena Gilbert: Perfect. Well, you all have just been listening to us interview Emily Zimmerman. She doesn't know this yet, but she's probably going to make another appearance on your podcast in a few months so we can catch up with her and see where she's at because I think our listeners are going to fall in love with you, and I just love that you share your story and are so honest and upfront with us. Emily Zimmermann: Well, thank you so much for having me. It's been a true pleasure. Serena Gilbert: We really appreciate you, Emily, and thank you so much for sharing. Jeff Thompson: Thanks, Emily. Emily Zimmermann: Thank you. Jeff Thompson: Serena, that was a great guest. Emily was just awesome. Serena Gilbert: I can't wait to have her back. Jeff Thompson: Emily, that was a good find. That must have been a great convention. Serena Gilbert: Oh, it was fantastic. Like I said, when we were in the general session, you could have heard a pin drop. Everybody was just captivated by what Emily was sharing with us, and I cannot tell her again how much I appreciate how open she was on this interview. Jeff Thompson: I know you got to listening and you just started sinking in further and further into her story, and it's like you could really relate to it, and yet, you wouldn't wish it upon anybody, yourself, or anybody, one in a million. Serena Gilbert: Exactly. And I'd like to check that book out, because she did say her mom had a book called One in a Million, so I'm going to have to look that up. Jeff Thompson: A lot of the transitions from a mother's point of view. That must be interesting. Serena Gilbert: Exactly. Well, we hope you enjoyed this episode, and, again, Jeff, do you want to tell them where you can find us? Jeff Thompson: Yeah, so you can go to www.BlindAbilities.com, check out all the Job Insights podcasts and you can also find us on Twitter @JobInsightsVIP. Serena Gilbert: And on Facebook under Job Insights, and we also have a wonderful support group called Job Insights Support Group. Jeff Thompson: And you can also send us email, feedback at- Serena Gilbert: JobInsights@BlindAbilities.com. Jeff Thompson: Great. Thanks for listening. Serena Gilbert: We'll see you next time. Jeff Thompson: And thank you, Chee Chau, for the beautiful music. You can follow Chee Chau on Twitter @LCheeChau And, as always, we want to thank you for listening. We hope you enjoyed, and until next time, bye-bye.   [Music]  [Transition noise]   When we share, What we see, Through each other's eyes...   [Multiple voices overlapping, in unison, to form a single sentence]   ...We can then begin to bridge the gap between the limited expectations, and the realities of Blind Abilities. Jeff Thompson: For more podcasts with a blindness perspective check us out on the web at www.blindabilities.com. On Twitter @blindabilities. Download our app from the app store, Blind Abilities, that's two words. Or send us an email at info@blindabilities.com. Thanks for listening.        

Job Insights Extra: Gaining Skills and confidence, Getting the Job You Want and Aira as a Reasonable Accommodation – Meet Lori Thompson   Welcome to a Job Insights Extra with Serina Gilbert and Jeff Thompson. We focus on Employment, Careers, enhancing opportunities and bringing you the latest innovations from across the Vocational  Rehabilitation field to ensure your choices lead you down the career pathway that you want and succeed in gainful employment. From getting started with services, to assessments, Individual Plan for Employment (IPE) to gaining the skills to succeed and tools for success, Job Insights will be giving you tips and tricks to help your journey to employment and break down the barriers along the way. Job Insights Extra is where we highlight success and whether it be a person or a product, app or development, we will share the success with you. This Extra episode we want to introduce Lori Thompson. Serina Gilbert sits down with Lori in the studio to talk about her journey through Adjustment to Blindness Training, her work with State Services in the job hunt and the accommodations used at her job.   Lori has her Aira Smart Glasses in her toolbox and talks about how she incorporates Aira to independently do her job. She also talks about other adaptations and alternative tools that keeps her efficient in the workplace.   Lori and Serina are both Guide Dog users and they talk a bit about having their Guide dogs in the workplace.   Join Lori Thompson and Serina Gilbert for this Job Insights Extra and see how Lori’s determination and hard work led her to the job she wanted.   You can follow Lori on Twitter @LThompson6835   You can find out more about Aira on the web at www.Aira.io [caption id="attachment_2435" align="aligncenter" width="200"]Image of the Aira Logo[/caption] Your Life, Your Schedule, Right Now. If you want to know more about Aira and the services they provide, check them out on the web and become an Aira Explorer today! www.Aira.io   Thanks for listening! You can find out more about Job Insights on the web at BlindAbilities.comand follow Job Insights on Twitter @JobInsightsVIPSend us your feedback and suggestions by email.   Job Insights is part of the Blind Abilities Network   You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store    

Welcome to Job Insights Extra, part of the Job Insights Podcast with Serina Gilbert and Jeff Thompson, a podcast focused on the world of employment, career pathways and gainful and meaningful employment. The Job Insights Extra podcasts are success stories, interviews and demos that enhance the experience of reaching that career you want. On Job Insights Extra #5 we talk to Dan Sippl, President of the Randolph-Sheppard Vendors of America (RSVA)at their annual Sage Brush Convention in Las Vegas. The RSVA is an organization of Blind venders part of the Business Enterprise Program and under the Randolph-Sheppard Act which allows for business opportunities for people who are blind. Each year RSVA gathers and brings in speakers and business representatives  to help educate and share ideas programs and inovative strategies to enhance the opportunities and possibilities in the highly competitive market of food services and vending operations. If you are interested in becoming your own boss and want to run your own business, be sure to contact Dan sippl and the RSVA and they will surely provide you with the information to get you started on a lifetime career. You can inquire about the BEP in your state by contacting your State Services for the Blind, your Vocational Rehab and ask to speak to your state’s director of the BEP. Here are some links to get you started: RSVA on the web www.randolph-sheppard.org http://www.randolph-sheppard.org Here is a podcast all about the BEP: The Business Enterprise program: Business Ownership Opportunities and a Promising Career Thank you for listening! Follow Job Insights on Twitter @JobInsightsVIP Do you have any suggestions or feedback? Send the Job Insights Team an email Job Insights is part of the Blind Abilities Network. You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store.  

ThatBlindTechShow #16: Cool Tech, FlickType Launch in Sight, A Memory Stick Goes Wireless, WWDC Anybody? Episode 16 is really Sweet 16 as Allison and Jeff show their love while Brian remains an 80’s guy deep inside. But that’s as far as we want to go with that. General Electric’s Alexa controlled Air Conditioner gets a demo, as well as the new FaceBook Notifications Settings. We hear from across the pond and from the developers of FlickType and the upcoming release of the 3rd party keyboard is announced. How much fun can you have with a wireless memory stick? We tried, boy, did we. Remember to Back up your devices, computers and make it lazy proof without failure. WWDC is knocking and we crack the door open just a bit and expose our thought bubbles without risk to our integrity. Hmmm, protect that, eh? Coffee and Beer brewing machine, New ovens getting some smarts and Comcast spills the beans, again. And, how to save money on your modem. Don’t lease… Buy! This was to be a quick episode and you probably know how some of the best plans go astray? Well, our planned plan panned out without planning and we still hope you plan to listen as Allison, Brian and myself, Jeff roll out episode 16 with that chagrin smile we wear so well. We hope you get us into your listening playlist, into your pod catcher of choice and in your Amazon device with our Alexa Skill, Blind Abilities. So don’t be afraid to send us your feedback at ThatBlindTechShow@gmail.com and follow our vibe on Twitter @BlindTechShow. That Blind Tech Show is part of the Blind Abilities Network so be sure to check us out on Twitter @BlindAbilities and on the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Here are the links from the show: Amazon $7000 for toilet paper Amazon Portable Battery for Alexa Smart Microwaves Coffee and Beer Brewing Machine Sandisk Wireless Stick Thank you for listening! You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store.  

Job Insights Extra: Adjustment to Blindness - Meet Rob Hobson: College Prep and Success All in One. Transcript Provided Job Insights Extra brings you Rob Hobson, Cordinator for Professional Development and College prep at Blindness Learning In New Dimensions, Inc. Best known as Blind, Inc. located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Rob tells his story how he overcame the challenges that nearly defeated him when entering his Masters program. He made a decision to improve his Blindness skills and this led him on the journey he continues today. From nearly bailing out to exceeding his own expectations by finishing his Masters degree ahead of time and landing a job in the career he wanted. Rob talks about his job details when he started as an Orientation and Mobility instructor to his duties today as Cordinator of Professional Development and the College Prep program. Join Rob Hobson and Jeff Thompson on this brief look into Rob’s Adjustment to Blindness and how he is helping others adjust to their Blindness today. You can find out more about Blind,Inc and Adjustment to Blindness on the web at www.BlindInc.org You can also contact Rob and Blind, Inc. via email You can find out more about State Services for the Blind on the web at www.MN.Gov/Deed/SSB And to find Services in your state check out the American Foundation for the Blind web site and enter your State’s name in the, “Find Local Services” section. Thank you for listening! You can follow Job Insights on Twitter @JobInsightsVIP Send the Job Insights Team and email and give us some feedback and suggest some topics you would like to see us cover. Job Insights is part of the Blind Abilities Network. You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store.   Job Insights Extra: Adjustment to Blindness - Meet Rob Hobson: College Prep and Success All in One. Transcript Provided [Music] Rob: When I started that semester, I soon realized that the skills I used in college from my undergrad weren't gonna work in grad school. Jeff: That's the voice of Rob Hobson, Coordinator of Professional Development and College Prep at Blindness Learning in New Dimensions. Rob: Set up an interview and came up here in early December of 2008 and I was offered a position and I accepted. Jeff: Rob talks about the challenges that he faced when transitioning from college to his master's degree program, and how adjustment to blindness training gave him the skills and confidence to succeed. Rob: We use structure discovery which utilizes the environment as a teaching tool and if you only just know one specific route, that can be really debilitating because that's all you know. Jeff: And you can find the Job Insights podcast on blindabilities.com, part of the Blind Abilities Network with host Serina Gilbert and myself Jeff Thompson, and you can contact us by email at JobInsights@blindabilities.com, and join us on the job insight support group on Facebook, on Twitter at Job Insights VIP. Rob: Get that adjustment to blindness training because it is vital for you to be able to compete out there with your sighted peers. Keep an open mind because there is a lot of life after blindness. [Music] Jeff: I went down to South Minneapolis to the historic Pillsbury mansion, the home of Blind Incorporated and that's where we met up with Rob Hobson, we hope you enjoy! [Music] Welcome to Blind Abilities I'm Jeff Thompson and today we're down at Blind Incorporated in Minneapolis we're talking to Rob Hobson and he's the Coordinator for Professional Development and College Prep. How are you doing Rob? Rob: I'm doing well on yourself Jeff? Jeff: Doing good thanks, Rob thanks for taking the time to coming on the Blind Abilities and sharing a little bit about your journey through blindness and your job that you have. Rob: Oh thank you I'm happy to be here. Jeff: Well Rob, can you tell a little bit about what your job is like here? Rob: Well working here at Blind Incorporated, it's a lot of fun, we have a great team and we work together as a team to provide adjustment to blindness training to college-age students, to adults, to seniors, and we have transition programming, and we even have a buddy program which covers 9 to 13 year olds. Jeff: You cover the whole gauntlet? Rob: Yeah we do, it's, it's great, it's, it's a lot of fun. [Bass guitar sound effect] Jeff: Now you did not start out as a Program Coordinator? Rob: Well when I started at Blind Incorporated, I started in 2009, but I should go further back, actually, it's actually a little journey. In 2006 I started grad school at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale to get a master's degree in public administration, on paper that sounds great, when I started that semester I soon realized that the skills I used in college from my undergrad weren't gonna work in grad school. The bar was a lot higher, note takers were hard to get, because I utilized their services through disability services through the campus and I realized that my skills weren't up to par because I just couldn't keep up. Every time I thought I did great, I was still further behind. What really hit it for me was when I took this budgeting class and I thought I got all the points possible, and in that class it was zero to five, five was like the max of points you can get, so I thought hey, I might have gotten a four or five, and I got my grade and it was a 1.5, and the words that really changed my view was, well I felt bad, so I just gave you a 1.5. And that really hurt, it really set, threw me back a loop, you know, it's like wow, I've never had that happen to me before. I called some friends who are in the NFB and I talked to them about, you know, maybe it's time for me to get some adjustment to blindness training. I knew it would be a process because getting Illinois, because that's where I lived at the time, to pay for it was a process. I've heard horror stories that sometimes it could take two years but I was pretty confident that it wouldn't take that long. So in August of 2006 I met with a counselor, I convinced her to start the process and I had an O&M evaluation. I wrote a letter stating why I needed this training and what it was going to do for me, so I had an O&M evaluation, through the letter I was able to convince them to provide me the opportunity to go to the Louisiana Center for the blind in Ruston Louisiana. I started my program at the end of March of 2007, and that's when I started my journey in blindness training. Now to be fair, my goal was to get through the program, go back to Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, and complete my Master's in Public Administration Degree. Well while I was in the program, it was suggested to me that I should consider the Louisiana Tech O&M program and I considered it for about 1/2 a second and I thought no that's not me. As they say it, it put the seed there and throughout the summer of 2007 I realized that hey, you know I might actually like this. I started the process in the fall to go into Louisiana Tech, in the end of November I started my first classes as a Louisiana Tech student in grad school. Jeff: Now Rob, could it be that winter was coming and.... Rob: I'm not gonna lie, that was true, I thought that was a good benefit but really I was excited to start this program because I knew that, you know at the end of this program I would be able to get a job, and believe it or not, throughout that year it took me a year, end of November of 2007, and by November 19th of 2008 I walked away with a college degree, a graduate degree, from Louisiana Tech. It was a rough year, they say that a master's degree generally is a year and a half to two years, I did it in a year, it was probably the hardest year of my whole life at that time. Jeff: Congratulations! Rob: Thank you. I soon talked to Sean Mayo who was the Executive Director of Blind Incorporated, set up an interview and came up here in early December of 2008 and I was offered the position and I accepted. In January of 2009 I started as a Blind Incorporated employee, and to be fair, I only planned to be here year after about a month of working here because it was so cold, but I soon liked it, teaching cane travel was a lot of fun, it took me a while to get into my zone, you know because when you come to a new city you have to learn how to navigate the streets and learn the grid, the outline, you know all of the names of the roads, and I knew I had the skills to teach, it was a matter of learning the environment so I could teach and understand how to relate that information to my students. Jeff: So did you do a lot of exploring in your off time and just try and navigate the city and learn it? Rob: I did, I spent a lot of time learning south Minneapolis, I spent some time with Zach Ellingson who was the full-time cane travel instructor at the time, and we talked a lot, he really helped me gain the information necessary to teach. I spent some time observing him just to see how he taught because you know, when you're still a new teacher, you still like to get other teaching styles and I knew Zach was really successful at what he was doing and it was a good resource to work with. I spent a lot of time on weekends going out to other places in the city but at the time I really focused on south Minneapolis because I knew majority of my instruction was gonna be during that time. I later throughout the years, I gained knowledge in Northeast Minneapolis, Southeast Minneapolis, St. Paul, I know some of St. Paul, I don't know a lot of it but I know enough to to be able to teach it. Jeff: Now learning the areas that you did, it's pretty much transferable skills the way you teach here right? Rob: It is, the skills are transferable but you know it's like anything else, when you want to teach someone you have to still know what you're teaching, does that make sense? Because we also teach how to navigate the area via some of the names, so I needed to know those names so I can you know pass that information along, learn bus routes, I learned a lot of the bus routes, but yes, the skills I learned in Ruston Louisiana were transferable once I figured out the grid system and for an example, Hennepin Avenue is your divider between north and south Minneapolis, and the river, the Mississippi River divides southeast Minneapolis and northeast Minneapolis from north and south Minneapolis, and anything more than that you get a little complicated because it depends on where you are further south in the city, you actually have the river divider between St. Paul and Minneapolis. [Bass Guitar Sound Effect] Jeff: There's always been a debate about people sometimes teaching route travel compared to teaching skills that will allow you to explore other areas and use the same set of skills. Rob: That is true, in our format we use structure discovery which utilizes the environment as a teaching tool. We do start off with students in the beginning giving them simple route assignments so that they learn to gain that confidence and gain those problem-solving skills so that they're able to change those routes, make a diversion if need be, I mean because, well if you've walked in Minneapolis in the summer, you know that, maybe every, about every few blocks there's construction, or they tear up a sidewalk to put in a new one, or whatnot, you have to be able to problem solve in that and if you only just know one specific route, that can be really debilitating because that's all you know, and how are you gonna be able to get through that situation. Jeff: Yep I graduated from Blind Incorporated and I remember the whole thing, the only thing Zack always got upset was, I grew up here so, when he was trying to fool me or something, I'd hear a church bell. Rob: Oh, and that gave it away didn't it? Jeff: I could identify the church, so he would be more creative next time you know, just knowing that I had a few cues that other people didn't have so it was always interesting. Now in your new position, what do you do for Blind Incorporated? Rob: Currently I set up all of our activities, I coordinate from beginning to end. For an example last year we went camping for the first time in I don't know how many years, at least since I've been here we've never gone camping up to that point, and we actually went camping, we stayed in tents and that was a long process to put that together because there's a lot of details involved. It's not like we all just got in a van and drove up to Duluth area and pick the camping site and just went camping. There's a lot of details involved when you take 30 people, 30 of your closest friends and students up to, up to go camping. So there's logistics because you have to work on you know the amount of food, how many tents, how many people per tents, just a lot of logistics. I coordinate all of the logistics to make sure everything falls in line, all of our activities from camping to just going rock climbing at vertical endeavors. Starting last year we started putting together professional development for the staff and students, some of the highlights, we had Kevin O'Connor come in, who is a renowned professional speaker who came in and talked to our staff and students on basically just professional development, working with each other, and what does it mean to be professional, and covered all of those components. We also had somebody come in and do a multicultural training, we had somebody come in and talk about cognitive disabilities, we've done some first aid CPR, so we've done a lot of different programming, but we've done it before but not to this caliber, so we really have a professional development piece about every three months or so for the staff and we started incorporating the students in that as well because it's important I think for our students to be able to have that information, they can put it on their resume, and I think it makes them even more employable. [Music] Jeff: You also had a program called Blind and Socially Savvy, can you tell us a little bit about what that is? Rob: So Blind and Socially Savvy really covers the soft skills, starting in conversation with somebody, proper way to introduce somebody, etiquette, so they have an etiquette meal where they actually sit down, a full meal and they learn how to conduct themselves in a professional environment because I'm sure you know Jeff that there are always interviews, sometimes those interviews are sitting down with a meal with your future employer, so it's a great opportunity to be able to conduct yourself professionally, it makes it even more likely for you to get that job. Also it's good to be professional and to have that proper etiquette because you're going to be amongst peers, whether they're your fellow co-workers, or friends, family, maybe you volunteer in an organization, it's great to have that etiquette because it puts you even higher up on the bar of success. Jeff: I attended something very similar to that and I remember they said, your bread is not a mop and turn your phone off, and pay all your attention to the person, it's not about the food mostly, it's about the interview so to say, or the person that you're attending with. Rob: That is correct. Jeff: And then they went through, start from the, just like on the Titanic, start with the outside silver and wake work your way in, so there's a lot of information there that people are kind of expected to know, but if you haven't had the opportunity to learn it, Blind and Socially Savvy that you guys provide here, is awesome! Rob: Yeah and we didn't do it ourselves, we did it along with State Services for the Blind, we worked well with them and Sheila Koenig who's the coordinator for transition for SSB, she worked really well with Dan Wenzel the executive director here, and Michelle Get, who coordinates our transition programs. Jeff: And you do have a lot of programs here and opportunities that you mentioned early and it's really neat to see all the stuff that's happening from the summer to prep to like I said you cover the whole gauntlet here. Rob: Yep we also are starting a new program, it's our College Programming or I like to call it College Prep and what it is is students come in maybe they don't want to do a full six to nine month program but they want to come in and get some of those non-visual adjustment to blindness skills. So they'll come in for a summer, get that training, and if they're new to going to college we actually have a college class component that would start in the fall where they could take a class and still continue to get some adjustment to blindness skills, we would work with them on navigating a campus, and specifically that campus, and we would also work with them on study skills, note-taking skills, all of the the skills necessary to be successful in college. I know when I first started college I was absolutely terrified and I think even now with, with the technology being the way it is, back then you know if you had a computer you were lucky, but nowadays there's phones, there's Braille displays, there's lots of different technology out there that we would be able to work with students on so that they are fully competent and capable to be successful in college so that they can be employable in the future. Jeff: And being able to use that equipment on day one! Rob: Exactly, I mean that's, I think that's a really good point Jeff, you don't want to start, get your technology September first when you start at the class in late August and then have to learn how to use it while taking classes at the same time. We like to work with students early so that they have those skills when they start the college class, that they are able to know how to use their technology, take the best notes possible so that they can be self-sufficient. [Music] Jeff: Rob Hobson thank you very much for what Blind Incorporated does here in Minneapolis and across the nation because other students come from other states and you guys give them an opportunity to succeed, give them skills and the confidence to do so. What advice would you give to someone who has recently become blind visually impaired or has trouble reading the printed word, and what advice would you give them as they start that journey? Rob: I would say keep an open mind, blindness is probably the one of the most terrifying disabilities out there, and really it's because of the unknown, it's a sighted world out there, people perceive through what they see, but keep an open mind because there is a lot of life after blindness. I lost my vision I, I wasn't fully sighted but when I did have some vision I lost it pretty quickly due to a retinal detachment and, and that's a long journey itself, but I know what it's like, it's tough, but what I can tell you is working with State Services for the Blind, figure out your options, whether it's Blind Incorporated, VLR, or Duluth Lighthouse, get that adjustment to blindness training because it is vital for you to be able to compete out there with your sighted peers and really that adjustment to blindness training is what's going to put you on that same platform for success. Learn those skills, know how to cook, clean, learn to read Braille, technology, cane travel, because you got to be able to get there on your own. You can always use Uber and Lyft but I can tell you that stuff's expensive, I know I look at my bank account every month, not that I use it every day but I use it just for quick things, it's expensive, so you're not going to be able to do that all the time, so you've got to pick up those, you know learn those non-visual skills that you can travel independently. Remember that blindness is not a tragedy. I like to say blindness is what you make of it, you can look at it as a tragedy, or you can look at it as, you know what, this is a new challenge, and I'm here to overcome it. Jeff: So Rob, if someone want to get a hold of you or Blind Incorporated, do you have any contact information? Rob: Sure do, you can call our main number 612-872-0100, and ask for Jennifer Wenzels, she handles our intake. You can also ask for me, I'm happy to talk to you if you have any questions, my extension is 220, and Jennifer's extension is 251. We also if you like email, you can send an email to info@blindinc.org. Jeff: info@blindinc.org, well Rob thank you once again for taking the time, sharing your story, sharing your experience with the listeners and, really appreciate it. Rob: Oh you're welcome Jeff, it was a pleasure. [Music] Jeff: Yes it was a real pleasure talking to Rob Hobson, and if you want a contact Blind Incorporated, send them an email at info@blindinc.org, on the web at blindinc.org, and to find out more about State Services for the Blind check us out on the web at www.mn.gov/deed/ssb, and to find services in your state check out American Foundation for the Blind's website at AFB.org. And Thank You Chee Chau for the beautiful music and you can follow Chee Chau on Twitter at lcheechau. Once again, thank you for listening, we hope you enjoyed, and until next time bye-bye [Music] [Multiple voices] When we share what we see through each other's eyes, We can then begin to bridge the Gap between the limited expectations and the realities of Blind Abilities. Jeff: For more podcast with the blindness perspective, check us out on the web at www.blindabilities.com, on twitter at BlindAbilities, download our app from the app store, Blind Abilities, that's two words, or send us an email at info@blindabilities.com, thanks for listening.  

Job Insights #4: Apps With Productivity in Mind for Education and in the Workplace. Transcript Provided Welcome to the 4th episode of Job Insights with Serina Gilbert and Jef Thompson. We focus on Employment, Careers, enhancing opportunities and bringing you the latest innovations from across the Vocational Rehabilitation field to ensure your choices lead you down the career pathway that you want and succeed in gainful employment. From getting started with services, to assessments, Individual Plan for Employment (IPE) to gaining the skills to succeed and tools for success, Job Insights will be giving you tips and tricks to help your journey to employment and break down the barriers along the way. On this 4th episode of Job Insights Hope Paulos joins Serina Gilbert and Jeff Thompson in the studio and they talk about productivity apps and software. From the classroom to the workplace, these apps are geared towards making your daily challenges a bit more manageable, efficient and productive. Hours Tracker, Black Board, Drafts, Files, SeeingAI, Dictionary Thesaurus Pro, KNFBReader and Bookshare’s Read To Go app are all mentioned with some great discussion about how we use these apps. A great little Scan Stand named Foppidoo makes the scene and a conversation on Lift and Uber gets quite a chat as well. You can check out the Meet Me Accessibly book from Jonathan Mosen and learn about Zoom on the PC. Join the Job Insights crew and download some apps and give them a whirl. Hey, productivity rocks! We hope you enjoy this Job Insights episode and you can send your feedback and suggestions to the Job Insights team by email at JobInsights@BlindAbilities.com Follow the Job Insights team on twitter @JobInsightsVIP Job Insights is part of the Blind Abilities network. A big Thank You goes out to CheeChau for his beautiful music! Thank you for listening! You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store.   Job Insights #4: Apps With Productivity in Mind for Education and in the Workplace. Transcript Provided [Music] Female voice: I feel like I'm getting a lot better education so yeah, I think, I think the online learning is an equalizer. Jeff: Job Insights, a podcast to help you carve out your career pathway and enhance the opportunities for gainful employment. Female Voice: But sometimes I require KNFB Reader when I have more than one page that I want to kind of read continuously. Jeff: Learn about resources for training education and employment opportunities. Female Voice: Blackboard, that is a learning management system and a lot of universities are using them as well for classes. So this particular app is available on Android, iOS, and PC, and Mac of course. Jeff: We will hear from people seeking careers, employment, from professionals in the educational field, teachers, and innovators in this ever-changing world of technology to help you navigate the employment world and give you Job Insights and enhance the opportunities to choose the career you want. Male Voice: Fopydo people sounds good and I actually at that time asked my son, and I, it was actually a play on the on Scooby-doo. Jeff: And you can find the Job Insights podcast on BlindAbilities.com, part of the Blind Abilities Network with hosts Serina Gilbert and myself Jeff Thompson, and you can contact us by email at JobInsights@BlindAbilities.com, leave us some feedback, or suggest some topics that we cover. On Twitter at Job Insights VIP, and check out the Job Insights support group on Facebook where you can learn, share, advise, and interact with the Job Insights community. [Music] Female Voice: Lift also released an update to their service dog policy saying that an allergy or fear of animals is not a valid reason to not pick up an individual with the service animal. Jeff: But hey it's a good learning tool, because it's just repetitious and pretty soon it just starts coming to you, mm-hmm, so I dug right in, when I saw they had flashcards I went Wow! [Music] Jeff: And now please welcome Serina Gilbert and Jeff Thompson with Job Insights. [Music] Jeff: Welcome to Job Insights and this week we're talking about apps, apps that you'll use in school, at the workplace, and these are productivity type of apps, and with me today of course is Serina Gilbert how are you doing? Serina: I'm good Jeff, how are you? Jeff: I'm just doing great and we got a guest today all the way from Maine. Hope Paulos, how are you Hope? Hope: I'm doing great, how are you? Jeff: I'm doing good, we're all doing good, so that's good. Today we're gonna talk about apps, you know some of these apps are mostly productivity type of things, stuff that you'll use to, you know get things done and that's, that's what we're, we're all about here on Job Insights. So Serina, last podcast you said you were holding out on us from what you're gonna tell us, is the cliffhanger over or are you gonna tell us? Serina: Oh we've got a little bit of a wait cuz we have to talk to Hope first, we have a guest. Jeff: How about you Hope, what do you got? Hope: I certainly don't have a cliffhanger. [Laughter] Serina: We set her up there Jeff! Jeff: yeah. Hope: Yeah you did! [Laughter] Jeff: So Hope, how's it going out and Maine? Hope: It's going well, the weather is nice finally, when I talked to you and Pete last time, it was March, and it was in the 20's, 20 degrees. Now we are in about the 60's, 70's, so I am absolutely loving it, birds are chirping, the guide dog is going for walks, he's enjoying it, Jeff: Is he bringing you with? Hope: Oh yeah of course! [Laughter] Jeff: That's great! Serina: But Jeff needs to know if you planted any Apple trees? Hope: No. Serina: Only PC trees? Hope: Only PC trees. [Laughter] Jeff: Oh that's the running joke isn't it? So when it comes to productivity type of apps, Hope what did you bring to the show today? Hope: Sure, so I have a couple of them. I don't use this particular one very much right now because I do work for Apple, and Apple has me on a strict schedule so I don't need this particular one, but for people who are freelancing, the name of the app is called Hours Tracker, it's a free app and basically it allows you to track your hours of course, hence the name, but it also allows you to track your earnings, and it will deduct the taxes as well. So it will tell you how much is deducting for taxes. So it's great for individuals who are freelancing. The second app that I have brought to the show is Blackboard. That is a Learning Management System and a lot of universities are using them as well for classes, so this particular app is available on Android, iOS, and PC, and Mac of course. This will allow you to do your classes online literally anywhere and actually a couple of the blindness organizations were working in tandem to get this particular app accessible. It's extremely accessible, there was only one thing that I commented on a couple weeks ago and I sent feedback in to the iOS developers and they fixed it. They're very very good about fixing issues that people might have. The other app that I brought, that I brought to the show is Learning Ally. This is an app that will allow you to download books and it's also good for individuals who are dyslexic and who have low vision because I believe it will allow you to magnify the print in the actual book so you can read along with the narrator which is quite helpful. That's more University as well, University-type app, Productivity app and of course the last app would be the Bookshare app. The Read2Go, this allows you if you have a membership to Bookshare, which I believe most students can get for free, it allows you to read the books on your phone be it Android or iOS. Jeff: Now on the Hours Tracker, is that what it's called? Hour Tracker? Hope: Hours Tracker yeah. Jeff: Hours Tracker. So when you're doing the setup, your presets, do you put in your wage, and then it just calculates it and are you able to output that anywhere, or is it just something you read? Hope: Absolutely, so this particular program allows you to put in the wage, and it allows you to put in whether or not taxes are withheld, so technically even if you were, you know not freelancing, if you working a job as an employee, a W2, you could use it as well. Basically it allows you to put in your breaks and your lunches and things like that, and it lets you know when to go on the break, and when to go to lunch, and when to clock out, and when to clock in. [Music] App Voice: Sample Job, 0.05H today, 0H button, clock out now or long-press for extras menu, button, next clock out now, button, cause now, button, break now button, break now, sample job 0 H on break 8:10 a.m., 0.02H button, end break or long press for extras menu button, end break. Hope: It also will let you know, like you can, you can set a reminder to have it automatically clock in when you get to work, and yes you can send it, I think it's a CSV file, or CV file, something like that, a database file, and it will put it in an Excel spreadsheet I think as well, so that you can show it to your employer. Jeff: That's kind of neat. Serina: That's pretty cool I like that. Hope: Yeah it's a it's a pretty neat app for sure. Jeff: Intuit the makers of QuickBooks and various tax applications has a program and it might be part of their bundle and I believe you can buy it separately, I believe it's called Self-Employed, but that sells on a monthly subscription for 7 to 8 dollars a month. Hope: Yeah this is free and I think, I'm trying to think if I paid for anything, I think I did just because I was freelancing at the time and I wanted them more, more, so it has a lite version and it has a full-featured version, but even the full-featured version wasn't some really really, you know cheap price. Jeff: A one-time fee? Hope: A one-time fee yeah. Jeff: That makes perfectly good sense, economically I can track that pretty good. [Laughter] [Music] Jeff: You can download Hours Tracker free from the App Store or the Google Play Store. Hourlys Tracker is free for up to 21 days of time entries and if you upgrade to the pro or professional, you get rid of all the ads, unlimited amount of entries that you can make, the only difference between the professional and the personal is you can have unlimited amount of jobs in the professional, and you can upgrade to the professional or the personal in the in-app option. The professional will run you $9.99 and the personal will run you $5.99. Once again, a one-time payment, I was really intrigued when I heard about Hours Tracker, I downloaded to my iPhone, and started using it right away, I named a job, I started the time, and when I was completed I stopped the time. I also had the option to input the time that I wanted it to start or input the time that I wanted to stop, otherwise you could do it in real time and that works out really nice. There's also an option that you can take notes and keep them with that job. I found that the accessibility on Hours Tracker on my iPhone was second to none, all the buttons were labeled and the intuitiveness was what I expected for when I have started logging the job, putting in the hours, getting out of the job, putting notes in, was just exactly how I expected it would work and it did work that way. Another small part of the accessibility, it lets you cancel a pop-up or dismiss the pop-up that comes up, and I really like that because if you've ever had a pop-up pop-up and not be able to get rid of it, that's not good. So after kicking around Hours Tracker on my iPhone for one job, I personally recommend this for anybody who is self-employed or someone who works on projects and just wants to have better records of the time they spend on their projects and jobs. [Music] Jeff: So on the Blackboard, I remember I have not experienced Blackboard yet, but I remember going to college and I was at the mercy of every professor that was experimenting by putting stuff on the web and accessing it through a link they give you, and if it was accessible you got lucky, so Blackboard is a collective effort to make it accessible for everyone. Hope: Absolutely, so it all depends on the type of class you're taking obviously right, if people don't know I'm going back to school to become a teacher of the blind and visually impaired and so all of the courses need to be accessible to me. So the professor's will tag their images so that I can know what's going on, their quizzes are all accessible, obviously the discussion boards are all accessible, and I use a combination of the two apps, so I use the combination of Blackboard and I use Learning ally to be able to do my classwork, and literally like I said, I can do it anywhere. With the phone if I have a Braille display and/or a Bluetooth keyboard I can do my homework on the beach or in the park you know, so literally anywhere and that's huge compared to when I was going back to school to get my undergrad degree, like you know 2009, that's when I graduated so it's, it's huge it's a huge step up. Serina: Yeah I remember using Blackboard when I was doing my master's degree which would have been gosh, probably around the same time as you are doing your undergrad, so I finished in 2010 and so, I don't know, 2007, 2008, somewhere around there's when I started it and they used Blackboard for everything. My program was pretty much 100% online, we didn't have the app back then, we just had the website, but even back then the website was pretty accessible. I rarely had any difficulties with it and I was going for the rehabilitation counseling so the professors were a little bit more cognizant of accessible media and documents and things like that. I loved using blackboard because it is easy to log on to, you know if I was on a break at work or whatever, or at home trying to get a discussion posted or something like that. Hope: Yeah it is really easy to use extremely easy to use. Jeff: Is that why you opted to do your classes online, not that you're on an island out off the shore of Maine, but..... [Laughter] Hope: Yeah I think, I think it's easier because I've done classes on site to, not having to do as my masters, but having to do with my undergrads degree. I find the digital world to be a lot more accessible, I just remember going to classes on site and didn't have a lot of input from the professor. The professor was teaching to a lecture hall full of I don't know, a hundred students, I just felt like I was kind of left out and wasn't getting all the notes that I needed to get, whereas here taking the classes online and using, again the combination of Blackboard and Learning Ally, I'm able to take the notes that I need, I'm able to contact my professors if I need to. I have peer to peer interaction as well. I feel like I'm getting a lot better education, so yeah I think, I think the online learning is an equalizer. Jeff: Mm-hmm. Hope: Of sorts. Jeff: Yeah that's great because you know everyone has to do what works for them and if you found a good way of doing it that's great, having those two apps makes it all accessible. Hope: For the most part yeah everything is accessible, even from registering for classes, I go to Missouri State University, so using Missouri State's website is accessible. It's just huge, it's what we're able to do as people who are blind and visually impaired with a digital world, it's absolutely huge. Jeff: So is that something you looked for when you were looking for an online course that they did use Blackboard? Hope: Not really, I didn't know what they used, I contacted them, I did ask them in the beginning when I was registering for the program what they used and I could have used Moodle, Moodle was another application, another learning management system that I'm familiar with and either one I would have been fine with. I looked online and and saw the collaboration between the two blindness organizations regarding Blackboard and I'm like okay this is going to be fine, this is gonna be great, I know it's gonna be accessible, I contacted my professors beforehand and gave them my accommodations and all that and said I need extra time and because it's a digital world they can input my time-and-a-half for quizzes and allow me to have that time and you know they can input that in Blackboard and all is good. I can't speak enough good things about accessibility and digital stuff. Jeff: So let's see, there's Learning Ally, we will put that in the show notes, we'll put Blackboard in the show, we'll put all these in the show notes so people can click on them and go right to the App Store or the Google Play Store and we'll have the links there, so back to the cliffhanger. [Laughter] Jeff: Hi Serina. Serina: And I thought of one like while we were sitting here, so even you'll be surprised Jeff. Jeff: Ooo. [Laughter] Serina: My absolute number one favorite app and I see it all over all of the groups like iPhone and iPad apps, and the assistive technology group, all of them, a seeing AI, I don't think it's any surprise there. That app allows me to be a lot less dependent on a human reader to just go through what's in my mailbox that I get at work. Now I can just kind of okay, yeah I need someone to finish reading that to me, or oh, this is just something that needs to go in the file, it's cut down on how much time I have to spend with somebody sitting at my desk with me going through stuff, and it's free, which is amazing to me because I remember reading gosh, I think it was like two years ago when Microsoft had their hackathon and they had released a video about seeing AI and they were showing a demo of it and I was like, well that's cool but it'll never come out and if it does it'll be super expensive. And then all of a sudden there's a link, and it's free, and it works, like amazingly and it, I can't thank Microsoft enough for that, that actually was a big surprise for me. Jeff: Yeah, you just open it up and boom, short text is reading. Serina: Yeah, from across the room right Jeff! [Laughter] Jeff: Yeah, that happened to me and, I shouldn't say it but I was that Orcam demonstration when they were having the little issues, and I was reading the wall that had their sign on it, so I was like wow, this is already talking, just out of the box, just turn it on and there it is. Male Voice: I use seeing AI all of the time to determine what's in my medicine cabinet, for documents you know I use seeing AI for short text. [Music] Female Voice: I use the document reader all the time, not gonna say it's as good as KNFB Reader because it's not. I did a test between reading my mail with it and with KNFB Reader and I found KNFB Reader to be far more stable, but I still like the app, I use it a lot, I'm glad that it's one of the tools in our toolbox. Female voice: For reading and stuff I used to go to KNFB Reader all the time but it just seems like Prizmo go and seeing AI is so much easier that I tend to go to them more. Male Voice: Seeing AI is my main go-to app and I use that, the short text channel mostly if I can't identify an item with that I will switch to the product channel if it has a barcode. A lot of the apps like [Inaudible] and Aipoly Vision and [inaudible], I've deleted most of those off of there because I can accomplish the same thing with seeing AI [Music] Male Voice: Jeffrey I see apps like Aipoly Vision, [Inaudible], Identifee, of course the KNFB Reader, I think seeing AI is becoming the main tool in the toolbox. Jeff: And you know, all the other channels that they have on their to four options but that's the one I use all the time because, you open it up it works. Serina: Yeah there's a handwriting one too that I've tried only a couple of times, but it surprisingly did recognize the handwriting enough for me to figure out at least what the note was generally about cuz sometimes my clients will stop in and I can't see them, and they'll leave a handwritten note at the front desk and obviously it's probably dependent on the individuals handwriting but I was at least able to get the name of the client and know, okay I'll just call them and see what they needed. Jeff: Hmm, well that's good. Serina: That one's in BETA I think. Jeff: Yeah you always wonder when they have a little feature that's in there and they tag the word BETA after it's like, you better use it now because it may not be there! Serina: Or it's like the disclaimer don't trust this feature. It might not work right! Jeff: Mm-hm try it on a doctor's prescription. [Laughter] Serina: Oh gosh. Jeff: That's the to test. Serina: This is totally not productive but when seeing AI first came out, we were playing with it in my office to see how old it thought everyone was. [Laughter] So all of my co-workers were like changing their hairstyles or putting on glasses or taking off glasses to try to trick it to make it think that they were younger. Jeff: That's a great use of state-funded money. [Laughter] Serina: Hey! Jeff: I know everyone's been doing that, it's kind of a novelty thing and that's like artificial intelligence to me when they're built into apps to me, it's like you know when you go to the carnival, you know, they'll guess your age and you win the whistle or something but you know, I'm not into the novelty stuff but that really does work. Serina: Hope, do you use seeing AI for any of your school work, or since it's mostly digital do you not have to use it a lot? Hope: Yeah I use it sometimes, I use it for work actually to find out whether or not my Mac, my work Mac is gonna turn on correctly. We have so many policies in place at Apple that sometimes voice-over doesn't turn on correctly and so I use either seeing AI or I also use AIRA for that, but most of the time I just grab my phone and you seeing AI. Speaking of the, or how old people were, I actually did that last weekend I think it was on my grandmother's 93rd birthday. I went up to her and took a picture of her and had seeing AI tell her how old she was, now again she's 93 right, so it said a 65 year old woman is smiling, or looks happy or something like that and she's like, wait, did it say 65? [Laughter] Hope: Shes like, I like that! So it made her day. Serina: Yeah. Jeff: I actually think for women they do have a built in algorithm that knocks off a couple years just to you know, keep the customers happy. Serina: No it added 10 years to mine, no matter what it says 10 years. Hope: Oh really. That's funny! [Laughter] Jeff: The algorithm breaker! Serina: Gosh. [Laughter] The other one that I use is obviously very similar to seeing AI but sometimes I require KNFB Reader when I have more than one page that I want to kind of read continuously. To my knowledge I don't know that you can scan multiple pages in seeing AI and if you can, somebody let me know, cuz I actually like it a little bit better. But sometimes when I'm working from home and I don't have access to my flatbed scanner but I need to read some printed like medical documents or things like that, I'll take out KNFB Reader and just scan a whole bunch of pages all at once and then read it, through it continuously, so that's very helpful, and then also you can save on KNFB Reader in their file system, and I think I saw on the latest update that now they can sync with Google Drive and Dropbox now to, so that's kind of a really cool feature that they've integrated in there now. Jeff: Yeah I like the KNFB Reader when I have like, I might have 10 pages of something to read and I don't want to take a picture of each of them so I put it on double sheet and then batch mode and when I turn the page it'll sense that, so you know you got the page turning then ch-ch-ch. KNFB Reader Voice: Manual picture button, automatic picture, picture from ste..., alert, please place your device on an empty document stand and align the camera with the aperture, okay, button, flash off, button, multi-page mode off, button, multi-page mode on. [Camera Sound Effect] Serina: Do you have a stand that you use with it? Jeff: Yeah I do, its the Fopydo and it was designed by Thomas Wardega, and here he is. Thomas: Fopydo sounds good, and I actually at that time asked my son, and it was actually a play on the on Scooby Doo. So basically this was designed from the ground up for people who are blind and visually impaired and along that process I learned to work with people who are blind so I went through a couple of revisions of the stand before I even started selling it just to make sure that people are happy with using it and that it fulfills whatever is needed from a scanning stand for people who are blind and visually impaired. [Camera Sound Effect] Jeff: It comes with a set of instructions that you can scan, you can put it together, once you got it together it just folds right up and you can put it in a suitcase, it takes up very little real estate. Serina: Oh I need one, and does it work with any phone or? Jeff: Well back when I talked with him he said it would handle, if you balanced it right, and iPad Mini, so I, I guess your your beast of a phone, your iPhone X may work. [Laughter] Serina: Yeah and put the link in the show notes cuz I've been, I thought, I had somebody looking for one before and they were like $50, I'm like mm-hmm, I'll just hold it up, you know. [Laughter] Jeff: Having the batch mode on the KNFB Reader really makes it viable product for someone that's in school that may have to be scanning a lot of pages. Serina: I definitely need one of those. Jeff: Yeah we'll put the link in the show notes and I believe he sells it on Amazon and if you have Amazon Prime, there you go, ten, twelve bucks. Serina: Primes getting expensive though it's like $120.00 starting this year. Hope: I think there's a discount for students. Serina: It's half off for students cuz I had that for a couple of years, and then they got smart and realized that I'm not a student anymore because my school let me keep my student email address for years, and I don't even think I have it anymore now. Now they make you verify by sending in like a schedule. Hope: Oh really? Serina: Yeah. Hope: Similar to Apple music, they do the same thing. Serina: Yeah, and I think Spotify does the same thing too. Hope: Yep. Serina: They got smart. Jeff: So we'll have to put the link in there for Amazon Prime half off for students, that's good news. Serina: Yeah that's it, and half off of Apple music and Spotify, not that those are, those could be productivity apps because if you need music to stay focused. Hope: Technically yeah, exactly, that works! Jeff: Or books. Hope: Yeah. Jeff: Amazon still sells books. Serina: Who orders books anymore? Jeff: Does anybody use Audible for books? Serina: I do not, I totally looked at it, but every time I looked at it I just can't, like I think it's thirteen ninety-nine a month for so many credits and one, the amount of credits you get for that amount is equal to downloading one book, and I haven't found that it's better than just using BARD, because they usually have especially if it's a best-seller what I want anyway. Jeff: Mm-hmm and the BARD app is totally accessible too. Serina: Yeah it's, it's a little old school sometimes, it has its glitches but it gets the job done. Hope: It can be yeah, exactly. Jeff: But it's, it's something that if you do send in a report and stuff like that they'll fix it? We can hope for the best right Hope? Hope: Yeah exactly, yeah sure, I'll write them, I'll give them a good report! Jeff: There you go. Hope: Sure. [Laughter] Serina: Well and it's hard because I know, I think that's run by the Library of Congress so that probably takes like an act of Congress just to get a glitch fixed you know. Jeff: Oh good one! Serina: I didn't mean it to be all cheesy but it's kind of funny. Jeff: Yeah it is, it is, it's nice when things work and you know, you were talking about seeing AI when you open it up short text just starts. I got an app called Drafts, just like the seeing AI, when you open it up it just works the short text is working, do you open it up and the cursors waiting up in the upper left-hand corner and you can start typing, you don't have to open up a new file. The neat thing is if you're in a meeting and you're taking notes and you can set it for certain increments of minutes that pass by and then next time like you open your phone, say it closed, it'll start a new file automatically. Serina: Well that's cool. Jeff: So you're not adding to your recipe you wrote two days ago that's still sitting there, do you want to save it, you don't know if you should save it, it automatically, so if you set it up for 10 minutes, if 10 minutes goes by, it saves it, and opens up a new one, just ready to go, so it's like a new sheet of scratch pad for you, can actually do some markups on it, yeah share it anywhere you want, it's really cool. I do the cut and paste and then just pop it into an email, bang! Serina: I like that, is that a free up too? Jeff: Yeah Drafts is free, I think it's called Drafts 5, there is a professional upgrade, a pro version and that is $20 a year or two dollars a month, but you can do a lot with just the Drafts app. I just love that because when you just want to take down a note, I don't like going into, I use pages because it syncs up with my apple orchard but when I'm at someplace where the meetings starting and I open up pages, you know it has to load up, it goes to the recent, and it seems like, you know all the gears have to spin around five times before anything happens, but this one opens up just bang, it's ready to go. Serina: I especially have that problem using the native Notes app on the iOS devices. Ever since they made it where you've got some notes on your iPhone, some on iCloud, some on Google Drive, or Dropbox or wherever, it's so hard for me to figure out where my notes are anymore that I just don't use that app anymore. Jeff: And that's my second app that I was going to talk about, it's the files app in iOS platform on the iPhone. Files, if you don't know where it went because it says, oh it's stored on the iCloud, or on the desktop in the iCloud, or on the iCloud Drive or wherever, and you start hunting around, but if you go to files and go to most recent, it'll check all those files, all those different drives, all the different places on your phone and everything, but if you go to recent and then if you click up on top you can go back and actually go specifically only to one area where you think it is, but if you put it on all, its checking all those drives that you have synced up with it and you can usually find it, so when I get lost for a second I just open up files and go to the most recent and there it is. Serina: That's a good tip, I didn't know that. I never really knew the point of the files app. Jeff: Yeah check it out, open it up and just see, and you'll see what you've been doing lately. Seirna: So I have one more that you do not know that is my favorite apps to use, any guesses? Jeff: Hope, what do you think it is? Hope: Hmmm, Uber, no it's not productivity, nevermind. [Laughter] Serina: Well technically it is, I do use Uber and Lyft a lot for work actually because I have to go as part of my job, I have to be at high schools and things like that and I am almost an exclusive Lyft user personally. Jeff: And why Lyft over Uber? Serina: I just have found just with my personal experience in the city that I live in that I've had better luck with Lyft drivers as far as friendliness and I have a service animal so, I've never been rejected on Uber, I'm actually, the only place I was was actually on Lyft. I found that the cars have been cleaner and the drivers just seem friendlier and with Uber I specifically am NOT a fan of the, if we wait more than two minutes, we're gonna charge you policy. Hope: Oh that's not good. Serina: Yeah that's a newer policy, maybe in the last six months and that policy just really bothers me especially when you're visually impaired. Drivers will say they're there and you're like where? You know, and if they're automatically gonna charge you, I think it's, I don't, I guess it's maybe like five dollars, if the driver has to wait I believe it's more than two minutes, like that's stressful, it's already nerve-racking like being like, hey I've got a service animal, are they gonna drive right past me, are they gonna pick me up, and then to know they're also gonna charge me an extra five bucks if I can't find them. And then they also tend to do the walk here and meet your driver thing. Jeff: Oh yeah. Serina: And I've never had that happen with Lyft no matter, I've been in downtown Denver and that's not happened before, but Uber will send you up a random parking lot or something to meet your driver. Hope: Oh wow! No thank you. Serina: Yeah so that's more why I'm Lyft exclusive, and then on the driver side I'm not quite sure how it breaks down, I don't remember how much the drivers get but I know with Uber it's not like a set percentage that the drivers get as far as, like I think it with Lyft the drivers get 75% of the fares With Uber, nobody really knows what percentage of the fare they get because they can, I've had drivers say like, yeah I've done rides Denver to you know, the DIA Airport and sometimes I get 60, sometimes I get a hundred, like there's no, I guess transparency with it. Jeff: Mmm-hm. Serina: And I can only speak to you know what I'm told, but I just personally feel better about using Lyft and for those who don't know, Lyft also released an update to their service dog policy saying that an allergy or a fear of animals is not a valid reason to not pick up an individual with a service animal and I feel like that's a very strong policy, and that's telling you where they stand on that very clearly, and I'm not, I'm not sure if Uber has come out as strong as they did. But that's all for a whole another podcast, you have to use all that when we talk about transportation. [Laughter] Jeff: No that's, that's good information because in my neck of the woods my wife uses Lyft, I use Uber and yet, I've been noticing that at certain peak times the price goes way up and other times it's low, and the waiting time changes, but you know, if it were two minutes, it's sometimes it's as low as thirty seven cents, but other times it's higher, you know, so things, I think it's the area you're in that really has, it makes a difference between which one you use, it is productivity because you got to get places and it's nice to know you can get there. Serina: And on time and on your own time. Jeff: Good. Serina: But that was a really good guess that brought on a whole another discussion, I liked it. [Laughter] Serina: But honestly we're on the app right now. Jeff: Ahh, zoom zoom. [Laughter] Serina: But part of my job is to train other people and to hold conference calls and things like that, and to my knowledge as far as like a true training platform where you can record and share your screen and things like that, I found that Zoom is the most accessible system out there that's also used by like companies all over the place. I know Skype is out there, but I don't know if Skype lets you like record the calls and things like that, I don't, like independently, not by pushing it through a different software but just right in the program recording it and having that access to be able to share your screen and still use your PowerPoint effectively and things like that. Jeff: Mm-hmm, and we're doing a neat thing for the first time here and we didn't know if we could do it but Hope sat beside us waiting patiently for us, but we figured it out and we're recording on two ends right now. Serina: Unless I pushed the wrong button again which is very possible. [Laughter] Jeff: Another cliffhanger, stay tuned next week when we find out! Serina: That will be our opener next week. Guess what I actually did it right! Jeff: You know, I'm starting to like Zoom because it's like I can't even tell you, you guys are here, because typically when we're using Skype in my headphones, I have this hiss when other people aren't talking so there's continuous hisses going on and then in the editing phase. So Zoom's really good and I really like the feature where you can send an email and people can just click on the link and they connect right up. Serina: Yep, it makes it really really easy. Hope: So a question I have, you mentioned sharing your screen, how accessible is that with voiceover? I heard through the grapevine that the voice-over will read actually what's on the screen. I don't know if it's true or not? Serina: So I haven't had a chance to test that because at work we don't use any Max, and then when I'm on a Zoom call and I am a participant I'm not usually on my iPhone. Hope: Right. Serina: So if you are leading the meeting and you're sharing your screen, it's actually pushing through a video of your screen, so it's almost like, I just imagine like a webcam watching your screen or whatever. Hope: Right, so I would assume it's not accessible then. Serine: Correct, but and I don't remember the keystroke, maybe Jeff knows, but I know in the latest major update to the OS on the Macs and iOS, you can have it essentially perform an OCR on the screen like live, with the software on the Mac, but I haven't had a chance to truly test that out just because I'm not usually on Apple devices when I'm participating. The way that I work around that, because I do have to present to individuals that use screen readers as well sometimes, is I usually will send my PowerPoint out ahead of time so that they can follow along while they're listening to the meeting, but then they also have access to the chat panel and everything else, it's just the visual of the video that they're not quite having access to but I, I just send it out ahead of time. Jeff: Yeah I haven't dug too deep into this, but Serina told me about Jonathan Mosen's book, and he did a full fledge book on using Zoom for calls and meetings and stuff like that, and yeah, I believe you can get that on Mosen's consulting on the website, and we'll put a link to that in the show notes. Serina: Yeah the book is called "Meet Me Accessibly" and it's very current based on, because I listen to maybe four or five chapters so far, and it sounds like he recorded it maybe in June of 17 and he does a really good job of letting you hear the screen reader and how it interacts with everything and going through all the different settings and explaining what exactly it is that they all do. Jeff: Yes he does he has quite a few books on Mosen's consulting so when you get there, just look around and he has tutorials on a lot of different topics, he's into the Mac, he's into, no not the Mac as much anymore, but he's into the PC, Microsoft. Serina: All these plugs Jeff, you're going to need to get some royalties! [Laughter] Jeff: Hopefully I get their name right and their website right. Another app that I have that I use and some people laugh at this, I use Dictionary Thesaurus Plus, and if you get the dictionary you can upgrade and you get, its a combination of Dictionary and Thesaurus Plus and I get the word of the day, and I'm just waiting to get that specific word to send Serina because she laughed at me when I talked about this app before. But it's just kind of neat because in there, they have flashcards and I'm on the bottom, they're not labeled but I figured out what two of them are, flashcards, so I took insight today just when I was skipping around there and I made a flashcard so on one side it says insight, on the other side it says the definition, so someone could actually go through there if they have a 10 word list that need to know or learn, like they're in school and they could actually input the word, get the dictionary, and there's also a button that says go to page, so if you want more definition you can just click on it, brings it right to the dictionary page and it's just kind of a neat resource if you're into that you know. If you want to know what words mean. Serina: Well that could you, I mean you just brought up a good point though, that could be a really good study aid for somebody if you're in a class where there's a lot of maybe theories, or specific definitions you need to know, you could load all those in there and while you're on the bus or whatever kind of be going through those, probably a more fun way than just reading the book. Jeff: Yeah and that's why I did it, like when I took Spanish, I made, I made note cards. I took these note cards and I brailled on one side, and then on the other side I had some other Braille, the translation in English to what it was, so I could just go through, and people were like joking with me like, Oh flashcards, it's like it's something for the kids or something, but hey, it's a good learning tool because it's just repetitious and pretty soon it just starts coming to you. Serina: Mmm-hmm. Jeff: So I dug right in when I saw they had flashcards, I went wow! So I really like that and it's, uh I think there's a fee for the upgrade, might be a few dollars but you can get download at all for free and test it and then in the in-app you can upgrade. Serina: Nice! Jeff: Well I think we got a handful of apps here that you know through experience we, we've been trying, we've been using and stuff. Some of these apps if you find them useful click on the show notes, download them, check them out, and if you have any feedback or suggestions on the apps that you want us to do on our next show, give us a jingle, drop us an email at JobInsights@blindabilities.com, on Twitter at Job Insights VIP, and uh, let us know what you think. Serina: What are we talking about next tiem John....John? Wow! Sorry! [Laughter] Jeff: Well Sarah! [Laughter] Jeff: What will our next one be on? Serina: I don't know, we have so many topics, normally I'm like, let's take this, let's let Hope pick the next topic, no pressure! Hope: No pressure yeah right mm-hmm! Let's do transportation since we kind of talked a little bit about it in this one, that would make sense. Serina: Getting to work. Hope: Yeah, absolutely. Serina: Perfect. Jeff: Getting to work, school, college. Hope: Yeah. Jeff: There you go Sarah! Serina: Stop it! [Laughter] Jeff: And if you want to contact Hope, she's on Twitter. Serina: If you want people to have it? Hope: Yeah my Twitter is Fidelco, capital F as in Foxtrot, I, D as in Delta, E, L, C, O, 4, the number four, ever. My email address is hopepaulos@gmail.com, so hopepaulos@gmail.com. Jeff: Well Hope thank you very much for coming on to Job Insights, it's really neat to have you and we're gonna have you back as soon as possible here for our next round table. Hope: Thank you so much Jeff and Serina, it was wonderful being here. I appreciate it! Serina: Yep, you have a great day! Hope: Thank you! Jeff: Do you know it's nearly midnight and you said have a great day? Serina: Well this will come out during the day. [Laughter] [Music] Jeff: It was a real pleasure having Hope Paulos join us on the show today, all the way from Maine, and next week when we're talking about transportation all the way from New York we'll have Joe De Niro, so stay tuned to the next episode of Job Insights. And a big shout-out to Chee Chau for his beautiful music and you can follow him on Twitter at lcheechau, as always thank you for listening, we hope you enjoyed, and until next time bye-bye [Multiple voices] When we share what we see through each other's eyes, We can then begin to bridge the Gap between the limited expectations and the realities of Blind Abilities. Jeff: For more podcast with the blindness perspective, check us out on the web at www.blindabilities.com, on twitter at BlindAbilities, download our app from the app store, Blind Abilities, that's two words, or send us an email at info@blindabilities.com, thanks for listening.  

Job Insights Extra #3: College Advice from Michael Hingson, Best Selling Author, Advocate and Inspirational Speaker. Transcript Provided Welcome to Job Insights Extra, part of the Job Insights Podcast with Serina Gilbert and Jeff Thompson, a podcast focused on the world of employment, career pathways and gainful and meaningful employment. The Job Insights Extra podcasts are success stories, interviews and demos that enhance the experience of reaching that career you want. On Job Insights Extra #3: we bring you College advice from Michael Hingson, Best Selling Author, Advocate and Inspirational Speaker. Michael Hingson joins us in the studio and shares his advice to students transitioning from high school to college and the workplace. He refers to some of his college experiences and how he transferred those skills into his workplace. Michael tells us how those very skills attributed to his successful navigation down the 72 flights of stairs to safety with his guide dog Roselyn. Michael led many others to safety that 11th day of September back in 2001 and shares part of that story with us here on Job Insights Extra. We previously interviewed Michael about his book, “Thunder Dog” and you can listen to that podcast on Blind Abilities.bringing-the-thunder-to-aira/ You can learn more about Michael Hingson on his web site www.MichaelHingson.com And follow Michael on Twitter @MHingson   Here is a short bio taken from his web site:   On September 11, 2001, a blind man escaped the World Trade Center by walking down 78 flights of stairs with his guide dog. Days later, America fell in love with Mike and Roselle and the special bond that helped them both survive one of the country’s darkest days. Immediately after the 9-11 tragedy, Michael was featured on the Larry King show five times. To quote Larry King…   “This media exposure changed the course of Michael’s life and launched him into a speaking career that has spanned over a decade. He now travels the world as a keynote and inspirational speaker that can motivate audiences to action.”   Thank you for listening.   Follow Job Insights on Twitter @JobInsightsVIP Do you have any suggestions or feedback? Send the Job Insights Team an email   Job Insights is part of the Blind Abilities Network. You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store.   Full Transcript   Job Insights Extra #3: College Advice from Michael Hingson, Best Selling Author, Advocate and Inspirational Speaker. Transcript Provided [Music] Jeff: Job Insights is a podcast that is helping you find careers and gainful employment through innovations and opportunities. You can find the Job Insights podcast on BlindAbilities.com, part of the Blind Abilities Network, and as part of the Job Insights podcast we will be bringing you the Job Insights Extras, consisting of interviews, demonstrations, and news surrounding employment, careers, and jobs, with hosts Serina Gilbert and myself, Jeff Thompson. sAnd you can contact us by email at jobinsights@BlindAbilities.com, leave us some feedback or suggest some topics that we cover, on Twitter at Job Insights VIP. [Sound Effect] Micheal: Everyone just turned in ran as we heard this Rumble that became this deafening roar in like about a half a second which was tower two collapsing about a hundred yards away from our position. The airplane hit 18 floors above us on the other side of the building, we had no clue what had happened. [Sound Effect] Jeff: Those are the words of Michael Hingson, he's the author of Thunder Dog, a book about 9/11 where on September 11th 2001, a terroristic attack took down the World Trade Center towers. Michael happened to be in one of the towers and led a group of people along with his guide dog Roselle to safety. We did an entire podcast on this topic and we put a link in the show notes where you can find it on Blind Abilities. Once again we caught up with Michael Hingson and asked him the question about transition age students, what advice he would have for someone transitioning from high school to college to the workplace? Michael was so kind to share with us some advice and some of his experiences from his college days as well, so we hope you enjoyed this Job Insights Extra. Micheal: We have some unique advantages now and we have some real serious problems now compared to when I went to college. [Sound Effect] For high school kids going on, learn all that you can, learn to know yourself, learn skills. [Sound Effect] Jeff: And now, here's Michael Hingson. Micheal: I think that college is an adventure. I think that becoming more independent as most people will if you go to college and leave home to go to college live on campus or an apartment, but typically on campus, maybe not too far away from home, may be a long way from home, but that's an adventure and, and accept it and embrace it as an adventure first and foremost. Live every life moment to the best that you can, live to the fullest because you won't have that opportunity again. Everything that you do will be a memory but it will also be a learning experience for you. I know that when I went to college, went to the University of California-Irvine which was a hundred miles away from where I grew up. I lived on campus for three years and I remember a lot of what I did on campus because I just considered it a great adventure. We have some unique advantages now and we have some real serious problems now compared to when I went to college, the advantages are there's a lot of Technology, there are a lot more books available, and again if people aren't proficient in Braille, they ought to get proficient in Braille, but we have some disadvantages. Most colleges have an office for disabled students and they have these people who are hired to basically do everything for us, they hire our readers, we don't get to do that like we used to, which means that we lose the opportunity to develop a skill that will help us in the workforce. The skill is finding readers, finding readers that work for us not that work on the terms of the office for disabled students, and likewise, if we don't do well with them, we can fire them, we don't have that option nearly as much as we used to. So students need to use college to learn that independence and to learn those skills that will help them in whatever else they do in life. Braille is important because without the ability to truly read and write, people will not function well in college, much less when they leave College, they will not have the skills that they need to be able to compose good articulate relevant sentences and they won't spell as well and they just plain won't have had the opportunity that they really should get. So I think it's important that students in high school take advantage of all the things that are offered and learn to be self-reliant, and it doesn't mean you don't learn to ask for help, but learn to be self-reliant. I spent time at the World Trade Center learning where everything was, I walked around with a cane, I worked after a while to get, just to get lost, because by getting lost I obviously found someplace I didn't know before and it got to the point where I couldn't get lost in the World Trade Center, and as I loved to tell people, you could drug me and knock me out, and I wake up, and you've put me somewhere and I'll know where I am within just three seconds because I knew that complex that well. I did that in part because I kept thinking, what am I gonna do first emergency and how am I going to get out? It was the mid-atlantic region Sales Manager for my company that is as the leader of that office I had to be responsible for the people in the office, which means I had to know what to do in order to get them to do what needed to be done on what they had to do. I could not have done that if I didn't take the time to learn to be self-reliant and to learn to do whatever I need to do in any circumstance that I could. So for me every day I went in the World Trade Center I almost subconsciously thought, what am I gonna do if there's an emergency today? Well one day I guess I made it happen, and suddenly an emergency did occur, but I knew what to do, and that's why I didn't really panic. People have said to me, well you were so calm, I was because I knew what to do, and I also know myself well enough that, if something different had happened and suddenly it was a real crisis situation, well it was when Tower 2 was collapsing, I could deal with it or or I couldn't. You know, yeah we were going to survive or we weren't, but I knew that I could deal with whatever situation there was to the best of my ability and stay focused. So high school kids need to learn that, they need to spend that time, especially blind kids, I don't mean totally blind but I mean blind with eyesight, but kids just who don't see well enough to function as a fully sighted person, and I think that's the definition of blindness. You're blind when your eyesight is diminished to the point where you can't see well enough to function as a sighted person and you have to use alternative techniques. That includes Braille, and I keep emphasizing that because I think it's so important for people. So for high school kids going on, learn all that you can, learn to know yourself, learn skills and use them in college. When you go to college, don't learn how to just get from your dorm to the library, learn how to get around the campus, learn how to go from any point A to any point B. What I did after a while having learned that other kids did it on campus, was I learned where all the shortcuts were, that is through the steam tunnels that went underground and that you weren't supposed to use, but hey we all did because it cut the time to get from one side of the campus to the other by half, so we did it, and I learned how to do that as well as anyone else because I wanted to have those same opportunities. I didn't know just how to get from my dorm to computer science or physical sciences or whatever, I learned where every building was so that I could go wherever depending on what kind of class I, I had. I learned to make friends with faculty. I was, I never said Dan, but I knew Chancellor Dan Aldrich, and I would, I spent time in his office a couple times because he wanted to get to know me and I wanted to certainly get to know him to, to just understand him and and hopefully educate him a little bit more about me being blind. My academic adviser was the Dean of physical sciences, Fred Reines who was the discoverer of the subatomic particle of the neutrino, won a Nobel Prize for it, and he was the one who encouraged me to do that, he encouraged me to get to know the administrative staff, he said there will be time that they can assist you and and they may ask you things, but they'll never do it if you guys don't know each other, and I think that was an important lesson too. So again there's a lot, there's a lot to do when you get to be a blind college student, but it's worth doing all of that to make the experience better and to make sure that you have all the power and all the skills behind you that you need. Jeff: Michael do you have any favorite quotes that you would like to share with our listeners? Micheal: Well I think in Thunderdog especially, one of my favorite quotes and the one I use most often is, "don't let your sight get in the way of your vision", and I try to use that with sighted people a lot who talk about blindness and all that and they say, well you know, but, how can you do that? Well I'm doing it, don't lay your sight get in the way your vision right? When people tell me, well you don't have any vision, and I say, no I don't see, but I have lots of vision. Now I'm certainly creating a play on words, but still it's true. We often don't see beyond our eyeballs, and bottom line is that we have as much vision as the next group of people if given the opportunity to use it and again eyesight isn't what should hold us back so that's one of my favorite quotes. Another one and again I use it in Thunderdog is, because it's true with Roselle, and was true of others on September 11, 2001, "Sometimes being a hero is just doing your job", and you know, I was just doing my job, people say you're a hero, and if they do they do, but I was just doing what I needed to do and I was helping people get out and I got out and that's what we should do. But if it helps people to think that it, but, and if it will help them think more possibly about what, possibly about what we can all do then it's a worthwhile thing. [Sound Effect] Jeff: We've been speaking to Michael Hingson, number one book seller, author of "Thunderdog", inspirational speaker, advocate, and you can follow Michael on his website at Michaelhingson.com, and on Twitter at M Hingson, that's M H I N G S O N on Twitter. We hope you enjoyed this episode of Job Insights Extra and you can find all the Job Insights podcasts and the Job Insights Extras on Blind Abilities. You can find us on the web at www.blindabilities.com, on Twitter at Blind Abilities, and follow Job Insights on Twitter at Job Insights VIP. Download the free Blind Abilities app from the app store or the Google Play Store. Enable the Alexa skill just by saying enable Blind Abilities. [Music] Jeff: Once again, thanks for listening, we hope you enjoyed, and until next time, bye bye! And thank you Chee Chau for the beautiful music. Follow Chee Chau on Twitter at LCheeChau. [Multiple voices] When we share what we see through each other's eyes, We can then begin to bridge the Gap between the limited expectations and the realities of Blind Abilities. Jeff: For more podcast with the blindness perspective, check us out on the web at www.blindabilities.com, on twitter at BlindAbilities, download our app from the app store, Blind Abilities, that's two words, or send us an email at info@blindabilities.com, thanks for listening.  

Boston Marathon? Why Not? Rachel Hastings Is Back to Guide Us Through Her Boston Marathon Success Rachel Hastings is back from the Boston Marathon and is excited to share her success. Her first podcast on Blind Abilities was equally exciting as she talked about her transition from high school to college and the workplace and she did mention that she was getting into running more and more. Well, if the Boston Marathon isn’t more then I don’t know what is. Join Rachel on this well paced podcast as she goes through the marathon and all the components that led her to the finish line in the 2018 Boston Marathon. You can find Rachel’s podcast #300 on the Blind Abilities Network. You can check out Achilles International  on the web. Follow Team with a Vision on Twitter @TeamWithAVision And follow Massachusetts Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired on Twitter @TheMABVI   Thank you for listening. You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store.

Job Insights Extra #2: Advice from Team Sea to See on Transitioning and Rebranding Disability Through Achievement Welcome to Job Insights Extra, part of the Job Insights Podcast with Serina Gilbert and Jeff Thompson, a podcast focused on the world of employment, career pathways and gainful and meaningful employment. The Job Insights Extra podcasts are success stories, interviews and demos that enhance the experience of reaching that career you want. In Job Insights Extra episode #2 we share the insights from Team Sea To See, a team entered in  to the Race Across America (RAM). The team of 4 will tandem bike race across America dipping there wheels in the Pacific Ocean and racing non-stop to the Atlantic Ocean. While they were in the Blind Abilities studio promoting the race, they hung out to talk about a topic they feel is very important. We asked them what advice they would give to a student transitioning from high school to college and the workplace?  Jack Chen, dan Berlin and Tina Ament each took turns talking about their personal experiences and gave us some very good insights and we are glad to share the conversation with you all on episode #2 of Job Insights Extra.    Full Transcript Below You can check out the Race Across America podcast with Team Sea to See on Blind Abilities.plain-sight-meet-team-sea-to-see/ And check out Team Sea to See on their Facebook page. You can learn more about Rebranding Disability Through Achievement on the web at Lime Connect   Thank you for listening! Follow Job Insights on Twitter @JobInsightsVIP Do you have any suggestions or feedback? Send the Job Insights Team an email   Job Insights is part of the Blind Abilities Network. You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store.   Transcription:   Job Insights Extra #2: Advice from Team Sea to See on Transitioning and Rebranding Disability Through Achievement   [Music] Jeff: Welcome to a Job Insights Extra and today I want to share with you some job insights that came from Jack Chen, Dan Berlin, and Tina Ament. They're three quarters of the team of Team Sea to Sea, and they're entering the race across America this summer and some of the feats these three have been in is quite astonishing. From climbing Kilimanjaro, to racing in ultra marathons, world champion Hill climber, Google lawyer, a US attorney, co-founder of a major food company, the list goes on and on. And be sure to check out the podcast with the Sea to Sea race across America. I'll put the link in the show notes and you'll learn so much more about each of these individuals and the feats that they've accomplished. While I had them in the studio I asked them some questions about transition age students and employment and I really appreciated them taking the time to answer these questions and being willing to share their experiences and advice with us, so please welcome Jack Chen, Dan Berlin, and Tina Ament on transitioning students and employment. We hope you enjoy and thanks for listening to this episode of Job Insights Extra. Job Insights is a podcast that is helping you find careers and gainful employment through innovations and opportunities and you can find the job insights podcast on blindabilities.com, part of the Blind Abilities network, and as part of the Job Insights podcast we will be bringing you the Job Insights Extras consisting of interviews, demonstrations, and news surrounding employment, careers, and jobs. With host's Serina Gilbert, and myself, Jeff Thompson. And you can contact us by email at jobinsights@blindabilities.com, leave us some feedback, or suggest some topics that we cover, you can also follow us on twitter at Job Insights VIP. So while we're here I want to take this opportunity to ask you a couple questions about transition and employment and some words of advice. Dan there's a topic that you brought up and it's about people not knowing what they can't do, something of that nature, can you explain what you meant when you said that? Dan: Yeah it's so, it's so true in human, you know our existence, and so often I mean, none of us know what we can't do, we all know what we think we can't do, but until you put it out there and actually try it, actually go for it, we really don't know what their limits are. And so often what we're pushing up against as blind individuals just happen to have it highlighted more than others, but this is universal, we're pushing up against our perceived limitations. That's something that all of us can challenge, that's why this message can be universal, you know beyond blindness, beyond disability. We catch a lot of attention because we're a cyclist who was blind, or a runner who is blind has done X Y Z, and I hear the comments all the time from folks that say yeah, I can't believe you run a marathon, I can't believe you did an Ironman, I could never do that, and that label right there, it's like, you know no, you probably could do it, you just, it would need a lot of work and and you know we tend to limit ourselves quite a bit right there. And it's so freeing to have those limitations removed, just that idea that you know we really can do whatever we want to do, it's just where we're going to focus and whatever we're going to put into it, so attitude, effort, and discipline is really what it all comes down to. Jeff: Dan, you mentioned at around age 30 you went through some vision loss and that you said you weren't even much of an athlete, now I don't know what not much of an athlete at the level that you're at right now means, but could you explain that? Dan: Yeah definitely, you know I started losing my sight when I was 7, and it was a slow progression all the way up through my 20's and by 30 I was pretty much legally blind you know early thirties. I was an amateur athlete, I was the type who would run two to three times a week 2 to 3 miles a time, I jogged for 20 minutes on the treadmill, I go to the gym once or twice a week and lift weights up until I was about 39 years old and then I had moved from New York City to Colorado, given up a lot the public transportation, was feeling pretty down, I mean I was, I was really low for a while, my whole family had moved out here with me, for me to start my own company out here. I realized at some point that I needed to take on something to kind of turn my mental state around and that's when I just started, I started running, I started just running around my neighborhood you know three miles at a time. Soon realized I needed to find a goal and so signed up for a half marathon and took it from there, so I've been running now, I did my first half marathon, well it'll be seven years ago, let's see I'll be eight years ago in September, so I've really started what I would consider converting myself into an average middle-aged dad about eight years ago into what I would define myself more as an athlete now, and it was completely done just by saying, I was going to do it. I joke with everybody, I definitely don't have the genetic gifts for running or pretty much any endurance sport, but I have the willpower to do it, and you know will trumps skills almost any day. Jeff: Mm-hmm, now you also climbed Kilimanjaro, I mean is it just because it was there, or did you go down to your local gym and just start wall climbing and want another challenge, how did that come about? Dan: Well you know it's because it's there. [Laughter] Jeff: Well there you go. Dan: Just kidding it's, yeah that's it, no it was just a challenge, you know was something that you know I love mountains I moved to Colorado like I said about ten years ago now and after being out here, I love being in the altitude, I love being in the mountains. You know for me what a lot of this comes down to is this idea of setting a goal and going out there and focusing on it and seeing if we can achieve it. Part of the excitement is you know is one of my good friends has a quote that he often says "if something excites and intimidates you it's worth doing" Jeff: Mm-hmm, that's a good one. Dan: And that's what RAM is to me, that's what I think RAM is to all of us on the team. None of us are sure we can do it, but we're all excited by it. Jack: And I think it's a really important point Jeff to drive home is, a lot of people count themselves out before they even get started right, I mean they ask the question can I, but they don't say I can, and so I think that for all of us, I think I would say, where our blindness started, our lives really began, and what I mean by that is, it's easy for folks and this is not just cyclists of course, but for anybody to have something significant happen to them, and in their lives, or to be treated in a particular way, our fifth grade teacher told me very specifically that, you know you don't have to work so hard, government's gonna take care of you, don't stress out, don't, don't work so hard in school, because that was a kid who I really wanted to do well when I was younger, and I struggled, and so the mentality sometimes sets in that, well I do have certain limitations and I should really count the costs, and, and for me I've come to the point now where I say, well rather than thinking first about whether I can do something I say, how can I do it, you know, so it's not can I, but how can I? And that extra word adds an incredible amount of power and success in one's life, and that's kind of one of the things that we want to communicate. Jeff: Well put, very well put Jack. Tina, being that you lost your eyesight early on, how did you overcome the obstacles that you faced? Tina: Well to some extent, with a lot of help, a lot of support from family. I grew up in the days when my parents fought to get my sister and me into public school and we sort of fought for every you know, between them and, and, and us individually, we fought for every little thing, and on the be careful what you wish for side, you know there were, there was a lot of bullying, you know back then teachers didn't care if kids picked on us, there was no stigma attached to bullying or any of that, so a lot of it was between that and being military kids who had to move all the time, you just had to learn how to jump in and swim, like essentially. I think having sports and activities was a way to belong and I can remember when I was a, in fourth grade and I had a little bit more vision than I do now being forced into gym class, and the day that we were doing soccer drills and I actually saved a goal and the class cheered for me was you know one of the greatest days of my life. I mean who remembers a silly a PE class in fourth grade, but I do because it was sports was a way do you belong with my sighted peers and I think it's so important for anybody with a disability or, to have the chance to fit in because it's, it's such a big part of growing up in the states and you know, sports, music all these kind of activities that kids do, my parents and my sister and I both, we had to push ourselves to get off the sidelines and be able to do something to belong. So I think you know, doing sports through, for me I'm a very competitive person, so like Jack, I always wanted to do well in school and was sort of you know very self motivated to do well, but it was hard and you did have to deal with low expectations, because a lot of teachers and and people didn't expect much of you, and you know you had to find it within yourself to decide, hey I'm gonna go for what I think is important because, you know nobody's going to tell me. Jeff: Tina what advice would you have for someone who is transitioning from high school to college to the workplace, and has their job sights on employment? Tina: Be your own best advocate. I think that the hard thing about leaving high school is, and then about leaving the education environment going into the work environment, is that the older you get the less built-in support systems you're gonna have, so my advice would be to learn early on how to advocate for yourself and how to dispel people's assumptions about you. When I started at my law firm out of law school there had been another blind attorney who worked there before me and he had left to go and teach and I started maybe six months after he did, and I got put in the same office as he had been, and I remember one of the partners coming in and saying, don't let this firm decide that you are Max, you're not Max, you're you, and not that Max wasn't a great guy and had a lot of you know great talents, and, and nothing against him, but you have to overcome people's assumptions that either, they know what's best for you, or whatever some other blind person did is what you do. So I would say learn how to self-advocate and learn how to recognize people's assumptions for what they are because sometimes you won't necessarily see them unless you're on the lookout for it. Jeff: That's a great point, how about you Jack? Jack: One of the things that's absolutely key is to find people who have done this thing, whatever it is that you're doing before you, if that's possible. And one of the great things that I've also been involved with is creating a network of people who have incredible talents who have disabilities. It's called Lime Connect and its motto is to "rebrand disability through achievement" and one of the the great things about this organization is there are ten thousand, ten thousand plus other people out there who have disabilities who are doing what you're doing, and who can act as a resource, and you know when you go to your first job interview and they ask you a question that you don't know how to answer, like for example they come to you and say, hey, well how are you going to draw this drawing? Well you go back to your network and you say, hey guys, anyone else face this issue, how did you deal with it? And just being empowered by having this as a resource is incredible, incredibly valuable I think. I know I didn't have that when I was growing up but, sounds like Tina didn't have that when she was growing up, but now there are resources available just, you know, quote unquote click of a mouse. You can find people who are similarly situated with you or people who've gone before you so, finding those individuals who know what you're going through and can help give you some advice and some support along the way, that our resources are out there, so go find it. Jeff: Dan, I know these are two tough people to follow, but you want to give it a shot? Dan: Tell me about it. [Laughter] Yeah sure I mean, I have a little bit different perspective too because I lost my vision a little later in life so I was into my career and working hard at it. I hid it for years you know kind of that fake it to you make it mentality, and then I had an epiphany at one point, I had this whole change in attitude that was so great for me, and the advice I would give to someone is to be yourself you know just be comfortable in your own skin, you know at the end of the day, you are who you are and nobody can change that. The second thing is, with that in mind, don't be afraid to ask for help. You know if you need some help, if you need to tap into your resources, if you need to ask somebody, hey can you tell me where this is, don't be afraid to ask. The third thing is, use the limitation as your advantage, you know, one of the things that whether we like it or not, and it's just what Tina was alluding to here is, the standards are set lower for people with disabilities. So not that, we have we do not have to live up to these standards, but that's our benchmark now. So it gives us the opportunity to achieve above and beyond these standards, so look at this as an opportunity. Opportunity that the shackles are off, my expectations are low on what I'm going to do, so I'm just going to blow it out of the water. Because my my downsides of being wrong is quite minimal, so take advantage of that, you know just go for it! Tina: I would sort of add to that I, I think the one thing that sometimes you know I let for me or discourage me as, you know as I said before people are always making assumptions about you and the first thing they're going to make an assumption based on, is that you're blind or differently-abled, and so much of the time I mean, you don't know how many times I get on to public transit and somebody says, do you know what stop you're going to? As though I would get my fare card, dress up and work clothes, and get on the train having no idea what stop I wanted to go to, [Laughter] So it's it's sort of like half the world assumes that you're feeble-minded, and then a quarter of the world assumes that you're some sort of superhuman like you must have Steve Austin bionic man hearing and of you know computer chip implant for a memory because you actually get up and function in the world, so a lot of the time I just have to remind myself not to let either of those assumptions you know, or people say like, oh well you're just so much more doggin and determined because you do your sports, it's like well no, I'm not a Superman, I'm not a bionic woman, I don't have a Harry Potter time turner so I can do twice as much training as anybody, I'm just a person who doesn't see, and so when you strip away a lot of the assumptions, you have to remind yourself, like I'm not as great as some of them think and I am not as feeble-minded as some of them think I am. But you have to I think really look to your own self to try to decide where your self-worth comes from because assumptions that a lot of people make about you are so bogus and so out of hand that if you listen to them you'll drive yourself crazy. Dan: To put that into you know perspective too, in our modern capitalistic business world here too, I would love nothing better than all my competition to underestimate what we as a company are capable of doing, and then you get out there and you just outperform it. It's one of the classic mistakes that people make you know in life and in business, and it's one of those things where we again can turn the disability, we could turn the perceptions others have of us into a positive. Jeff: That's great, turn it into a positive! [Music] Such a great opportunity to talk to Jack, Dan, and Tina, team Sea to Sea in the Race Across America this summer. That's Ram, Race Across America, we'll be covering it, stay tuned, and such a great thing that they shared such great advice, such transferable advice, it's not just for school, not for employment, but life itself that they shared with us today. Thanks for listening to this episode of Job Insights Extra and be sure to check Job Insights on the Blind Abilities Network. We hope you enjoyed, and until next time, bye bye. [Music] [Multiple voices] When we share what we see through each other's eyes, we can then begin to bridge the gap between the limited expectations and the realities of blind abilities. Jeff: For more podcasts with the blindness perspective check us out on the web at www.blindabilities.com, on Twitter at Blind Abilities, download our app from the app store, Blind Abilities, that is two words, or send us an email at info@blindabilities.com. Thanks for listening!

Job Insights Episode 2 - Vocational Rehab 101: Demystifying the Myths and Planning For Employment Welcome to the second episode of  Job Insights with Serina Gilbert and Jef Thompson. We focus on Employment, Careers, enhancing opportunities and bringing you  the latest innovations from across the Vocational  Rehabilitation field to ensure your choices lead you down the career pathway that you want and succeed in gainful employment. From getting started with services, to assessments, Individual Plan for Employment (IPE) to gaining the skills to succeed and tools for success, Job Insights will be giving you tips and tricks to help your journey to employment and break down the barriers along the way. In Episode 2 of Job Insights Serina and Jeff break down Vocational Rehab services from eligibility, intake, personal adjustment training, training centers, and your responsibilities as well. Navigating the services may seem daunting at first but with a little bit of information and explanation you will soon fine your pathway to gainful and meaningful employment does not have to be a solo journey. Your Voc-Rehab team wants you to succeed and is their for you all the way.   Full Transcript Below   We hope you enjoy this Job Insights episode and you can send your feedback and suggestions to the Job Insights team by email at JobInsights@BlindAbilities.com Follow the Job Insights team on twitter @JobInsightsVIP Job Insights is part of the Blind Abilities network. A big Thank You goes out to CheeChau for his beautiful music!   Thank you for listening. You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store.   Transcription:   Job Insights Episode 2 - Vocational Rehab 101: Demystifying the Myths and Planning For Employment   Serina: I know sometimes that a lot of individuals can be a little bit overwhelmed by applying for services with vocational rehabilitation and we'd like to hopefully demystify some of the myths and help you learn a little bit more about the process. Jeff: Job Insights, a podcast to help you carve out your career pathway and enhance the opportunities for gainful employment. Serina: Helping you with independent living skills, helping you get around town, helping you with cooking, money management, all those things that you need in order to be successful on a job. Jeff: Learn about resources for training, education, and employment opportunities, to see what best suits you to see if you're prepared to move on to the next step. Serina: Correct. Jeff: Thus it's an assessment. Serina: Correct, it helps the counselor out and it helps you out too. Jeff: We will hear from people seeking careers, employment from professionals in the educational field, teachers and innovators in this ever-changing world of technology to help you navigate the employment world and give you Job Insights, and enhance the opportunities to choose the career you want. Serina: We would hate to see you move forward with an employment goal that you thought you would absolutely love, only to find out maybe three months into the job that you obtain, that you really don't like it so much, so it helps us save a little bit of time and prepare you for realistic expectations on the job. Jeff: You can find the Job Insights podcast on BlindAbilities.com, part of the Blind Abilities Network, with host, Serina Gilbert and myself, Jeff Thompson. And you can contact us by email at jobinsights@blindabilities.com, leave us some feedback, or suggest some topics that we cover, you can also follow us on Twitter at Job Insights VIP, and check out the job inside support group on Facebook where you can learn, share, advise, and interact with the Job Insights community. [Music] Serina: Sometimes it might be getting more evaluations done with an orientation and mobility specialist, or a vision rehabilitation therapist to see what kind of personal adjustment training you might need. Jeff: And now please welcome Serina Gilbert and Jeff Thompson with Job Insights. Serina: Hi Jeff how are you? Jeff: I'm doing good how are you Serina? Serina: I'm doing great, how was your week? Jeff: It was good, it was good, the sun has come, spring is finally here. Serina: I don't know, I think you might get some more snow. It's not May yet. Jeff: We're just so glad to have it, I already got the patio furniture out, so I'm excited, I'm excited. Serina: You gonna be barbecuing for me? Jeff: We did that yesterday. Serina: Nice! Jeff: And I didn't even let you know did I? Serina: No you didn't even invite me, even though I'm, I don't even know how many miles away from you. [Laughter] Jeff: I'll waft the barbecue smell west. Serina: Send it over with an Amazon drone you know. Jeff: There we go. I wonder what that sound will be? Serina: They'll probably have like a special Amazon Prime sound for us all. Jeff: Oh yeah so it's recognizable. Serina: Everyone's jealous because we got something from Amazon. Jeff: The dogs will whine just a little bit, it is exciting though when a package comes. Serina: So I heard that we got a ton of positive feedback on our very first introductory episode to Job Insights? Jeff: Yes we did, it did not come by drone, but we got so much positive feedback, it's really exciting. Serina: I think that's great. I know today we were talking about vocational rehabilitation 101, and we'll chat a little bit about the process, what to expect. I know sometimes that a lot of individuals can be a little bit overwhelmed by applying for services with vocational rehabilitation and we'd like to hopefully demystify some of the myths and help you learn a little bit more about the process. And I know, as I talked about on the previous podcast, I was also a client of vocational rehabilitation and I believe you were as well right Jeff? Jeff: Yes I did, but unlike yourself Serina, my ophthalmologist did not send me there, so getting started with State Services was interesting. Serina: At least you got connected, that's that's the biggest part. Jeff: Mm-hmm. Serina why don't we start out by telling the listeners a little bit about what it takes to qualify for services, and if it's a federal or state standard that they go by. Serina: So it's a federal mandate, the eligibility requirements for vocational rehabilitation systems, in general, you have to have a documentable disability that poses some sort of barrier towards you entering into employment, keeping employment, or advancing in the current position that you have. You also have to be able to basically benefit from the services and that's a presumption that most agencies make. Jeff: A presumption? Serina: A presumption of eligibility. Jeff: Hmm? Serina: Another eligibility criteria that helps is, I believe if you receive SSI or SSDI then you are automatically eligible for vocational rehabilitation services. Jeff: So that's usually a process when you go there for services then you probably have to get it to go to a doctor so it's documented. Serina: Well, you can go to a doctor, but if you do not have documentation of your disability, vocational rehabilitation can actually either send out for the records, or send you for evaluations in order to obtain that documentation. Jeff: And that's just one of the steps of the intake process. Serina: So that first step is your intake appointment, which your counselor will go over a ton of different paperwork with you, you'll sign some releases of information for them to be able to talk to necessary individuals that might be working with you on the case, or to obtain medical records, or again refer you for those necessary evaluations, and from that time frame of the first date that you officially apply for services your counselor has up to 60 days to determine you are eligible for services. It can take that long depending on the counselors caseload, but sometimes it's faster, it just depends on the documentation that you already have, and what that counselors caseload looks like. Jeff: Is that the same for when agency is on order of a selection? Serina: Correct, they still have the same 60 days eligibility determination requirements, even if they do have a waitlist or order of selection. Jeff: So if they determine on the intake that you're in, then what's the next step? Serina: The next step is what's called the comprehensive assessment. What happens in this stage is you and your counselor are working together to identify a reasonable and suitable employment goal and also identify the necessary services that might be provided to you in order to help you achieve that employment goal. Sometimes this process could include you trying out work, doing what's called a situational assessment, and that would involve you going to a worksite and trying out the job to see if you like it, see that the duties are something that work well with your personality, in your disability, and also to help you with networking. Sometimes it might be getting more evaluations done with an orientation and mobility specialist, or a vision rehabilitation therapist to see what kind of personal adjustment training you might need. Jeff: Serina, personal adjustment training, can you break that down for our listeners? Serina: Definitely, personal adjustment training might include helping you with independent living skills, helping you get around town, helping you with cooking, money management, all those things that you need in order to be successful on a job. Jeff: And typically you could be sent to a blindness training center or a vendor of the agency? Serina: It depends on this state, some agencies do use the blindness centers, some do have in-house service providers that work specifically for DVR, or third-party vendors like you mentioned, and then I'm not sure about other states, but here in Colorado we do actually have a center based program that the vocational rehabilitation program staffs as well. Jeff: And in Minnesota were fortunate to have three adjustment to blindness training centers, Vision Loss Resource in Minneapolis, Blind Incorporated in Minneapolis, and in Duluth we have the Lighthouse for the Blind, plus State Services for the Blind, and various vendors that will provide specialized services as well. You mentioned doing a situational type of thing where you go to an employer and they do an evaluation, would that be set up with your employment specialist to see if this is an interest of theirs or to see if they like it? Serina: It can be set up through an employment specialist if the state that you work in is structured in that manner, sometimes it's your vocational rehabilitation counselor that's setting it up, and sometimes it can even be a third party vendor that you're working with that is providing that assessment service for us. Jeff: And this is all in an attempt to see what best suits you to see if you're prepared to move on to the next step. Serina: Correct. Jeff: Thus it's an assessment. Serina: Correct, it helps the counselor out and it helps you out too because we would hate to see you move forward with an employment goal that you thought you would absolutely love, only to find out maybe three months into the job that you obtained that you really don't like it so much, so it helps us save a little bit of time and prepare you for realistic expectations on the job. Jeff: So if you do need some soft skills, if you do need some technology skills, and it's determined that you should go to a blindness training center of some sorts, that might set you back six to nine months or whatever it takes right? Serina: That's correct, the blindness training centers are not super short programs, I think the shortest program that they have is the summer youth program for those that are still in either high school or college perhaps, and I believe that's even eight weeks. Jeff: And that's basically like a step program to bridge you into college preparedness? Serina: Correct. Jeff: And if you're planning on going just straight into the workforce then a training center might give you the skills that are needed to help gain employment. Serina: Correct, they work on every skill that you can possibly think of from independent transportation, orientation and mobility, independent living, I do believe they do some self-advocacy training, as well as working on basic social skills because you are living on campus with lots of other people and there's gonna be times when you disagree and you're gonna have to use those conflict resolution skills which will help you for sure once you start working. Jeff: I know we talked about transition aged students quite a bit, but there's also other people adults that have vision loss and they want to get their employment back and so these training centers do adult programs as well. Serina: And it can be quite helpful because I know last time we talked a little bit about an individual maybe who's coming in that has lost sight a little bit later in life but still really wants to work, that's a hard transition coming from having a driver's license and being able to independently transport yourself and work on a computer, to all of a sudden not having those skills anymore and abilities, and those centers and also other field based programs through vocational rehabilitation can certainly help with that transition, and also help you connect with different support groups and things like that so that you can start networking with individuals who've maybe been there as well. Jeff: However, before you move on to this step you must set up an individual plan or employment. Serina: That is correct, and all of the individualized plans for employment can only have services on it that the counselor and you agree are necessary and appropriate, and then they are always purchased at the least possible cost. So there might be times when there's certain products that you really really would like, but the counselor has to follow certain policies and purchase things at the lowest possible cost that is still appropriate for what you need the items for. Jeff: But typically the items will get you to your destination? Serina: Exactly, like as an example, there's lots of different types of computers now, we have our personal computers that maybe would run a screen reader or screen magnification software, and we have our Mac books that also have that same type of software built into it. Typically vocational rehabilitation is going to look at purchasing personal computers more so because we're looking down the road at employment and most employers still use personal computers, so it makes the most sense to get you used to using that type of a technology if you're going to be working in an office environment down the road. Jeff: And when you're saying personal computers, you're talking about Microsoft based platform. Serina: Correct, like a Windows computer. Jeff: Mm-hmm, Serina, can you tell us how flexible and IPE, individual plan for employment is? Serina: Yes, it's a plan, yes it's written on paper, but that doesn't mean that it can't be changed. So it's really important to communicate with your counselor if you feel that something's not going the way that you want it to go, or that you want to try something different, because that plan can definitely be amended, it's actually quite rare that we have the exact same plan from start to finish. Jeff: Okay someone goes through the process and they get their training, making progress, and you're checking the list and moving forward and now they're going to college and they are succeeding, according to the plan, and it comes time to where they start thinking about the job and job resumes, and job interviews, and all that, is there any services for that type of area? Serina: Definitely, it can be considered part of vocational counseling and guidance, which is on every single plan for employment across the country, I don't think there's any plans that don't have that, but it's also part of what we call job seeking skills training, which would be, you either working with your counselor, or perhaps a third party vendor to develop that resume, develop a general cover letter, and also start doing mock interviews, and begin talking about how do you want to handle the interview, how do you want to disclose your disability, if you want to do that at all, and how do you advocate for yourself during that interview. For example if you need an accommodation for testing and things like that as part of the interviewing process. Jeff: Now when it comes to disclosure, there's so many debates about it, and there I don't think there is any one answer, one fits all for this topic. Serina: Correct and I know we're probably gonna talk about that, maybe that'll be our next episode, because that's a hot topic of how do I disclose my disability, and what when and where, am I going to get discriminated against, things like that, I know people are very fearful of that, that definitely will warrant a full episode. Jeff: And that's a big one, so is writing your resume, because a resume is a work in progress, because if you're looking at one job, looking at a next job, it has to form to the job, the keywords and everything, so it's a good skill to have and a good thing to have a template to be able to adjust it for the job you're seeking. Serina: Exactly, we call it tailoring your resume because if you're not putting in specific keywords, a human's not even going to see your resume because there's so many electronic ways that they use, optical character recognition, and scanning the resume that you've submitted either online or even email, where they just scan to see specific keywords and skills and if it doesn't meet that, then it automatically gets denied. Jeff: Optical character recognition, it was such a gift and now it's working against us. Serina: Yep, sound familiar though right? Jeff: Mm-hmm, Serina with all your experiences, what tips would you have for someone who's receiving services and working with the counselor? Serina: So during the vocational rehabilitation process it's really important that you stay in close contact with your vocational rehabilitation counselor. There will be a lot of times when they're going to be asking for tons of paperwork that you might find cumbersome or even redundant. I promise you they wouldn't be asking you for it if they didn't need it because we get a lot of paperwork, if we didn't need it, we wouldn't be asking for it for you. So especially if you're on/in a plan for employment that includes training, every semester we're going to be looking at what grades did you get, what classes are you registering for next semester, do you need any books, did you apply for your federal financial aid? All of those things are things that are required before we can say yes we will pay for your tuition this semester at the school. If your counselor sends you an email asking for something, the quicker you reply the quicker things can move, and just know that sometimes things can't move overnight, if you call us and for specific piece of technology, we might not be able to get that for you immediately, especially if it's not included on your plan for employment, there might be some paperwork things that have to be done and ordering processes and things like that. So we ask that you're a little bit patient with us, but also the more you communicate with us, the better service provisions you will have. Jeff:And staying ahead of the game is the whole thing. Serina: Exactly. Jeff: Yeah, being on the State Rehab Council I get a lot of documents about this it's agencies and I see that one of the highest percentage of closures is because of lack of communications by the client back to the agency. Serina: That's probably actually pretty accurate because especially with my caseload I work with a lot of young adults, so they're still learning how to keep in touch so I do give them quite a few chances but it never fails that as soon as I close a case because I haven't heard from them despite multiple attempts on my end, about two weeks later is when they call me back and say, well I didn't know that you were gonna close my case. And obviously yes you can go back through the process and we can open it again but it's much more efficient even if you just send me a text message saying, everything's all right, I'm still out here, and that'll keep things going for you, but we have to remain efficient and show that the people that were working with are making progress in order to meet our goals and outcomes. Jeff: Serina, this is a lot of great information for someone who is going through vision loss, what advice would you have for someone who is seeking services from their division of vocational rehab or their State Services for the Blind? Serina: If you are a transitioning student and you're at least 15 years old and you are definitely starting to think about employment and what's next and actually some states that's as little as 14, but most states is about 15 or 16, but if you're starting to think about employment, I would say do not hesitate to contact your local vocational rehabilitation, talk to them about services, even if you call and you meet with them and it's not quite the right time, you are at least ahead of the game and knowing what to expect when you do decide that it's the right time for you. If you're an individual that's lost sight a little bit later in life or maybe have never heard of vocational rehabilitation and you're struggling with some vision difficulties, pick up the phone and give them a call, especially if you're looking into employment. All of our services at vocational rehabilitation are for sure geared towards employment now, so any services that we provide do you have to be tied to an employment goal with an eventual goal of being employed in the long-term. Jeff: You know Serina when I first lost my eyesight, I was skeptical you know, I was like worried about what's gonna happen and I didn't know, I didn't know where the blind were, I didn't know anything and I kind of felt like State Services, the agency was kind of a safety net, so I was gonna go out there and forge my own path and if I failed I would head towards the agency and get services, but now today, the more I know about it, it seems like it's a vehicle towards a future, and I've said this many times, but it is, it's it's, it's a resource, it's a place to go to learn about the pathways that you can take towards employment. Serina: And I'm curious what was your experience on the client side? I know you're on the state rehab Council and things like that, but do you remember being your very first experience when you first applied for services? Jeff: You know this is a great question for me because my experience was quite unique I think because when I first lost my eyesight I sold my pickup truck and I bought a brand new computer, I bought jaws and I started doing things the way I thought was best, I did things my own way. I did not understand that State Services for the Blind with an IPE, an individual plan for employment would have set up something of the nature to provide me the tools for me to succeed according to the plan and my goals, and once I understood that there were services as such, I then meticulously figured out what I would have to do for myself, and what they could do for me, and together we could reach the goals that we both set up. So I think part of the demystification of this is, they won't buy you everything, it's not a toy store, but they will assist you in succeeding, and those services do range from, you know, picking the right college that best suits your field, the technology that you'll need to succeed in college or in the workplace, there's so many services that are available there, you just have to make that call, like you said Serina, make that call and find out what they can do for you, and what you have to do as well. Serina: Well and that, someway just popped a thought into my head, I know that some individuals, most you know, most likely receive SSI or SSDI, some sort of Social Security benefits and it can be a little nerve-racking wondering, what if I start work and then it doesn't work out, how are my benefits impacted, there's lots of different rules related to social security and work. So I'm thinking that might be a really good idea for another future topic as well. Jeff: Absolutely, and when a person is going through vision loss it doesn't mean that they're totally educated on all the intricacies that are involved from your State Services, from your DVR, from the government, from Social Security, all these things have to be learned and dealt with and that's why talking with your counselor to learn, to educate yourself, so you can better be prepared for the opportunities that are ahead of you, and I think calling your State Services is one of the best things that a person can do, and that's why they call it a informed choice. Serina: Exactly, so many topics Jeff, we're never gonna end. [Laughter] Jeff: Hmm, that's job security huh? Serina: For sure, how insightful. [Laughter] Jeff: Speaking of something that never ends, I thought winter was the same way around here, but we got grass out back now and the trees are starting to bud, I could feel that a little apple trees with the little buds on them. Serina: That's awesome, you'll start sneezing pretty soon here. Jeff: Mm-hmm, I'm just glad I planted apple trees because I don't think they make PC trees. Serina: Ba dump bum[Imitating comedic snare drum] [trumoet sound effect] Well that concludes today's podcast, but next week we will be tackling that tough topic of disability disclosure, and the job interview. If you have questions you can email us at: Jeff: JobInsights@BlindAbilities.com. Serina: Or follow us on twitter: Jeff: at Job Insights VIP. Thank you CheeChau for your beautiful music, that's @LCheeChau on Twitter. [Music] We really hope you enjoyed this podcast, thanks for listening, and until next time bye-bye. [Music] [Multiple voices] When we share what we see through each other's eyes, we can then begin to bridge the gap between the limited expectations and realities of blind abilities. Jeff: For more podcasts with the blindness perspective check us out on the web at www.blindabilities.com, on Twitter at Blind Abilities, download our app from the app store, Blind Abilities, that is two words, or send us an email at info@blindabilities.com. Thanks for listening!