Blind Abilities Podcast

Blind Abilities adds to their iPhone 101 demonstration series library with this short but informative walk through sending audio messages using the Messages app and iOS. Pete Lane guides us through this simple, yet time-saving process which involves confirming your settings, summoning Siri, using the raise to talk and raise to listen features to enhance simplicity, and a step-by-step demonstration of each button and element within the messages app. this feature can save some valuable time when you’re on the run, or when you just don’t feel like sending a text message to a family member, friend or colleague. Simply summons Siri, as described in our previous iPhone 101 episode, or go directly to the app and save time either way. Additionally, an audio message adds a personal touch to your communications. As usual, Pete attempts to include some entertainment,  but his  Ultimate success, of course, will be yours and yours alone to judge! So sit back, relax and enjoy this iPhone 101 demonstration. The podcast i

As part of the Musician’s Spotlight series, we are proud to bring you Brian Snowman Powers. Brian is a sound Engineer, Teacher and Professional Sax Musician. Here is our interview with Brian Snowman Powers from 2018: Brian powers grew up with the challenges of bullying and being just a bit different. Brian has Albinism and is legally Blind. From his days in K-12 to his journey into the music industry, Brian shares his challenges, his resolve and his passion for music. Brian has contributed his successful transitions into school, work and setting up his business to the help he received from State Services for the Blind of Minnesota. From providing visual devices, guidance and support Brian has utilized the services provided by State Services at every crossroads along his education and career. Brian Snowman powers on stage playing the Saxophone. Brian is setting up his new studio in the Uptown section of Minneapolis, Minnesota and by the time you finish listening to his podcast, he will probably be sitting beh

Blind Abilities gets back to its iPhone 101 series with a comprehensive review of a multitude of tasks aimed at helping us better understand what Apples much-maligned personal assistant, none other than Siri, can do for us, and what he or she cannot do for us. Pete Lane takes us through dozens of task and commands, ranging from simple to complex, and demonstrates how many are truly convenient and easy to perform. Be aware that the phrase, Hey Siri, is used through out this episode; headphones recommended. Join Pete as he meticulously demonstrates each step of every command, beginning with Siri Settings, each press of a button or verbal command, each response and each adjustment needed to settings or apps to ensure Siri’s actions are on target. When the dust settles, there are only a few tasks which cannot be completed by the Apple Personal Assistant. Sit back and listen closely as Pete moves quickly through actions like asking the time all over the world, setting alarms and reminders, performing math computat

As the times seem to be looking like we may be headed back to the office, meetings and possibly conventions, we find ourselves getting more opportunities to socialize and stretch our distance from home. This last 18 months has been a new experience for us all and with the "opening up" of travel, although limited, we put together some personal and social tips that may be of help to some of you and maybe to some of your friends newly on this journey of sight-loss. Yes, we know we do not want to forget to consider distancing, washing of hands, limiting contact and keeping a mask handy and as we begin to get out more these tips are something you can put in your back pocket and draw from as you may begin to get out yourself. Remember, stay informed, stay strong and stay well. 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. Contact: You

Full Transcript Show Summary: As part of the Musician Spotlight Series we are proud to bring you Johnny Hiland. Johnny is one of the fastest guitar pickers in the world and his playing will surely reinforce that thought. Here is our interview with Johnny Hiland recorded in 2019. We hope you enjoy.   Blind Abilities presents another epic podcast featuring an in depth interview with an amazing guest. Johnny Hiland is a highly successful and well-respected musician, a fantastic country guitarist who is widely recognized as one of the fastest “chicken pickers” in the world. But his musical expertise is not limited to the country arena. No, Johnny has mastered rock, blues, swing, medal and almost any other genre into which he chooses to go, whether in the studio with the likes of Hargus (Pig) Robbins, or Phil Keaggy, or on stage with Sammy Hagar, the 392nd Army Rock Band on July 4th, or with his childhood hero, Ricky Skaggs. Johnny is also an active teacher, giving guitar lessons live or on line, and as an expert

In the first part of our Musicians Spotlight Series, we bring you John Kay from Steppenwolf Fame which brought us such great hits as Born to be Wild, Magic Carpet Ride, The Pusher and 50 years of John Kay music and his work with NGOs helping Elephants survive as they, too, were Born to be Wild. John Kay: from Rock Star to Elephants, We Were All Born To Be Wild #Steppenwolf to #MaueKayFoundation Show Summary (Full Text Transcript Below) John Kay reveals his journey from escaping the Iron Curtain, getting on with limited vision, his passion for music and his love and commitment for wildlife and especially elephants. Ironically, I first learned about John Kay being legally blind from Dan Gausman, a librarian at State Services for the Blind of Minnesota. A client requested to have the Communications Center record an audio copy of John Kay’s 1994 autobiography, Magic Carpet Ride. This is a service provided to people who are blind, visually impaired, dyslexic or have difficulty in reading the printed word. Dan men

Full Transcript Timothy Spuck from Associated Universities Inc.(AUI),, joins Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities studio, and talks about his involvement with the IDATA Project.  The chief component of the project is their new and improved software, AfterGlow Access,  that aids  individuals without sight  by converting astronomical images into soundscapes which can be heard by blind and visually impaired (BVI)folks.. This software is readily accessible on the IDATA web site. Here is the page to the AfterGlow Access Software. `Tin explains that astronomical images are nothing more than data points which have typically been converted into visual displays, but which can easily be presented as audio arrays that can be viewed and interpreted  by anyone, with or without vision. Tim discusses his participation with his team members and other partners  on the project, showing both his passion for astronomy, and his strong belief that diversity can improve not only the quality of the science, but its impact on the wor

Full Transcript  Show Summary: In the Blind Abilities Studio, Hannah Harriman sits down with Jeff Thompson to talk about her academic and employment journey. From her early days and her Individual Education Plan (IEP) In Grade School to her Individual Plan for Employment (IPE) as she attended the Summer Transition Program, MN State Academy for the Blind and went off to college to her two current jobs, Hannah is excited about her future. Hannah’s parents had high expectations and allowed her to take charge of her future through her IEP meetings and her decisions on her educational goals. Hannah never doubted her college education and she talks about how she prepared and advanced through her transition and employment goals. Her high expectations and self-determination has made a world of difference as she handles two jobs in the career that she wanted. You can find out more about the Summer Transition Program and the Minnesota State Academy for the Blind by contacting Sheila Koenig by email and by phone at 651-

Open up your native Music App on your iPhone, iPad, iPod, iMac, MacBook or even on Apple TV, and play a song. Open the mini-player to show the now playing screen and tap on the Lyrics button down near the bottom. With VoiceOver on, you will hear the lyrics just before the singing starts. You can employ Air Play and play the song on your speakers or Apple TV system while VoiceOver remains in your device for clarity, as I see it, or should I say, as I hear it?  Check out this short demo by Jeff Thompson and sing along to your favorite songs with VoiceOver doing the heavy lifting. No, it is not karaoke, however, it gives you a winning chance on reminding or nudging you into the correct lyric. Kind of sorta in a way like karaoke. Hope you enjoy. 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. Contact: You can follow us on Twitter @Bl

Blind Abilities adds to the iPhone101 Catalogue with this short, but informative demonstration of how to navigate your way out of a long list. Have you ever found yourself way, way down in your mail Inbox, processing your email, but when finished, you can’t get back to the top without having to flick through those endless emails, one at a time? How about the same scenario in your Messages app, or even worse, Facebook Dropbox or YouTube?  Pete Lane offers a couple of quick and easy tips on how to get back to the top of those screens - those dreaded lists, without having to spend your valuable time flicking backwards, or almost as time-consuming, scrolling up the screen using your 3-finger swipe down to go up the list. Join Pete as he shares these tips in a clear and understandable, and sometimes humorous demonstration. Eliminate with the tedious and inefficient flicking and swiping as you learn to use these new techniques. It will save you time in the long run! Contact Your State Services If you reside in Minn

Learning Ally’s College Success Program coordinator, Abigail Shaw, gives us a history of Learning Ally and dives deep into the College Success Program. Mentor, Rachel Grider, and Mentee, Gabi Mendonca, explain how the College Success Program works from their experience as a Mentor and a college student perspective. You can get all the details on the web at College Success Program You can learn all about Learning Ally and what they offer on the web at LearningAlly.org or by calling 1-8000-221-1098. Host Simon Bonenfant is a High School student preparing for his transition to college and Learning Ally is top on his list as he embarks upon his future and successes in his academia journey. Listen how Gabi utilized the College Success Program and how Rachel came to be a Mentor in the program. Abigail gives us an overview and talks about how she was introduced to Learning Ally and all of the programs Learning Ally offers to help turn struggling students into grade-level achievers. Contact Your State Services If you

Full Transcript Show Summary: Thomas Reid lost his sight back in 2004 and found podcasts as a way back into learning and getting his message out to the world. Coming from the IT sector, Thomas found technology and screen readers as a way back to the workplace and never looked back. He now host the Reid My Mind Podcast, is a Voice Artist and an advocate and voice for the Blind and African Americans. Thomas brings in his passion for music and creativity in his sound design making his podcasts interesting and exciting. Thomas is more than a podcast host, voice artist and advocate, he is a husband, proud father and someone who has something to say. I know I am listening and I hope you open your mind to his conversations with people who are making lives matter and the world a better place. You can find out more about Thomas Reid on his web site at ReidMyMind.com. And be sure to subscribe to his podcast, Reid My Mind on any pod-catcher of your choice. Contact Your State Services If you reside in Minnesota, and you

Full Transcript Show Summary: It was a typical day for Robert Tarango, working in the kitchen of the Helen Keller National Center. That is until his boss summoned him to another building on the center’s campus. Not given any further information, Robert imagined a host of mostly ominous reasons for the sudden meeting.   The last thing he considered was that he would be auditioning for the lead in the short film, Feeling Through.Nor did he ever think he would receive the part and become the first DeafBlind actor in an Oscar nominated film. But that is exactly what happened. The film by writer/director Doug Roland is based on his own real-life encounter he had over ten years ago late one night in New York.  It was his first time meeting a DeafBlind person and the experience of learning alternative means of communicating never left him. Both Doug and Robert talk with guest host Lisa Bryant about casting an authentic DeafBlind person, and the value rather than the expense of providing accommodations. Doug also add

Serina, Raqi and Jeff are all doble jabbed and on their way for full vaccination. And the crew went deep into some topics, deep into the weeds as they say. Marlon joins Jeff to bring Audio Drama to life on the Blind Abilities show. Here is a chronological list of the topics we dug into and we hope you enjoy! We 3 got our 2 shots each, but separately. Uber, Lyft and Aira offers for vaccinations. Air Tag Experience and precision finding to the rescue. Air Tag cases are expensive and sold out basically on the app store. Do you talk to your Uber or lift drivers? Clubhouse gets the Magic Tap, who’s speaking now? Do you remember phone numbers, anymore? VR is starting to open up and changing to the new normal. The LG Gram laptop has landed! Using the level in the native Measure App on your iPhone Sonification and Describing NASA Data into Audio imagery. How about Spatial recognition and learning? Home Pods still are available from 2018! Bluetooth connectivity between watch, iPhone, Mac and Air Buds. Hmm. Air Tag ge

Kimberly Arcand, Visualization Scientist Emerging Technology Lead for NASA’s Chandra Observatory at the Center for Astrophysics Harvard and Smithsonian, has been working with Christine Malec and JJ Hunt, from the Talk Description to Me Podcasts, describing imagery created from data gathered by a variety of telescopes. Kimberly’s work in visualization has connected her up with Christine and JJ to describe the imagery in a way that brings the scientific and abstract languages together to help bring about a more inclusive experience from the data conceptualized for imagery. Sonification of the data is available on the Chandra X-Ray Center web site. You can listen to the Data Sonification’s: Stellar, Galactic, and Black Hole. Chandra Podcast You can learn about recent discoveries and updates of the Chandra mission in video and audio formats. To find out more about NASA’s Flagship X-Ray Telescope, visit the web site at Chandra X-Ray Center and be sure to send them feedback at CXCpub@cfa.harvard.edu.  Contact Your

Today Jeff and Raqi are joined in the studio by Brandon Biggs, inclusive designer and Engineer with The Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute (SKI), the foremost organization for vision research in the U. s. Brandon is involved in three major projects at SKI, including the development of the Cam IO app, which allows blind and visually impaired individuals to digitally annotate and navigate objects, such as appliances, iNavigate, an indoor way-finding app, and Audiom, an audio variation of Maps.  In this podcast, Brandon will focus on Audiom. Brandon shares his journey to Smith-Kettlewell by way of his educational path, which traversed not only the U. S., but to Italy, Malta, The Netherlands and Canada as well. He also describes the similarities and differences in the ways those countries approach their disabled communities with accessibility efforts, many of which are more focused on Blindness initiatives, but are behind the U. S. in other areas.  Brandon intends to advance his career in app development and

Full Transcript Provided   Tanja Milojevic had a passion for audio since her childhood and has followed her dream of becoming a voice artist and now creates, participates and collaborates with many other creatives in the field of voice artistry. From voice overs, audio description, and her favorite pastime, Audio Dramas. Tanja joins Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities studio to talk about how Tanja arrived at being a Voice Artist and what was the driving forces that kept her goal in mind.  Through her educational journey and trying to find her place, audio books, and dramas became her favorite adventure after homework was done. Her drive and curiosity led her to reach out to the voice artist community and her voice found a home in a variety of challenges that Tanja took on.  Her podcast, Lightning Bolt Theater of the Mind  Is a creative venture with her besties and other creatives doing what they love to create. Tanja is involved with a company called Storymore and they will be releasing a new app on iOS and

Blind Abilities adds to their iPhone 101 demonstrations series with a review of two simple but time saving tips found in your keyboard settings. Just go to your iOS settings app, flick down to general, go to keyboard and there you will find these two convenient shortcuts: The Period Shortcut, and the Auto Capitalization features. These two features are often overlooked and will save you valuable time by avoiding unnecessary taps in your on screen keyboard. These can be used in any text Field, weather in an email, message, Facebook post or other written communication. Pete Lane returns to the iPhone 101 demonstration series with this concise, and valuable review of these two time saving features. Take a few short minutes now to review these tips, and you will save time and increase productivity down the road with every one of your written communications, whether typing on your virtual keyboard, or using dictation. Contact Your State Services If you reside in Minnesota, and you would like to know more about Tra

Jeff Thompson goes through the set up process on a couple of AirTags using his iPhone. The process is nearly automatic and in no time you won’t be losing a thing. Kind of. If you have an iPhone 11 or 12 running iOS 14.5, you are good to go. Although, the iPhone SE, released in 2020, does not sport the A1 Nero Chip Near Field Communication (NFC) is not part of the SE features. You can find AirTags on the Apple Store and a handful of accessories to hold your tag as the AirTags themself do not have a hole or tab for securing to your keys or handle. With the AirTags coming in at $29 apiece and a pack of 4 going for $99, it is not too surprising that the keyring sells for $35 from Apple while the growing list of 3rd party vendors keeps growing. With the battery being replaceable, and the precision Finding feature in the NFC equipped iPhones, the AirTag experience is all that I expected and maybe a bit more. For more information about the AirTag, Check out the AirTag page on Apple. Contact Your State Services If yo

Blind Abilities brings you another episode in the iPhone 101 demonstrations and reviews series which will add to your arsenal of Keyboard shortcuts in the Text Replacement section of your Keyboard Settings. This one will show you just how easy it is to add emojis to your library of readily available shortcuts.  As Jeff Thompson demonstrated in a previous iPhone101 Demonstration, which follows this demo, Jeff shows how you can use just a couple of letters to create a shortcut which will automatically populate the dialog box or page with commonly used phrases, names, hashtags, email addresses and anything you desire. Now Pete Lane adds emojis to that list of possible shortcuts. Steps for Text Replacement: Single finger double tap on the Settings icon. , swipe down to General. Single finger double tap on Keyboard  Single finger double tap on the Text Replacement option.. Pete will then walk you through the simple process of creating a shortcut to add emojis to your library.  While some of us have been resistan