Podcast appearances and mentions of jim barbour

Show Description On this episode of the iACast recorded in September of 2022, Michael Doise, Michael Babcock, Taylor Arndt, Leslie Dickson, and Jim Barbour discuss the latest tech news, and compare the OrCam devices to the Envision Glasses. Links OrCam Envision Providing Feedback We love hearing from you, so feel free to send an email to feedback@iaccessibility.net. You can follow us on Facebook, and Twitter. You can also find us on Reddit, and all around the web. Also, don't forget to check out our YouTube page, and for all things iACast, check out our iACast page. If you'd like to help support us, you can do so via our PayPal and Patreon pages.

Show Description Over the past 25 episodes, we have shared some of our personal stories while bringing you information about safety on a variety of subjects. On this episode, Leslie, George, and Meaghan invited Chad Bouton and Jim Barbour to the show to tell some stories of their own about their experiences while traveling and going about their daily lives. Resources ADA Basics for Emergency Management I Have a Service Animal, What Kind of Screening Should I Expect? Providing Feedback We want to hear from you, so please send an email to feedback@handsonsafety.net. You can follow us on Facebook and Twitter. . You can also find us on the web, for resources and other safety related topics.

Documented Original Tuskegee Airman, Jim Barbour, has lived a remarkable life. A large part of it has been cars. The 93-year old recalls some of his favorite cars, driving stories, and what he experienced as a young man in the US Army Air Corp and the segregated South. He also looks ahead. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Show Summary: (Full Transcript Below) Jim Barbour is a dynamic guest who has a wonderful story to share with the Blind Abilities audience. Jim speaks of his blindness, his education and employment, his deeply felt views around independence and his belief in developing and maintaining strong blindness skills. Jim takes us through his high school and college years, where he became involved with the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), to which he accredits his independent mindset, and his almost fearless approach towards life and its challenges. Jim shares his experience seeking new jobs and  divulging his blindness to prospective employers.   Jim has put his computer programming talents to worked with various tech companies including Qualcomm, google and Yahoo, recently completing an oversees assignment in Ireland.   He is an Aira user and describes how the service can work as a Reasonable Accommodation in the workplace, as well as helping him acclimate to a new country oversees.   Finally, listen as Jim shares his advice for blind students who are aspiring towards college and/or employment. Join Jeff Thompson and Pete Lane as they engage in a fascinating conversation with this tremendous guest, as only Blind Abilities can!   You can find Jim on Facebook, and reach out to him via email. 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: A Conversation With Jim Barbour - Fiercely and Fearlessly Independent, and Well-Spoken Advocate Jeff Thompson: Welcome to Blind Abilities, I'm Jeff Thompson. Pete Lane: And I'm Pete Lane. Our guest this morning is Jim Barbour. We'll be talking with Jim today about a variety of topics ranging from his visual condition, his education, his transition to college and the workplace, and his views on blindness and independence. Jim Barbour: When I was high school, my dad an Apple III computer, and I was able to use it and get it to do what I wanted it to do. I decided that computers would probably be a fun way for me to make a living. In 1988, I took time off to be one of the first students of the Colorado Center for the Blind, which actually did an awful lot to kind of strengthen and tighten my own confidence in my belief in myself. I have had several jobs, including working for a company called Qualcomm, and I worked for Google for several years, and I worked for a couple years in a company call Yahoo. The transition was mostly just me needing to learn a lot about how to advocate for myself and manage my own resources a lot better. Jim Barbour: People need to learn to do this, and it's better to learn to do it early because when you go off and get a job somewhere, there aren't people waiting around to kind of take care of this stuff for you. The question that comes up a lot around looking for jobs is, when do you disclose about your blindness? The one thing that also happened there was that no one asked me anything about my blindness, and that really seemed like a bit of a red flag to me. Jim Barbour: I really kind of felt like, if they don't know anything about my blindness, it's gonna be really easy for them to just decide that it isn't work the risk. They understand the problem, but it's just such a hard problem to fight. The inertia will take you in inaccessible directions unless you fight it really hard. Don't let yourself go down this inaccessible road because you'll make it really hard to hire blind people in the future. Jim Barbour: I think that Ira's absolutely gonna be an invaluable tool for people in the workforce, and in fact, Aira knows that. Aira helped me quite a bit to get accommodated. I also took a couple weeks off and went traveling around Europe. Again, Aira was just very helpful in allowing to very quickly orient myself to a neighborhood. Aira is much more efficient at that than what I used to do, which is to just ask people for directions. Jim Barbour: The biggest advice I can give them is that a nobody's gonna look out for you but you. You need to decide that it is up to you to get the things that you need in this world. I think I am adventurous I enjoy that. I'm a very happy, very lucky blind person. Pete Lane: And now let's meet our guest, Jim Barbour. Pete Lane: Good morning, Jim, welcome to Blind Abilities. Jim Barbour: Good morning, Pete. Good morning, Jeff. Thank you for having me. Jeff Thompson: Good morning, Jim. Pete Lane: Our pleasure. Jim why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself and your visual condition? Jim Barbour: I was born with an underdeveloped optic nerve. I found out as a grown up that they called it optic nerve hypoplasia. I never spent a lot of time trying to figure out about a cure or anything like that. It was a condition I had. It left me with partial vision in both eyes. When I was growing up in the '70s, they actually did not teach me Braille. They got me how to read large prints and how to use a closed circuit TV even though they were sort of very fatiguing and very challenging for me. But that's how I did a lot of my schoolwork. When I got into high school, I started learning how to use readers, so that's kind of a little bit about my visual condition, and a little bit about what it's done for me. Jim Barbour: I graduated from high school in the early '80s, and went to the University of Colorado at Boulder where Marci Carpenter and a gentleman named Homer Page ran the Disability Student Services Office. They were actually very strong NFB folks who insisted that blind people manage their own readers, and in my case since I was in computer science, they actually insisted that I find my own readers because I needed to find people who could read the advanced math and the computer science that I needed. I would go and look for them and hire them, and on occasion fire them because either they weren't doing what I needed in a timely manner, or they actually didn't know how to read the material, or they wouldn't follow my instructions in reading the material. Jim Barbour: I was in college for actually a very long time. I did not follow the four year in and out program. I was struggling a bit to finish some classes, and had to take a few classes over again. In the middle of all that, in 1988, I took time off to go be one of the first students for the Colorado Center for the Blind's, which actually did an awful lot to kind of strengthen and tighten my own confidence in my belief in myself and my NFB philosophy. Jim Barbour: I did that for seven months. I left there and went back to school. Still didn't finish, but did a much better job of taking classes and stuff. Then a couple years later, I left there and started my career as an IT, Unix IT person, and I have had several jobs since then including working for a company called Qualcomm twice, and I worked for Google for several years in the middle. I worked for a couple years at a company called Yahoo!, which most of you probably heard of as well. Pete Lane: Jim, you studied computer science with a heavy emphasis on math courses. What drew you to computer science? Jim Barbour: When I was in high school my dad had an Apple III computer, and I was able to use it by putting the monitor really close to my face, and then later by using the original OutSPOKEN program for the Mac, but it was just a way that I got to play with a cool toy, and get it to do what I wanted it to do. It was certainly a lot of fun for me as a high school kid. I decided that computers would probably be a fun way for me to make a living. Jim Barbour: Later on in high school, I was part of a summer work program for blind people, and I got a job learning how to do basic Unix computer stuff at the University, again using large print, and having the monitor really close to my face. Nobody really understood about screen-reading technology for Unix systems at that time. I got to learn to do a lot of that. It was a lot of fun, and I had a lot of people around me who weren't really sure how I would do things as a blind person, but we kind of figured it out together. Jim Barbour: Later when I started going to NFB conventions, my first NFB convention was my senior year of high school. When I started going there, I met a bunch of other blind people who were into computer science, and who showed me a bunch of different technologies for accessing computers. I kind of got solidified on the idea that this was actually something I could do, and had spent a lot of time in college both doing work and coursework to kind of build up my skills, and decide this was a job I really enjoyed, and would do well at. Jeff Thompson: Jim, what was some of your first technology that you used? I know you used the early Mac, but once you decided to give up on the large print, what did you migrate into? Jim Barbour: I actually never did give up on large print. I still use large print for some things, but I also use Artic's Business Vision and progressed on to different screen readers, of course, eventually landing with JAWS, and then later, of course, when the iPhone came out, I used that with VoiceOver. Jim Barbour: What I have sort of decided to do is a lot of the work I do is just work I do in a terminal, in a command prompt, and so for work like that using large print works just fine for me. When I need to go visit busy complicated websites with different font sizes and where there's a lot of reading involved, then I will use a screen reader of one kind or another. Jim Barbour: One thing I actually never got particularly good at was using magnification technology, like zoom and so on. What I generally did is if I could tell the program to give me a bigger font size, I would do it because I found that to be a much better experience, and if not then I switched primarily to using a screen reader. Jeff Thompson: When you transitioned from high school and decided to go to college, how did you prepare for that? Jim Barbour: I didn't. College was a huge wake up call for me. High school had been a relatively easy time in my life where I had materials prepared for me, where things were either recorded for me or made readable for me in large print, and I didn't have to worry about a lot of that stuff. Then I moved onto college, whereas I said the Disabled Students Office had pretty high expectations of their blind students. They insisted that I get readers to do recording. Back then, of course, it was all recording onto cassettes, and also get readers to take diagrams and other things that needed to be made readable by me and draw them out, either using large pieces of paper, or often I'd sit with them, and they would draw them on a whiteboard. Jim Barbour: This combination of having things enlarged and having things recorded using different readers. But it was a big transition, not only in terms of needing to plan and make sure that all of my materials became accessible in a form I could read, but also just took me longer to study. I just had to allocate a lot more time to doing school work and getting things ready to use. Jim Barbour: The other thing I had to do in college that I didn't have to worry about in high school was arrange for test taking. I would have to go talk with the professor and say, "I won't be able to take the test in class because I'll need someone to read to me." And depending on the kind of test I needed to take my answers, and maybe do my work on a whiteboard. I would have to make arrangements to take the test outside of the class with a proctor from the professor. Jim Barbour: I know these days a lot of that work is done by offered services for disabled students, but at the time the Disabled Students Office I was at insisted that I go make those arrangements. If the professor insisted on talking with the office, the office would talk to them, but basically would say work it out with them. The transition was mostly just me needing to learn a lot about how to advocate for myself, and manage my own resources a lot better than I did in high school. Jeff Thompson: And that's a great thing to have because once you start advocating for yourself, that's a lifelong skill that you can bring with you because you can't bring the disability services with you when you go looking for a job. Jim Barbour: That is an excellent point, and it's true that people need to learn to do this. It's better to learn to do it early because when you go off and get a job somewhere there aren't people waiting around to kind of take care of this stuff for you. You need to know how to do it. Jim Barbour: I also think that you come off much more professionally, and much more competently if you're able to explain to people what you're going to need, and if you're able to explain to them that you'll take care of getting it done, right? If you just sort of show up and say, "Okay, someone's gonna have to take care of this, and someone's gonna have to take care of this, and someone's gonna have to take care of this." That doesn't sound anywhere near as professional as, "Okay, I'm gonna have to make sure this gets done, this gets done, this gets done." People feel much better if they know that you know what needs to happen. Jeff Thompson: Especially during a job interview. Jim Barbour: Yeah, that's right. Pete Lane: Jim, I'm curious, when you had to schedule proctors and administrators for your tests, was that similar in some ways to finding readers in your specialty field, where you had to find somebody who was familiar with the math and the science that you were testing on? Jim Barbour: Similar, but when I went to find readers, I just went and put up notices on bulletin boards in the computer science and math department, basically saying I was looking for somebody who was willing to read math and computer science textbooks out loud. I would train them how to do it, and they would get paid a little bit of money to do it. Getting paid was enough to recruit a bunch of people. I would then sit down with them and I would give them a sheet of special characters, and tell them how I wanted those characters read, and I also showed them some simple math equations and gave examples of how I wanted them to be read. Jim Barbour: I would have them look at it for a couple of minutes, and then I would give them some example reading, and I would sort of see how they would do with the reading. I could tell pretty anyway, even if they didn't get it perfect. I could tell pretty quickly who was gonna pick it up and who wasn't, so that was basically the job interview. Jim Barbour: When it came to taking tests, what I needed to do was to find somebody who could do that reading and writing, but also could be really efficient at it because I was in the middle of taking a test. I had favorite readers I liked to use for those things. Jim Barbour: The other thing is the professor had to be around. The professor and I would sort of negotiate what times would work for me taking the test, and then I would have to find a reader who could sort of meet those times. I would, of course, do everything I could to make sure that my favorite readers were administering the tests. Jim Barbour: I never really thought much about how you could sort of use a system like that to cheat, like I could bring my best friend in to just take the test for me. I never even really considered that that was a problem. I was a pretty upstanding young man, and I brought readers in to do reading, but I realize now that a system like that is a big candidate for abuse. Jim Barbour: Mostly taking place now is that universities kind of pick the readers, and that's a real problem because you don't have any way of vetting the reader, and making sure that they are efficient, and that you and them have a rapport about how you want things read to them. Pete Lane: I would think it's kind of like a dual edged sword where the professor's sitting right there. You really can't conceal your knowledge or lack thereof if he's listening to your interaction with the reader and the writer, if he's right there. Jim Barbour: Well, so generally if I had a reader doing the test, the professor wouldn't be right there. The professor would in another room doing his own thing. It did wind up being the case, on a surprisingly large number of occasions, where the professor would just give me the test. While I was okay with that because the professor knows the material and so I can usually get him to read things in a way that would make sense, it seems like a huge waste of the professor's time. Jim Barbour: The one thing that was often convenient about it was that I often didn't wind up actually having to take the test. The professor and I would sit and talk about the material. He would ask me how I would go about solving it, and I would sort of tell him I would set up the problem this way, and he would go, "Okay, I believe you." Pete Lane: Yeah, I did that a lot too. Jim Barbour: In some cases that's good, and in other cases I think that kind of gave me short shrift on whether I really knew the material or not, but that is often what happened. Jeff Thompson: Yeah, some of these skills that you're developing as you're transitioning from high school to college, how to contact your professor yourself, how to hire and fire your own readers. These are skills that you're gonna take with you. So when people are looking for a job, who have vision loss, are actually developing a lot of skills that employers are looking for. Do you see it that way? Jim Barbour: I do. Not only are you generally more able to kind of handle yourself, have a lot of responsibility, know how to handle responsibility particularly well, know how to manage other people, even if you're not a manager, knowing how to sort of give people work and check up on them. Those are just really good skills to have. Jim Barbour: The question that comes up a lot around looking for jobs is, when do you disclose about your blindness? For me, for most of my life it was a pretty easy question. I didn't disclose until I was in the room with them. I kind of felt like I could do a much better job of managing expectation if I was there, rather than if it was like on my resume, and they had to kind of think about it before they brought me in. Jeff Thompson: And that's a good time to sell yourself too. Jim Barbour: I think that's right. But what has happened a lot before you ever get in the room with somebody, you are asked to take an online exam, or do some other kinds of work that may or may not be accessible to you as a blind person. So, now you have a tougher choice to make. Am I gonna find a reader, and do this inaccessible work myself, or am I gonna let the employer know that I'm a blind person and I'm gonna need some alternate form of exam? Both of which have their good side and their down sides. It's now, I think, a much harder question, but I do think whenever possible, holding that information until you are in a room with the people interviewing you helps a lot. Pete Lane: Now you're transition into the workplace happened back in the late '90s as I understand it, where the internet was either in its infancy, or not even in existence yet. Talk about that and how that might parlay into today's students who are migrating into the workforce looking for jobs. Jim Barbour: The World Wide Web was in its infancy, it didn't really exist. I was actually working as a contractor for the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, but I was getting bored there. And so I wanted to look for other work, but the web didn't exist yet, and so you couldn't just go to a job board and look for jobs. There were a couple of important board lists, but what mostly happened was that there were email lists. I got an email one day from a company called Qualcomm out in San Diego. I was in Colorado at the time. They were looking for someone to come and join their team. I thought that sounded like a great idea and a lot of fun. Jim Barbour: I replied back and I said I was interested. They, I think, sent me a couple of programming questions and said, "Can you write some example code, and show us your work?" I did that, and then they said, "Great, we would like to fly you out here, and give you a job interview." And so far blindness had not come up at all. The thing I remember most about that was they wanted to put me in a hotel several miles from the office and just have me rent a car. I think what I wound up doing was telling them I didn't drive, but that I would like to stay in this other hotel that's right nearby the office. They were readily agreeable to that. I don't know if that tipped them off or not. Jim Barbour: I flew out to San Diego, checked into the hotel, and I think I checked in on a Sunday night, and the interview was Monday morning. I, actually, on Sunday night asked the hotel for walking directions to the office, and walked it Sunday night, just so I would know exactly how to get there on Monday. And then I did, I walked over there Monday morning, and found the front door, let them know who I was, wound up talking with the HR person, talked about my blindness a little bit. Then I wound up interviewing, and the interviews all went really well. Jim Barbour: The one thing that also happened there was that no one asked me anything about my blindness. No one asked me how I was gonna do this or how I was gonna do that. And that really seemed like a bit of a red flag to me. I really kind of felt like, if they don't know anything about my blindness, or about me and my blindness, it's gonna be really easy for them to just decide that it isn't work the risk. At the end of the day I was talking with the person who was gonna be my hiring manager. I said, "Look, this is the time when you get to ask me about my blindness." He was like, "Oh, no, no. We were told we can't ask those kind of questions." Jim Barbour: I'm like, "I understand that this is the nature of things, but you need to know about me, and you need to know about my blindness, and so I'm giving you whatever permission you need to ask me any questions." He asked me a few questions that were pretty straightforward. How was I gonna get to work every day? What kind of assistive technology would I need? Some other things like that that I answered pretty readily. I think that that really helped get him over the hump. And he's just like, "Well, I don't know what else to ask, but I'm sure that you have the answers." And I'm like, "Yes. Yes, that's true." Jim Barbour: I wound up getting that job, and it was a great job. Qualcomm was never a problem for me in terms of getting me the equipment I needed, or the readers I needed, or whatever else I needed. They were very cooperative about that. Pete Lane: What type of work were you doing with Qualcomm, programming still? Jim Barbour: Programming. Basically, my life has been either as a programmer writing tools for systems administration, or then I moved into being an architect where I designed bigger platforms and stuff, and mentored other people in how to write programs. Even at Google, that's mostly what I did, was to write a lot of code for them. Pete Lane: Just to clarify, Jim, while you had some usable vision, obviously, you were a cane user were you not when you walked into that interview? Jim Barbour: Yes. So when I walked into the interview, they knew. I started using a cane in high school. At the time I lived in Boulder, Colorado, which at that time was a really small, sleepy little town. One of my biggest challenges with my cane was figuring out how I was gonna strap it to the bicycle I was riding at the time. I always look back at that, and I'm like, "I cannot believe I rode a bicycle." I quit doing that not too long after because I think I ran into something and really hurt myself, so I was like, "Okay, this is pretty stupid." Jim Barbour: I mean I had enough vision that I could sort of get away with riding a bicycle. I got talked into using a cane pretty early by the NFB. It actually turned out to be a very good way for me to solve a lot of problems I was having, not only around sort of tripping over things, and always looking down at the ground, but also just as a way of identifying myself as a blind person, not so much to other people, but to me. I really kind of was a little unclear about my status as a blind person, and carrying a cane allowed me to be a much better traveler, and to kind of identify myself as a blind person, both of which turned out to be very useful things. Jeff Thompson: It really helps, especially when you walk into a store, that the clerk sees the cane, they kind of get the idea too. So it lets you arrive a little bit early for some explanation. Jim Barbour: Exactly, yeah. Jeff Thompson: You talked about acquiring equipment through the company. Can you talk about reasonable accommodation? Jim Barbour: Sure. I have always felt like the company can and should, and generally will, meet any reasonable request I had. For sure, I needed a screen reader. I needed them to buy a JAWS for me. For sure, I needed readers, much more then than now, but back in the late '90s I needed people to read me journal articles, textbooks. I needed to learn how to do new things, and the way that you did that back then was by going and reading stuff off of print. Those were the two main things. Jim Barbour: The other accomondation I needed, which was also not a problem for them, was I needed a way to put the computer screen right next to my face. So I mean, literally, my face two or three inches away from the screen. We needed a way to do that that was ergonomically reasonable, so I wasn't bent over all the time hunching and squinting. We had somebody come up and built this stand to put my monitor on, and then we put the keyboard underneath of it. That actually worked out really well. Then, of course, later monitor arms came along. Jim Barbour: The other accommodations I needed, well they feel into two different categories. But there were two different types of tasks that were just really hard for me to do. One was if I would travel, filling out expense reports was just a very time consuming difficult process. Originally, it was on paper, and so I needed to get a reader and stuff to do all that, and then later it was online, but it was a very poorly designed inaccessible website. I just made arrangements for one of the secretaries to take care of that for me. Again, Qualcomm was like, "Sure, I mean, that's not a problem." That was one type of task. A task that doesn't happen very often that isn't very accessible, and so someone else would do it. Jim Barbour: Another task, or tasks, that were part of my daily life as a technologist, but were not easy for me to do, and they had to do with certain kinds of looking at graphs and looking at other kinds of very visual material. There were two ways that I would handle that. One way to handle it is to go in and fix the code so that it's giving you numbers and other kinds of text-based information that's useful to you. There were times when I did that, but there were other times when I just said, "This is a task that someone else needs to do. I am not gonna sit and interpret this data all the time, nor am I gonna go in and fix it so it gives me data I can use. Give me some more programming to do, or some more other kinds of things to do, and give somebody else this task." Jim Barbour: Again, Qualcomm did it for me. Again, I think that Qualcomm trusted me to make good decisions about what I could and couldn't do. Also, Qualcomm knew that I was bringing value to the company. They would make this decision, and they would understand the trade-offs, but they were totally fine with it. I think it would actually be a lot harder today to get started because of the fact that a lot of what I would've been doing if I had gotten hired is much more visual and much more inaccessible. I would've had to spend a lot more time interacting with Qualcomm and getting them to fix their websites, or fix their other things, so that I can actually do the work. Jim Barbour: I'm now at a place in my career where I am mostly doing planning work and other kinds of work that I know how to do, and then other people are doing the day to day technical work. But over time, Qualcomm like most companies, they've kind of grown, and their equipment has become less accessible. They understand the problem, but it's just such a hard problem to fight. The inertia will take you in inaccessible directions unless you fight it really hard. And that is something that the NFB and lots other places are kind of fighting for and advocating for. Don't let yourself go down this inaccessible road because you'll make it really hard to hire blind people in the future. Pete Lane: You make a good point there, Jim, about today versus then, and tasks that may or may not be negotiable, for lack of a better word, because reasonable accommodation, essentially, by definition is intended to allow you to perform essential job duties. If the employer deems that some of those tasks are not essential, then they shouldn't have any problem offloading those to a secretary or whomever as you described. But if they're essential duties then there may be a tough point to work with them on. Jim Barbour: The other thing is that these days there are also far fewer secretaries. I mean I am lucky that I kept track of a couple, but 20 years ago there were a lot more of them. Now a lot of people are expected to do their own secretarial work. Pete Lane: Right, it's overhead. Jim Barbour: It's hard to find people around who are available to sort of do one-off jobs for you like that, right? So, you wind up either hiring readers more or doing other things, but it's harder to find people who are just around who can do reading at the last minute, or fill out forms, or other kinds of things like that. Jeff Thompson: Yeah, times have changed, and so has the technology. Now with Aira, as a reasonable accomondation, I think some people could justify using the Aira technology, the smart glasses, to access stuff. Jim Barbour: I think that Aira is absolutely gonna be an invaluable tool for people in the workforce. In fact, Aira knows that. Aira has several programs in place right now to help people get jobs, and to help employers figure out how to pay for the service, and when the service is going to be valuable and when it's not. Jim Barbour: I have to say that I have lots of conflicting feelings about Aira. I have it and I use it, and I enjoy the service a lot. The way I tend to think about Aira is as a reader, where the definition of reader is sort of broadened a bit. Three were always tasks I felt like weren't good tasks for me to get a reader to do because basically the reader would be doing the work. So, for example, reading documents and filling out forms. There's really no reason for me to be involved in that process if the point is to get the forms filled out. Jim Barbour: That kind of feels like not something I wanna hire a reader for. That's something that the company should just sort of take care of. The reader is to get me information and sometimes for me to give other people information, but I should be involved in that process. How I feel about Aira in this case is that if Aira is giving me information that I need to do my job, I think that's great, but if Aira turns out to be the entity doing my job, then I think that that's gonna be a problem. Jim Barbour: I also wanna say that I think that Aira is also going to be an interesting tool for blind people to learn how to incorporate into their toolbox because I think that it's entirely possible that there will be people who won't learn the blindness skills I learned 20 years ago because they'll just start relying on Aira for that. I think that's going to be an interesting give and take about how we as blind people develop over the next 10 or 20 years, but I am hoping that we figure out a way to make sure that blind people still learn the blindness skills that have served me so well. Pete Lane: Well, you know Aira does insist that travelers who use their product use their cane or their dog, but I'm not sure that applies to any other tasks. Jim Barbour: That's right. I'm glad Aira does that. I just think it's something that came up early, and Aira put a policy in place, and I like that policy. Jeff Thompson: I'm just real glad that Aira actually went to the NFB, to the AFB, to all these associations, and got feedback how to make this product not an enabling device, something that someone would bypass, like even using Chloe the OCR. My wife uses Aira, and she said more and more she's using the OCR part because it's so quick and easy to use. I just meet them as an accommodation, not as a crutch or a one size fits all, this is all I use, no cane, no dog, no everything like that. I'm just saying like in the workforce it might be another tool with the changing of times. Jim Barbour: I agree with you 100%. I think that Aira is going to be very, very interesting to watch over the next decade or so. I also agree with you that it's good that Aira has embedded themselves with the organizations of the blind, like the NFB, to get some feedback and to get some idea about what's going to work and what isn't gonna work. Jim Barbour: Having said all that, I do also think that how blind people work and live are going to change because of Aira, and that's gonna be really interesting to see how that goes. I am looking forward to watching the evolution, for sure. Jeff Thompson: Yeah, we've seen changes come. You yourself, from when you went from high school to college to the workplace. You've seen technology come along, and it has been changing fast with the iPhone. It's moving so quick, and they always say like, "Now's a good time to be blind with all this technology," but I'm looking like, "What can happen in two more years?" It's moving fast. Pete Lane: The landscape will totally change. Jim Barbour: I always feel a little uncomfortable when I talk about how my life as a blind person has been enhanced by technology. I mean it certainly has. My iPhone died the other day and I was without it for 24 hours. I was just amazed at the number of things I rely on it for. That's just one example of technology. But I also know that if I didn't have any technology, I know that I could take my cane and go downstairs, and sort of problem solve my way through my day. I know I could do that. Jim Barbour: I am worried that this is becoming less and less true over time, and I have mixed feelings about it. I definitely think that problem solving skills, and the ability to kind of build a map of your world and other things, are skills that we need to have even if we have a lot of technology. Jeff Thompson: Well skills and confidence, the confidence to be able to apply the skills. I've known people that have two master's degree, but they don't have the confidence to apply them. Jim Barbour: That's right. A real belief in yourself as a blind person. I go back every so often, and I talk to the Colorado Center, which is where I got a lot of the .. The Colorado Center taught me how to cook food, and how clean, and how to paint. We did a lot of painting of buildings and stuff. They taught me a lot of skills, but really the thing they taught me was that my blindness is not gonna be the thing that stops me from doing whatever I need to do. That's not gonna be the thing. There might be other reasons. I might not be smart enough. I might not be rich enough. I might not be brave enough. But that my blindness is not gonna be the thing. Jim Barbour: I will figure out ways of dealing with my blindness, and that is the kind of confidence and belief in yourself that I think is really, really important for a blind person. The technology and all the other things, they will come and they will play a role, and they will be even important, but a real belief in yourself is really, I think, the most important thing. Jeff Thompson: I've always said that if a person has a drive, if they have something that's pushing them, then they can utilize a Colorado Center or a training center to help them go further, but the drive comes from within. The technology, as you said so well, enhances some areas, or assists. But when you get to the core of it, it's you, it's your determination. It's your self-determination that is gonna push you. Jim Barbour: I think that's right. I think that that's true for everybody. I think that in life how much you accomplish, what you do, is mostly determined by your drive, by how much you wanna push yourself, what you wanna accomplish, what's important to you. The sooner you can be aware of what those things are ... I'm really into this, or I think this is really important, or I wanna make sure that these things happen in my life. Whether it be being a parent, being really good at your job, or whatever it is, I think you're right that having a drive and really having a sense of goals, and a sense of what's important to you is very important. Pete Lane: Speaking of drive and independence. I'd like to segue over to your most recent assignment with Qualcomm over in Ireland. Talk a little bit about that Jim. Jim Barbour: That was amazing. I had recently moved to Berkeley, and was living there, and was realizing that I was having a lot of fun in Berkeley, but that I was kind of in a rut. I didn't have any family responsibilities to worry about. I went and talked with my boss, and I asked him if he had any expat opportunities, a way in which Qualcomm could send me to another country and pay for me to live there for a while because often we have offices in Europe and in India that need people from the headquarters office to go over there for a while. Jim Barbour: He said he had no expat opportunities at the moment, but that he was perfectly happy if I wanted to just pick an office, and go live there for a while. I would have to pay for my own housing and stuff, but he didn't really care where I was working from. Jim Barbour: I'd looked around. There was an office that we have in Cambridge, England, which is a little bit north of London, and there was an office that had in Cork, Ireland. I went and visited those for a week each, and decided I really wanted to go live in Cork. I spent some time making arrangements, and also talking with people about where to live and stuff like that. Jim Barbour: One really interesting piece of that was I could not find any blind people to talk to. I kept looking around on lists and in other places for blind people in Ireland, and I had a very hard time finding any blind folks to talk to. I mostly just wound up talking with people who could tell me which apartments were within walking distance from the office, and how the buses were and a bunch of other things. Jim Barbour: I did as much prep work as I could, and then in January of this year I flew over, and was met by the relocation folks who were helping me out. Remember, I'd been on a plane for 12 hours, and was pretty ragged out, but they took me to my apartment, and then they took me to a grocery store to get food, and sheets and some other basic things. The apartment was furnished, but we needed to get some stuff to put in it. Then I basically was on my own. I used my phone a lot to kind of figure out how to walk to my office. I learned how to get to the grocery store and some other things that were nearby. I started to learn how to use the buses. Jim Barbour: I sort of just had a really wonderful time, not only meeting my coworkers and a bunch of other friends I met in Ireland, but also just exploring a brand new place. I spent a lot of time explaining what I needed to other people in Ireland, who had never really seen a blind person. They were all very receptive. Again, if you know what you need, and can advocate for yourself, people are often willing to come on board. Everything from getting some markings put on my apartment mailbox, to getting help at the grocery store, to a lot of other things. Jim Barbour: Another real interesting thing about that was I had had the Aira service for quite a while before that, but hadn't really used it for much. I had used it on a couple of occasions to identify some objects, but really I hadn't used it for much. I really wasn't sure what I was gonna use Aira for. But one day, on a weekend, I had a bunch of time on my hands, and I needed to go grocery shopping. I really did not feel like dealing with the cultural friction of trying to explain to an Irish grocery store worker the things I was looking for, the names of things were just a little bit different. They aren't used to shopping generally at all. Generally, these are college kids or other people who haven't done a lot of grocery shopping, so I didn't want that friction. Jim Barbour: I decided to see how Aira would do at the grocery store, and I was frankly amazed at how well it went. I was like, "There is no way Aira is gonna be able to help me with this." The idea of scanning all these grocery store shelves was just really daunting to me. I thought it would never work, but I wanted to see. I was just amazed. They helped me to not only find the things I needed, produce and milk and eggs, and a bunch of other things, but they also just taught me a lot more about what was in the store, where things were, how things were laid out, what's down each aisle. Jim Barbour: I spent 90 minutes with them, which is more than I would normally spend on a shopping trip, but I learned so much about the store, and had such a good time doing it that I felt like it was an incredible experience, and one of the really cool ways in which I think Aira is very helpful. Jim Barbour: In future shopping trips, sometimes I would use Aira, and sometimes now that I kind of understood the layout of the store, I was able to go and find things on my own, or go get near what I needed, and call them up and say, "Okay, I'm looking for the low-fat milk rather than the whole milk," and they could pick that out for me. Jim Barbour: I used Aira for that. I used Aira for some exploring what all was in this mall, what all was in my neighborhood. The other thing that's really interesting about Cork, and about Europe cities in general, is that streets are not laid out on a grid at all. There's no way for you to sort of problem solve your way around how to get from here to there. You just have to kind of learn where all the streets are. Jim Barbour: In the beginning I would use Aira a lot to just say, "How can I get from here over to this other place?" And then say, "Oh, oh, I see. You have to go all the way over here." They were able to kind of look at maps, and kind of help me figure a lot of that stuff out. Aira helped me quite a bit to get accommodated. Jim Barbour: I also, when I was over there, took a couple weeks off and went traveling around Europe. I went to Edinburgh, Scotland and to Berlin, Germany, and down in Sardinia in Italy, and a couple of other places in the UK, as well spending quite a bit of time in Dublin and those few days in Belfast. Again, Aira was just very helpful in allowing me to very quickly orient myself to a neighborhood. Aira is much more efficient at that than what I used to do, which is to ask people for directions, people who are not used to giving walking directions, people who don't know how to work with blind people. Jim Barbour: In the past I had to an awful lot of advocating and educating about, "This is what I need to do. Can you explain this to me again? Can you explain it to me this other way?" But Aira turns out to be much better at that. Even in European cities where they certainly didn't have a lot of colors, they were very good at bringing up maps. I do find Aira to be very, very useful for that kind of getting used to new neighborhoods, and navigating around new environments. Jeff Thompson: You know, Jim, we usually ask people what advice they would give to someone that's transitioning from high school to college, but I think you've answered most of those questions through your experience. But do you have any quick advice that you would give to someone that is transitioning. Jim Barbour: I spent some time talking to the computer science division, the NFBCS, at the NFB convention this summer. There were several students and several parents who were going off to college. They weren't actually asking for advice, but they were there, and they were trying to ask questions. The biggest advice I can give them is that nobody is gonna look out for you, but you. You need to learn how to make sure that you get the materials you need, that you get the mentoring you need, that you get the tutoring you need, and that you get the experiences that you need. Jim Barbour: Because, otherwise, you can easily find yourself as a blind person being sidelined, and being given the minimum amount possible in order for them to feel like they can pass you. That's not what you want out of college, and that's not what you want out of life. You need to decide that it is up to you to get the things that you need in this world. Self-advocating is the most important thing you can do for yourself. And start doing it early so that you can do it forever. Pete Lane: Good advice. Jeff Thompson: Well put. Pete Lane: We're speaking with Jim Barbour. Jim, thank you so much for coming on, and sharing your story, your views on blindness and independence, and I think that your story is going to be motivational to our listeners because you are definitely one who pushes the envelope in terms of looking for new and different challenges, as you mentioned, being adventurous. And I think that helps build that sense of confidence that we talked about earlier. Pete Lane: I think that's within you, and you can't create it out of nothing, I think it can certainly be enhanced, developed with a mindset kind of like yours. We appreciate that. Thanks so much for coming on to Blind Abilities. Jim Barbour: I enjoyed it a lot. Thank you both. Jeff Thompson: Jim, if you would like any of the listeners to contact you if they have any questions, or they wanna get some advice from you, is there any way that you wanna allow them to connect with you? Jim Barbour: I'm certainly available on Facebook if people wanna find me there, but also you can email me at jbar@barcore.com. Jeff Thompson: Awesome, we'll put some stuff in the show notes for that, and thanks a lot, Jim, for coming on to Blind Abilities. Jim Barbour: Hey you guys, this was great. Thank you very much. Have a good day. Pete Lane: Thanks again, Jim. Talk soon, you take care. Jim Barbour: Yep, all right. Pete Lane: Bye bye. Jim Barbour: Bye. Pete Lane: This concludes our conversation with Jim Barbour. Jeff and I wanna thank Jim for taking the time to chat with us. Thanks so much for listening, and have a great day. Pete Lane: For more podcasts with a blindness perspective, check us out on the web at www.BlindAbilities.com. Speaker 4: We're on Twitter. Speaker 5: We're on Facebook. Pete Lane: And be sure to check out our free app. Speaker 4: In the Apple App store. Speaker 5:  And the Google Play store.

Box of Neutrals cohost Rob james joins Sam and Josh to talk about bullshitting about sport and start the new segment ‘font chat’.

Ever have one of those days when you know you should leave well enough alone...but only after the disaster has occurred? Episode 9 - Getting to Know You - What A Pain Part 1Download (25:55, 59.3 MB mp3, released 2011.04.03)Written by M. J. Cogburn and C. E. KrawiecEXPLICITFeatured in the cast were:David Ault as Lothos and The Announcer MJ Cogburn as Siren Lothoman Shane Harris as Trevor Conroy Jim Barbour as Peter Hugen Ara Pelodi as TM Mara David Drage as Xavier Eleiece Krawiec as the desk attendant David McIver as the voice on the phone, and Jack the delivery person. and Seth Adam Sher as Production announcer. Written and Produced by MJ Cogburn and CE KrawiecPost Production by MJ CogburnArt by MJ CogburnExecutive Producer for Darker Projects is Eric BusbyTheme music available for download at Sounddogs.com. Other music composed and performed by Kai Hartwig and Kevin MacLeod. This has been a Darker Projects Production.

Two American Tourists driving between Aberdeen and Glasgow..The middle of the night... A Rainy Scottish night... And the Scottish Moors... Why does this all sound so... Familiar?Night Terrors 16: Roadside Castle(15:44, 21.6 MB mp3, released 2010.01.16)Written by Arman BorghemFeatured in the cast were:Laura Post as VanessaElie Hirschman as RupertAndrew as Jim Barbourand Mark Bruzee as your host, HarbingerThe episode is produced and directed by Elie HirschmanThe series producer is Mark BruzeePost-production by Michael HudsonOriginal music by Soundsnap and Kevin MacLeodThe executive producer for Darker Projects is Eric Busby

Prepare to be amazed! Prepare to be shocked! Prepare to be scared as you travel into the dark heart of God's creations!The Byron Chronicles 2.10: Alistair and the Strange Case of the Christmas Undead(17:59, 20.6 MB MP3, released 2009.12.17)Written By Mark D. WrenchildFeaturing:Jim Barbour as Sir Arthur Conan DoyleCathy Rinella as KristenDerek M. Koch as Professor SlingbladeChris Williams as the Lead ZombieGwendolyn Jensen-Woodard as Miss ChambersBill Hollweg as the Cart DriverEric Busby as the GuardDavid Ault as AlistairZombie Voices performed by various members from the audio community.Music by Midnight Syndicate and Kevin MacleodThis episode was produced and directed by Eric BusbyPost Production by Eric Busby

Written by Mark D. Wrenchild Prepare to be amazed! Prepare to be shocked! Prepare to be scared as you travel into the dark heart of God’s creations! Featured in the cast were: Jim Barbour as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Cathy … Continue reading →

Written by Mark D. Wrenchild Prepare to be amazed! Prepare to be shocked! Prepare to be scared as you travel into the dark heart of God’s creations! Featured in the cast were: Jim Barbour as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Cathy … Continue reading →

Robotz of the Company Season 1- Revisited!Poor Rover... the Captain won't be happy if he finds out what happened to his favourite pet. Just where did that ball get to? And who will retrieve it?! NEW & IMPROVED VERSION!!Written by Jonithan Patrick Russell: Starring(in order of appearance): Jeff Niles (Zim Tron), Jonithan PatrickRussell (Old Squeak), Darrell Looney (Popsicle), Kae Woo (Shin Wipe),Jonithan Patrick Russell (Mechanto), Joe Thomas (Putch), Jim Barbour(Sphinx), Jonithan Patrick Russell (Fiz Gizit & Frag Meltdown), andKyle Borcz (Brisco)Download Episode 003: Rover's Ball

Do something wrong, and you can count on there being consequences for your actions. Yet even when you are honest and truthful, do you ever stop to think that there will be consequences to be dealt with? Episode 6 - Truth and ConsequencesDownload (35:49, 65.6 MB mp3, released 2008.06.15)Written by M. J. Cogburn and C. E. KrawiecFeatured in the cast were:Steve Anderson as ThamesDavid Ault as Lothos and The AnnouncerJim Barbour as Dr. Peter HugenMark Bruzee as Dr. Edward GrantRobin Carlisle as Johanna RoydenM. J. Cogburn as Tala and Siren LothomanBrandon Cole as Security Officer No. 2Shane Harris as Trevor ConroyBill Hollweg as Desk Attendant at CorrectionsMark Kalita as Vaughn RickarDamaris Mannering as Torture Master JessicaPaul Mannering as Security Officer No. 1Tom Davis as Production AnnouncerProduced by M. J. Cogburn and C. E. KrawiecArt by M. J. Cogburn

There are two kinds of challenges. On one hand, there are the challenges that you step up with gusto. On the other hand are the "do it or else" challenges, the ones you don't have a say in, all the while thinking, "Why me?"Episode 5 - ChallengesDownload (27:18, 37.5 MB mp3, released 2008.05.29)Written by M. J. Cogburn and C. E. KrawiecFeatured in the cast were:Steve Anderson as ThamesDavid Ault as Lothos and The AnnouncerJim Barbour as Dr. Peter HugenMark Bruzee as Dr. Edward GrantRobin Carlisle as Johanna RoydenM. J. Cogburn as Tala and Siren LothomanHelen Earl as Zoë MalvisonShane Harris as Trevor ConroyMark Kalita as Vaughn RickarLaura Post as Sheila WelchTom Davis as Production AnnouncerProduced by M. J. Cogburn and C. E. KrawiecArt by M. J. Cogburn

What shows up like unexpected returning boomerangs after you think you've got the situation figured out and all your bases covered.Episode 4 - ReprecussionsDownload (27:20, 37.7 MB mp3, released 2008.04.15)Written by M. J. Cogburn and C. E. KrawiecFeatured in the cast were:Steve Anderson as ThamesDavid Ault as Lothos and The AnnouncerJim Barbour as Dr. Peter HugenM. J. Cogburn as Tala and Siren LothomanHelen Earl as Zoë MalvisonShane Harris as Trevor ConroyJanine Humphreys as Jennifer ZimbeauxMark Kalita as Vaughn RickarC. E. Krawiec as Olivia RobinsonMark Ribolla as Allen McAllisterTom Davis as Production AnnouncerProduced by M. J. Cogburn and C. E. KrawiecArt by M. J. Cogburn

You were justified in doing what you did, whether because it was right or you were told to do it, but now it's back, almost making you wish you hadn't done it in the first place.Episode 3 - BacklashDownload (34:20, 47.2 MB, released 2008.02.15)Written by M. J. Cogburn, Katherine Freymuth and C. E. KrawiecFeatured in the cast were:Steve Anderson as ThamesDavid Ault as Lothos and The AnnouncerJim Barbour as Dr. Peter HugenMark Bruzee as Dr. Edward Grant and XavierM. J. Cogburn as Tala and Siren LothomanErik Dreiling as Ron ConroyShane Harris as Trevor ConroyJohn Lipsey as Benjamin AndrewsSeth Adam Sher as Quinton SylvaneMark Kalita as Vaughn RickarMark Ribolla as Allen McAllisterTom Davis as Production AnnouncerProduced by M. J. Cogburn and C. E. KrawiecArt by M. J. Cogburn

Star Trek - Lost Frontier, Episode 3: Prisoner The Enterprise responds to distress signal and is surprised to discover it may have Romulan origins. Meanwhile an away team is sent to find a prisoner being held by the faction of the One True Federation.Download (37:30, 34.5 MB, released 2007.09.01)Written by Mark Kalita and Eric Busby.Featured in the cast were: Mark Bruzee as Rupert TraskLaura Post as Kate NilesDavid Ault as Andrew WinfredElie Hirschman as ZogBen Harmer as Liem KincaidLucien Dodge as Sid Kirk, Tungsten and the Mutant Jeanine Yamanaka as T'LocCraig Cooksey as CanyonJim Barbour as the BartenderJames Leeper as The ThugMark Kalita as Mister JezekDirection and post production by Eric Busby

No escape.... It comes... It comes and there is no escape.You are already dead... It comes and you are already dead.We are all dead.... All of us...Countless worlds have fallen. All the stars shall go out...There is only horror now.... Horror and death.... ---The Harbinger's Transmission.Listen to Storm Break (25:07, 23.1MB MP3) Written by Eric BusbyFeaturing the vocal talents of: Kara Dennison as Captain DalonnaChris Snyder as Commander LockeKarl Puder as General KorgJim Barbour as Sebastian BretonElie Hirschman as Chief BackusNick Cook as Lt. CainJudah Friese as JudahMark Bruzee as Minister K'LarenBen Harmer as Chancellor MartokTom Davis as RegentLaura Post as CompassionEric Busby as BishopMiriam Synder as The ComputerJosh W. Spencer as The GuardDelon Eubena as The KlingonAnd special appearance by Mark Kalita The episode was written and directed by Eric BusbyPost production work by Eric Busby

As the invading forces advance into the galaxy, Captain Dalonna considers making a deal with the Federation's greatest enemy - if there is any hope of stopping them. Meanwhile Mak comes face to face with the one enemy he'd believed destroyed long ago.Listen: Star Trek The Section 31 Files : 03.05 Invasion, Part 2 - Doomsday Unleashed(30:43, 28.1 MB, released 2006.12.14)Written and directed by Eric BusbyFeatured in the cast are:Lara Post as Captain DalonnaMark Kalita as Commander MakJudah Frieze as Lt. FrieseElie Hirschman and Lt. BackusKarl Puder as Chancellor KorgBen Harmer as Ensign SovorMark Bruzee as RookSeth Adam Sher as Lt. ReklaDamaris Mannering as The FounderPaul Mannering as Ensign FieldsBill Hollweg as Lt. HawkMatthew Kopelke as the Dalek Emperor and The DaleksTina Kalita as the Borg QueenDavid Ault as the BorgThis episode was produced by Eric BusbyPost Production work by Eric BusbySpecial thanks to Jim Barbour, Chris Snyder and Jonathan Patrick Russell for their earlier renditions of Dalek and Borg vocals.

New alliances. New mission. And the fate of our galaxy lies in one woman's hands.Listen to Reflections from the Gulf (22:40, 20.8MB MP3) Featured in the cast were:Kara Dennison as Captain DalonnaLaura Post as the FounderChris Snyder as Commander LockeKarl Puder as Captain KorgMark Kalita as MakJim Barbour as Sebastian BretonElie Hirschman as Tom BackusJudah Friese as Cardinal JudahMark Bruzee as Minister K'LarenBen Harmer as Lord MagnusSeth Adam Sher as James ReklaGareth Preston as The DoctorDavid Ault as The Helm OfficerMorgan Jeffery as The BorgAnd Matthew Kopelke as The DalekThe episode was written and directed by Eric BusbyPost production work by Eric Busby

Listen: Star Trek - The Section 31 Files : 03.03 Escape from Rura Penthe, Part 3(35:50, 32.8 MB, released 2006.11.30)Written by Mark KalitaFeatured in the cast were:Mark Kalita as MakElie Hirschman as Tom Backus and WeaverBen Harmer as O'KeefeDave Ault as selekAmanda Fitzwater as the Section 31 operativeJudah Friese as Lt. Cmdr. Judah FrieseBill Hollweg, Eric Busby and Jim Barbour as the Romulan GuardsThe episode was produced by Eric Busby Post Production by Eric Busby

Acts of terrorism being to destabilize the Federation. Meanwhile the daughter of Khaless has been kidnapped and it's up to Section 31 to rescue her. But will they be in time?Listen to Dark Alliance (22:31, 20.7MB MP3) Kara Dennison as Captain Dalonna Judah Friese as Lt. Judah Nick Cook as Lt. Cain Chris Snyder as Commander Locke Karl Puder as General Korg Mark Bruzee as Minister K'Laren and the announcer Jim Barbour as Sabastion Breton Elie Hirschman as Tom Backus, Damon Norn and the RobotPost production by Eric Busby Written and produced by Eric Busby

Equity Corps holds the crew of the Nosferatu captive. Meanwhile one of the crew makes a startling discovery. Someone they believed dead is still very much alive.Listen to Storm Warning (22:00, 20.2MB MP3) Featured in the cast wereKara Dennison as Captain Dalonna Chris Snyder as Commander Locke Karl Puder as General Korg Jim Barbour as Sebastian Breton Elie Hirschman as Tom Backus and Damon Norn Eric Busby as Bishop Tom Davis as Regent Judah Friese as Lt. Judah Mark Bruzee as Minister K'Laren Aliza as Crimson Josh W. Spencer as The Guard Seth Adam Sher as Unit 746 Mireum Synder as the ComputerThe episode was written and directed by Eric Busby Post Production work by Eric Busby

Tonight, we bring you a tale with a holiday flavor, and no I don't mean one of the 5 fruitcakes that have been past around since time began. This story is about Rollie-- a postman, and a father. I am very grateful they let me tell this story this time around. And I think that after you hear it, you too will want it to be...forever December.Listen: Forever December(24:37, 25 MB MP3, released 2006.12.24)Based on the short story by Da BeagleScripted by Paul ManneringMusic by Kevin MacLeodFeatured in the cast were:Mark Bruzee as RollieLinda Townsend as GinnyJim Barbour as FrankBill Hollweg as PaulZack Fester as Tyler MarshallJohn Lipsey as LexThe series is produced and directed by Mark BruzeeCo-production by Chris SnyderPost-production by Matt McLarenThe Executive producer for Darker Projects is Eric Busby

Sword of Windsor, Episode 2: Elverson's Point(28:40, 27.1 MB mp3, released 2006.09.29)Written by Eric L. BusbyBased on the Falcon Banner novels by Christopher Patrick LydonOriginal music composed and performed by Kai Hartwig and Kevin MacLeodFeaturing the voice talents of:Mark Bruzee as Captain Tobias WindsorDavid Ault as Luther EmersonJim Barbour as DrossElie Hirschman as Rupert SullivanArron Duran as LokDamaris Mannering as Sarah GravesDan Gorgone as Luke BalardDiane Capen as Susan BaxterAlex MacNicol as KysanTom Davis as Inquisitor Darkeland Chris Snyder as the TechThe series was produced and directed by Mark Bruzee and Chris SnyderPost-production by Chris SnyderSpecial thanks to Christopher Patrick Lydon for making the series possible.The executive producer for Darker Projects is Eric Busby

Listen:Sword of Windsor, Episode 1: Exodus(37:18, 32.1 MB mp3, released 2006.07.20)By the 22nd century, mankind had stretched forth its hand to command the stars.But then came the war with the Amsus. And the Terran Empire was brought to ruin.Now humanity is nothing more than a defeated and conquered race.Yet even in these dark and oppressive times The hope for freedom still burns bright.Written by Eric Busby.Based on The Falcon Banner novels by Christopher Patrick Lydon. Original music composed and performed by Kai Hartwig and Kevin MacLeodFeaturing the voice talents of:Mark Bruzee as Captain Tobias Windsor Diane Capen as Susan Baxter David Ault as Luther Emerson Dan Gorgone as Luke Ballard Alex MacNicol as Kysan Gareth Preston as Alexander Jacob Damaris Mannering as Sarah Graves Elie Hirschman as Rupert Sullivan Arman Borghem as Amsus Controller Chris Snyder as Taerian Bar Tendor Jim Barbour as DrossProduced by Mark Bruzee, Eric Busby, and Chris SnyderDirected by Mark Bruzee and Chris SnyderPost-production by Chris Snyder Special thanks to Christopher Patrick Lydon for making the series possible. The executive producer for Darker Projects is Eric BusbyMy Odeo Channel (odeo/39fa0a4318ff6671)

Five Minute Fears #2: Tow-Truck(5:58, 6.7 MB mp3, released 2006.08.09)Written by Charles E. Pratt Jr.Featuring: Jim Barbour as Tow-Truck Elie Hirschman as Doug MarksThe series is created and produced by Paul Mannering and Chris Snyder Post-production by Chris Snyder The executive producer for Darker Projects is Eric Busby

Tonight, We want to tell you a story from when Harbinger was squarely on your side of the veil. Hmmm, And we'll do it in the way we used to love hearing stories like this. Back during a time when Television was in its infancy, and people were still used to simply hearing ... voicesListen: Voices of the Soul (26:23, 15MB MP3, released 2006.04.27)Written by Elie HirschmanOriginal music composed and realized by Kevin Kirby and Chris SnyderFeatured in the cast are:Jim Barbour as Johnny Murphy Aliza as Sofia Elie Hirschman as Nick LeBay and all the stolen voices Mark Bruzee as the engineerThe series was produced and directed by Mark Bruzee Co-production by Chris Snyder Post Production by Byron Lee and Chris Snyder

Meet Jim and Max. Together with Max's wife Celia, they run a moderately successful dressmaking company. They have all they could want. Who could ask for more? Well, Jim could for one. It's the height of the "dot com" days, and Jim thinks he'll make a killing ... He's right. In fact, he makes such a killing that he finds it necessary to visit the Confessional. And stay tuned after for a little surprise.Written by Elie HirschmanFeatured in the cast were:Mark Kalita as Jim Jim Barbour as Max Kara Dennison as Celia Laura Post as Jamie Jamie Bruno as BurlProduced and directed by Mark Bruzee Post-production supervised and realized by Chris Snyder Executive producer for Darker Projects: Eric BusbyListen to Love and Murder (27.7MB MP3)My Odeo Channel (odeo/59552bb99b6caac7)

In the year 2115, the Earth went mad. Volcanic eruptions, title waves, massive pockets of radiation erupted on the surface. Many children were placed in ten biodomes to wait out the cataclysm until the day that Humans could reclaim the Earth.But what awaits them and their guardian guides? Did anyone or anything survive from the old times? How will they live? This is their story. This is the story of Generation 1.Generation 1, Episode 1, End at the Beginning (24:45, 22.7MB MP3)Written by Mark Bruzee.Featured in the cast were:Mark Bruzee as Adult 1Jim Barbour as Adult 2Eric Busby as Doc (G10)Chris Snyder as Aaron and Aaron's Mom,Victoria Sampson as Adult 3Elie Hirschman as Adult 4Liam Ervin as CalarMorgan Jeffery as GaranMark Kalita as G3Kara Dennison as RaylaTom Wilinsky as Biodome 3's Minister Kieran Benton as Boy 2The Series was Created by Mark Bruzee, Eric Busby and Chris Snyder.The series was produced and directed by Mark BruzeePost production and Co Produced by Chris SnyderThe Executive Producer for Darker Projects is Eric Busby.My Odeo Channel (odeo/d8db7e6217ca36b1)

In the year 2115, the Earth went mad. Now hundreds of Young people awaken from stasis to a new world, ready to create a new world out of the shattered remains of the old.But what awaits them and their guardian guides? Did anyone or anything survive from the old times? How will they live? This is their story. This is the story of Generation 1.Generation 1, Episode 1, Conflict (21:36, 19.57M)Written by Mark Bruzee.Featured in the cast were:Eric Busby as DocChris Snyder as AaronKara Dennison as RaylaMark Bruzee as the 1st MinisterJim Barbour as 2nd MinisterMark Kalita as G3Morgan Jeffery as GaranLiam Ervin as CalarandJohn Lipsey as AceThe Series was Created by Mark Bruzee, Eric Busby and Chris Snyder.The series was produced and directed by Mark BruzeePost production and Co Produced by Chris SnyderThe Executive Producer for Darker Projects is Eric Busby.

The Falcon Banner, Episode 5: The Future Remembered, Part 2(56:04, 55.0MB MP3, released 2006.07.13)Scripted by Mark BruzeeBased on The Falcon Banner, a novel by Christopher Patrick Lydon.Original music composed and performed by Kai Hartwig and Kevin MacLeodFeaturing the voice talents of:Seth Adam Sher as Darien Taine Chris Snyder as Matt Elias, Amsus Guard and Freighter Captain Tom Davis as Amsus Inquisitor Laura Post as Lauren Eric Busby as Nazzien Mark Kalita as Kendrick Mark Burzee as Shale John Lipsey as Orion Boy Jim Barbour as the Guild Master David Ault as Admiral VonGrippen Brandon Cole as Commander Kit Durnham Clym Angus as Archduke Walker VonKaren and Chris Peterson as the Amsus Fleet CommanderProduced, directed and post-produced by Chris Snyder Co-produced by Mark Bruzee Special thanks to Christoper Patrick Lydon for making the series possible.

Tonight, we'd like to take you to a place long forsaken by any benevolent spirits. It's a place where even the air is as warm and thick as blood, where things long left behind by mankind still fester, biding their time. They say God sees his whole creation. One day, he did notice a place like that...And God Looked.Listen: And God Looked (26:52, 27.9 MB MP3, released 2006.07.06)Written by Paul ManneringFeatured in the cast are:Victoria Sampson as Ma Grenoull David Bouchard as Rembrandt Elie Hirschman as Pa Grenoull Jim Barbour as Doctor Lourdes Mark Kalita as Sheriff LaGrasseProduced and directed by Mark Bruzee Co-production by Chris Snyder Post Production by Matt McLaren

The Falcon Banner, Episode 4: The Future Remembered, Part 1 (51:33, 51.7MB MP3, released 2006.06.04)Scripted by Mark BruzeeBased on The Falcon Banner, A novel by Christopher Patrick Lydon.Theme composed and performed by Kai Hartwig.Original music composed and performed by Kevin MacLeod.Featuring the voice talents of:Seth Adam Sher as Darien Taine June Lathrhop as Karen Control Laura Post as Lauren Chris Snyder as Matt Elias and Alien Pirates Eric Busby as Nazzien Mark Kalita as Kendrick Paul Mannering as Ra'Sha'Gar Shane Harris as Comm Voice and Pirate Guard Mark Bruzee as Shale Damaris Mannering as Orion Nurse Michelle Walters as News Reporter Tom Wilinski as Confused Orion Brandon Cole as Orion Captain Rebecca McCarthy as Orion 1 Jacob Jonas as Orion 2 Philip Bennfall as Orion 3 Fiona Conn as Orion 4 Jim Barbour as the Guild MasterThe series was Produced, directed and Post-produced by Chris SnyderCo-Produced by Mark BruzeeSpecial thanks to Christopher Patrick Lydon for making the series possible.

Warning - contains strong languageListen to: Alive Inside 04: The Barrier (29:00, 24.5MB mp3, released 2006.06.04)Created and written by Eric Busby and Donald O. CoppIn their continuing quest across a Post Apocalyptic America to reach Portland, Oregon, and find a way to complete the vaccine against the Plague which causes the dead to rise, the four adventurers, Lyle, Adam, Kerri and the cynical alchemist Simon Jones, encounter a Barrier across their path that is more than just a physical wall. Will they be able to tear down not only the physical wall, but also the barriers of suspicion and fear to reach the other side? Will the greater good for mankind and the Hope for a better world win, or will the remnants of the final military order to maintain duty and secure the barrier stop them before they can finish their quest to save humanity?Featured in the cast were:Mark Kalita as Lyle Kara Dennison as Kerri Morgan Jeffery as Simon Elie Hirschman as AdamAlso featuringJim Barbour as Cutter Seth Adam Sher as BlaireSpecial thanks to Caven Scott for the open monologueThis episode was produced and directed by Eric BusbyPost-production by Matt McLaren