Long time!

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve posted a personal blog entry. Illness, a busy work schedule and general apathy towards blogging have all contributed collectively to this state of being. Never the less I was thinking over the Easter weekend that I’ve posted a blurb about my Easter for the last 3 years so I may as well make this a 4th year.

Dave and Emma came over for a most enjoyable Easter weekend which was full of the usual drinking fine malts, beer and eating especially on the Sunday when Clare Chris and I prepared a lovely chicken dinner.

I went to my first 40th birthday party which was a rather busy but chilled out time.

Sadly in other news Nigel is leaving the Rose and Crown basically because of lack of support from punters in west Ipswich. Sad but I’m sure he’ll bounce back from this and I wish the dood luck in what ever he does. This is the second good [pub to go down the crapper this year the other one was in Preston, well more pubs will have gone but I’m just on about those I would have chose to drink in.

Chris and I went to the Dove, Fat Cat and the Emperor last night before stopping in at the Rose for a few. I’ve never been in the Emperor before and I was impressed. Adnams Bitter and Broadside, Young’s and a mild were on hand pump and they had a real ale in a bottle festival on plus some acoustic music for the Easter weekend. I found some of the acts really good especially a lad called Paul Steven Wood http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=147178925 his Album What’s Expected of Me, was yesterday’s unexpected purchase.

I’ve taken the rest of this week off work and we’re off to the Woolpack tonight for a Malaysian fish curry prepared by the mighty kitchen Dave. The rest of the week looks rather full and it should be interesting. More later.

New Voices and Languages for the Stream

Humanware have released new voices for the Stream. I guess nuance still have some work to do on these but at least we have access to some male voices now. They can be The UK male voice should be up soon but you can still listen to him.downloaded and listened to at the link above.

New Trekker Breeze Announced

Longueuil, March 13, 2008 – This week, at the CSUN conference in Los Angeles, HumanWare is unveiling a new talking GPS. The product is designed for people who are blind, for use when travelling in familiar surroundings. The product will also be appealing to people not comfortable with computers and screen readers. The new model is an addition to the popular Trekker and BrailleNote GPS systems, which have thousands of users worldwide. With this innovation, HumanWare will make GPS technology even more accessible to a greater number of people.

Like other GPS products from HumanWare, the Trekker Breeze provides talking GPS directions that help users know where they are and where they are going whether on foot or in a vehicle.

Trekker Breeze offers the important benefits of GPS orientation tools. It enhances independence and confidence in travelling. Users can record routes as they walk them with sighted assistance. Routes can then be previewed and activated for future use. As they walk by, users receive audible information such as street names, intersections and reference landmarks. In case they are lost, they can retrace their steps. They can also reach favorite destinations with turn by turn instructions from their current position. The product makes it easier to travel alone and allows people to discover and enjoy their surroundings.

"GPS technology brings great benefits to visually impaired travellers. With this new addition to our product line, Humanware now offers GPS benefits to an even wider portion of the visually impaired population." said Lucia Gomez, Product Manager. "Easy and intuitive, Trekker Breeze offers basic orientation functions in a all-in-one hand size device. It is also the most affordable GPS tool specially designed for the needs of users who are blind. "

"Trekker Breeze will make the potential of GPS technology even more accessible to the blind" said Lucia Gomez.

The Trekker Breeze will be available in English, summer of 2008. The BrailleNote GPS and Trekker are currently available from HumanWare. For more information, please visit http://www.humanware.com/en-usa/products/gps

GW Micro Announce W-E 7.0

This is simply a cracking upgrade. I’ve been beta testing it and love it. The new feature set is somewhat larger than GW have yet let on so watch out for more info later. Public beta coming soon.

Window-Eyes 7.0 not only has numerous performance enhancements, but it
also includes enhanced Braille support, better Browse Mode support,
Unicode, scripting, and more. With enhanced Braille support, you can
now look at an entire dialog on your Braille display without the need to
scroll the Braille display, assuming that your Braille display has
enough cells to fit the dialog. For example, if you have an 80-cell
Braille display, you have the potential to see the text of the dialog,
an OK button, and a Cancel button all without the need to scroll Braille.

Better Browse Mode support allows you to keep track of places on a web
page that you go to the most with place markers. So, if you enjoy a
specific part of a web page at www.gwmicro.com , you can mark that
spot and jump to it quickly each time you visit. And, if the page ever
changes, you have the ability to easily find that same spot if it still
exists. Other screen readers are not capable of this. The new version
also gives you the ability to jump to specific controls, like buttons,
check boxes, radio buttons, and more. Not only can you jump to a
specific type of control, but you can jump directly to the controls you
use the most. For example, if you need to go to the third edit box on a
web page each time you visit, you can jump directly to the third edit
box on the page without having to go through every edit box on the
page. This is just yet another exciting new feature that Window-Eyes
offers that no other competitor can match.

The new scripting features in Window-Eyes will open up a whole new world
for Window-Eyes consumers. We are again breaking the mold, raising the
bar, and creating new possibilities for blind and visually impaired
people. The new scripting capability will allow Window-Eyes to be
customized for applications like Skype, iTunes, and more. The best part
is that any programmer who has knowledge of a computer language that
uses COM Automation, then that programmer can write a script for
Window-Eyes. Other screen readers use a proprietary language, and thus,
have a limited number of scripters. So, what does this all mean for
you, the end user? It means there are more people to write more scripts
to make more software applications accessible. The end result is that
if you need immediate access to an application, you no longer have to
wait for the next version of Window-Eyes. If you feel comfortable
writing your own scripts, you can use the language you are most
comfortable with, as long as it supports COM Automation. Or, if you
prefer to have someone else write a script for you, simply contact a
Window-Eyes scripter, and have them write a script for you. It's that
easy. Just think of all of the applications that you could get access to!

Whisky Dream on Youtube

Good vidio on Bruichladdich. In fact brilliant.

They're making a book out of this too. Even if you're not in to whisky it's worth watching.

the glorious 12th of March for new Dolphin Screen Reading and Magnification Technology

Closely steered by Dolphin's Blindness Product Manager Dave Williams, version 9 has just completed a rigorous beta test period with our international team of testers. As ever their feedback has been invaluable.

So what's new in version 9.01? Read on to find out what's in it for you.



All New Document Object Model Support
Dolphin's developers have completely re-engineered our Microsoft Internet Explorer Document Object Model (DOM) support. This major overhaul has provided superior responsiveness when browsing web pages using the Dolphin Virtual Focus. The new Microsoft Internet Explorer support improves navigational consistency and accuracy for users relying on Virtual Focus speech and/or Braille output on web pages. The new support also enhances stability on more complex and poorly written web pages.

All new Internet Explorer Quick Navigation Keys

Whilst in Interactive mode CAPS LOCK can be used in conjunction with the quick navigation hotkeys to navigate by any of the elements listed below.

Cut, Copy and Paste Announcement
Whilst in Live mode the version 9 screen reader announces text cut, copied or pasted from the Windows clipboard. Should that data be write protected version 9 will announce the failure to cut or copy text. Moving folders or files? Version 9 will also announce the number of objects you cut, copy or paste.

All new Dolphin List Utility
Version 9 offers a consolidated list of popular document elements into one handy single multi-page List Utility.

Improved Support for Office 2007 Ribbon

All New Braille Tables

This looks interesting and I'll look forward to trying it out. They also mention scripting at the CSUN show but I'm not sure if that will be included in this version.

Stream 1.2.18 now live

HumanWare has released the latest Stream software version 1.2.18. This is a free software upgrade that can be downloaded and installed on your Stream. To download the software visit:

http://www.humanware.com/en-canada/support/victor_reader_stream

Select the link to download the new software version 1.2.18. On the same page, you will also find a What's New document describing installation procedures and listing all the features of the new version. Among the new features you will find the following:

- Support of NIMAS text books in United States
- Support of System Access Mobile from Serotek Corporation (www.serotek.com)
- Go To Time feature for non-structured audio books and recorded audio notes
- Faster data transfer rate when the Stream is connected to the computer with the USB cable
- Increased volume on the built-in speaker
- Bass and treble control for music
- Control over announcement of music folder and file names
- An optional built-in SD formatting utility should your SD card ever require reformatting
Much More

Please refer to the What's New document on the Stream page for a complete description of all new features and improvements.

We are also working on a second English U.S. male voice (Tom) and a U.K. male voice (Daniel). These will be posted as alternate version 1.2 software downloads as soon as possible. We will announce their availability on this News Wire.

The next Stream software release project will start soon and is intended to provide support for WMA and BRF. We are also planning an update to the Stream Companion software.