Blind Abilities Podcast

In this episode of That Blind Tech Show the gang has enlisted the heavy hitter from New York City, straight off the island, Ed Plumacker. We talk about the lock-down and how we and our family are making it work and how we are being and staying productive. Ed has got his mind set on the upcoming new SE iPhone from Apple, Brian has jumped into the PC world for the first time, Serina is doubling down and locking her doors twice as the situation is more important than the temptation of sunshine and warmer weather. Jeff is working on streamlining the Blind Abilities podcasts and checking in on Brian now and then as the pandemic has been horrific in the New York area. Ok, does your iPhone face ID work while wearing a mask? You can just pull your mask down below the nose area and Face ID should work fine. However, check out the Alternate ID demo and find out how to add an Alternate ID or 2nd person to your Face ID. BTW, do we really care about Amazon Day being moved? Whatever, right? Be My Eyes gets a call to be a h

Full Transcript Becca Weber joins Simon in the Blind Abilities Studio to talk about her educational journey, her online learning, her assistive technology and her volunteer work with the National Homework Hotline. Becca gives some great advice about having a well-rounded knowledge of assistive technology. The need to know your rights and to be able to self-advocate in your schooling and in the workplace. Becca has her path mapped out and wants to be a Teacher for the Blind and Visually Impaired, (TVBI). We hope you enjoy this brief moment with Becca, as she does cover a lot of ground including the challenges of interacting with the sighted students in high school.  Becca is surely on her way and is choosing the career that she wants. You can find Becca on Twitter @BWeber630 Here is the email to the National Homework Hotline. National Homework Hotline for Blind and Visually Impaired Students (NHH-BVI) What: The National Homework Hotline for Blind/Visually Impaired Students (NHH-BVI) is a free service for K-12

Full Transcript Bree Klauser is a New York based Singer, Actress, Voiceover artist, Songwriter and funny lady who happens to be born legally blind. She grew up 30 miles from NYC, fell in love with singing and performing through musical theatre and later on the Jazz greats of the 40s, 50s, and 60s. She earned her BFA in acting from Brooklyn College. She has been mentored by the late  former Metropolitan Opera singer Francisco Casanova, and has studied with many other coaches and Broadway musical directors. In 2018,Bree started production on her breakout role of "Matal" in "SEE", a new AppleTV Plus series starring Jason Momoa. All songs on this podcast are the works of Bree and the Whatevers. You can find links to Bree’s music and videos on her web site at https://www.breeklauser.com. Follow Bree Klauser on Instagram. Stay tuned for Bree’s follow up podcast arriving soon! Contact Your State Services If you reside in Minnesota, and you would like to know more about Transition Services from State Services contact

Full Transcript Your Response Matters! Health clinics. Fire departments. Schools. Even roads and highways. The census can shape many different aspects of your community. Census results help determine how billions of dollars in federal funding flow into states and communities each year. The results determine how many seats in Congress each state gets. It's mandated by the U.S. Constitution in Article 1, Section 2: The U.S. has counted its population every 10 years since 1790. Susan Kusz joins Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities studio to let us all know about the 2020 Census and the importance of being counted and the effect the Census has on our community, county and state. How 5 or 10 minutes is all it takes to get your entire household counted in this function of our country.  Susan Kusz Chairs the Complete Census Count Committee Disability Work Group and that pretty much means that she is a Census expert and we are glad to have her here to give us a big picture view of the 2020 Census and how important y

That Blind Tech Show is back in the saddle and would like to send out our best of thoughts to you and your families during these challenging times we are experiencing. Be sure to stay informed and reach out to your loved ones via phone and check up on one another on a regular basis. Together we can get through this and we hope we can bring you some useful information as well as some humor. We all need a bit of relief from our long days of late and hope you enjoy the show. Most of all, we want all of you to stay well and stay strong. In this show we take a look at working from home, some tips and what it is like when the kids are home as well. We explore some devices and tools such as the new MacBook and new iPads. Explore what tools are becoming handy as we all experience changes in our workplace, school studies and everyday life. We talk about fitness and the Focus On Fitness series just released on Blind Abilities. The new My Read tool from Orcam that is for low-vision and it is like a pen in your hand and

Full Transcript Maria Ceferatti joins Jeff in the Blind Abilities Virtual Studio via Zoom Cloud Meetings, Maria using her iPhone with the Zoom App and Jeff back at the Blind Abilities Studio on his Mac with the Zoom Pro Account up and running. Jeff uses the Zoom recording feature as a backup just in case something goes wrong with his main recording. Check out the link below if you are interested in the Free guide to Zoom called, “Meet Me Accessibly” from Jonathan Mosen. Maria talks about the dynamics and challenges her family are adjusting to since she started working from home and her son Simon started schooling from home as well. From keeping on schedule, working through accessing math papers, to using this time to enhance Life Skills and work on sharpening some skills that will pay off when Simon heads to college and the dorm life, it seems like they got it worked out pretty good. Join Maria and Jeff as we learn how with the Grace of God and some patience, everything is going to be all right. Now if we can

With the COVID-19 epidemic spreading across the World, there are so many questions being asked and protocols being established. Stephen Letnes took it upon himself to ask around the state of Minnesota, “How does a Blind/Visually Impaired person establish a ride to the Doctor’s office if they want them to come in and be tested?” After fining absolutely no protocols in place, Stephen started his mission to bring his question to the attention of the Legislators, the, Health Department and the governor. Join Stephen Letnes and Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities studio and find out how little has been done with concerns towards people who can’t drive and how do they get to the doctor for testing to see if they have Covid19. In Minnesota you can call the Minnesota Covid19 Hotline: 651-201-3920 Here is a comprehensive list of all the states and their hotline phone numbers. You can contact Stephen Letnes by email. You can find out the latest from the web site of the Center of Disease Control Check out the Corona Vi

At the Washington Seminar, members of the National Federation of the Blind took to Capitol Hill to advocate for legislative initiatives that will improve the lives of blind Americans. Simon Bonenfant from Blind Abilities attended his 8th Washington Seminar and joined hundreds of others in an effort to educate the Representatives and Senators about Blindness and to support legislation that would  improve the lives of blind Americans. John G. Paré, Jr., joins Simon in the Blind Abilities studio and talks about the agenda the NFB brought to Washington DC. Although Simon is still in High School, he is somewhat a veteran at attending the annual event and elaborate on the changes and successes that he has seen since he has been attending. Join John and Simon and learn about what you can do to help improve the lives of blind Americans. 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 e

FocusOnFitness is a new series of basic exercises you can do in your house, in the dorm or during a short break. Using the natural surrounding without having to find the right equipment, the best gym or the perfect time to do a little workout. Focus on Fitness is all about doing it when you can and hey, why not? Maria Johnson, aka Girl Gone Blind, joins Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities Studio to Focus on Fitness and how you can incorporate little nuggets of exercise without throwing your schedule off and being able to work out within your own time and space. In this introductory episode, #1 of 4, of the Focus on Fitness series, Maria and Jeff introduce us to the Plank. This is a full core exercise and is something you can build upon over time. Take your time and feel the entire body come together to keep that plank position steady and strong. Start with 10 seconds, drop to the knees if need be, it all counts. Check out  some more Focus on Fitness episodes and if you have any suggestions or comments, feel

FocusOnFitness is a new series of basic exercises you can do in your house, in the dorm or during a short break. Using the natural surrounding without having to find the right equipment, the best gym or the perfect time to do a little workout. Focus on Fitness is all about doing it when you can and hey, why not? Maria Johnson, aka Girl Gone Blind, joins Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities Studio to Focus on Fitness and how you can incorporate little nuggets of exercise without throwing your schedule off and being able to work out within your own time and space. In this introductory episode #2 of 4, of the Focus on Fitness series, Maria and Jeff introduce us to Squats. This is where you lower your hips from a standing position and then stand back up. Maria and Jeff want you to be safe and suggest hanging onto a stable fixture when exploring the movement of a Squat.  This is to give you an idea of the motion that a Squat consists of and to give you a sense of the group of muscles involved. Check out  some more

FocusOnFitness is a new series of basic exercises you can do in your house, in the dorm or during a short break. Using the natural surrounding without having to find the right equipment, the best gym or the perfect time to do a little workout. Focus on Fitness is all about doing it when you can and hey, why not? Maria Johnson, aka Girl Gone Blind, joins Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities Studio to Focus on Fitness and how you can incorporate little nuggets of exercise without throwing your schedule off and being able to work out within your own time and space. In this introductory episode #3 of 4, of the Focus on Fitness series, Maria and Jeff talk to  us about Walking. Whether using a guide with a tether or on the treadmill, walking is one of the best exercises available. Making a walking routine part of your weekly schedule is one of the best choices one can make when it comes to your heart, your lungs and it can really be a good time to converse and even take in a good audio book. That is, if you are on

FocusOnFitness is a new series of basic exercises you can do in your house, in the dorm or during a short break. Using the natural surrounding without having to find the right equipment, the best gym or the perfect time to do a little workout. Focus on Fitness is all about doing it when you can and hey, why not? Maria Johnson, aka Girl Gone Blind, joins Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities Studio to Focus on Fitness and how you can incorporate little nuggets of exercise without throwing your schedule off and being able to work out within your own time and space. In this introductory episode, #4 of 4, of the Focus on Fitness series, Maria and Jeff introduce us to the Windmill. This is a full core exercise and is something you can use to get a good stretch to the legs, hips, back from a standing position or from a sitting position.  By holding your arms straight out from side to side and reaching across towards your opposite toes. Then back again and repeat on the other side. Slow and steady goes a long way wit

During these unprecedented times we want to talk about some of the challenges facing the blindness community brought on by the Corona Virus 19 Pandemic. We highly suggest that you keep up with the latest news and information on the Center for Disease Control web site. Serina Gilbert, Lori Thompson, Tiffany Manosh and Jeff Thompson talk about the challenges and how they are over-coming and facing the situation of transportation, groceries, children, closures, working from home and how they are handling the stress and anxiety from our new realities. Serina has published a web page that focuses on tips  and information about the Corona 19 Virus and with a Blindness perspective. You can find this on the web at www.BlindyBlog.com/corona and be sure to check back often as the page will be updated frequently. We wish you all the strength and wellness to you, and your  families, friends and communities and be sure to stay informed and aware of the updates and news from the CDC. Remember to help others and together we

Empowering the Blind and Visually Impaired to be more independent. That is what Envision is all about and Karthik  is in the Blind Abilities Studio to tell us all about the launch of the Envision Glasses. You can Pre-Order your pair today at https://www.letsenvision.com/glasses and shipping will start early Summer! From the web: Turn Text into Speech Envision Glasses enable you to read all kinds of text from any surface in over 60 languages. The SmartGlasses have the fastest and the most accurate Optical Character Recognition (OCR), enabling you to read street signs, handwritten cards and even your favorite book. Know what's around you Envision Glasses can describe scenes, detect colors and scan barcodes. Giving you information about what is in front of you, helping you choose the right dress and assisting you in picking the right products while shopping. Conquer any situation with video calling If you ever feel you need a bit of extra help, you can always call upon your favorite human. Envision Glasses have

That Blind Tech Show is in the Studio and do we got a show for you. From Google Docs on the PC, Aira rebooting under Blue Diago and the Sun is setting on the Horizon Glasses. Why is NBC All Access not all accessible? Do those call protections really serve you well? Is that Brian talking or is my White Noise machine turned down to low? And, tell me this, how does Brian get an entire keyboard in his pocket?  How about the new update to the BARD App? Sweet! We got all the answers and some stuff like limiting them pesky questions like do you want to connect to a hot spot or Wi-Fi connection, yes, stuff like that. The crew is traveling in March and logging them there miles in the air while all is well on the studio front, but what about the show? Oh my gosh, stop reading and just listen. I just got this episode ready and these show notes are the only thing in the way of publishing.  So, I got to get a going and be sure to give us feedback and let us know what you like and what you want to know more about. That is

In this iPhone101 episode Jeff will show you how to turn off ad tracking and reset your advertising identifier. This won’t stop all advertising, however, do we want Big Apple to tempt our habits? By tracking your movements on the iPhone, apps and basically anywhere you go, Apple can form a profile on you and target advertising towards you that may be hitting too close to home. Ever get that Wow moment when you receive an ad about a certain item and you were just mentioning that the other day to a friend? Coincidence? No not at all, your profile is being targeted. This could serve you will or this may be something you feel is a bit uncomfortable. Well, you have a choice of turning this feature off or turning it on. Here is how we do it: Go to Settings, Privacy, Advertising and then Limit Ad Tracking to toggle on or off. Move on down to Reset Advertising identifier. Be sure to check out the entire iPhone101 Series on the web at www.BlindAbilities.com. Thanks for Listening! Contact: You can follow us on Twitter 

Jeff Thompson talks with a fascinating guest in this, yet another feature interview on Blind Abilities. Joey Stuckey is many things, not the least of which is a talented musician, a sound engineer and owner of Shadow Sound Studio in Macon, Georgia. He is also an insightful, thoughtful and articulate guest who has so many interesting things to share.  Joey talks about everything from his blindness, which stemmed from a brain tumor in early childhood; his entry into the world of music and sound production and how he embraced it as a “calling" as a blind youth; and his advice to young folks, blind and sighted who are thinking of getting into the music business. He takes us through his studio, a high-tech and vibrant business in Macon, his experiences while touring with his bands out on the road, and numerous opinions about all things that you, as a Blind Abilities listener will enjoy. Pete Lane had the opportunity to work on Jeff’s interview with Joey, and said of the experience” “This was an absolute pleasure!

Brian Fischler, from That Blind Tech Show, gives us a demonstration of two sound masking machines from Adaptive Sounds Technologies. Brian demonstrates the functions and usability of each machine and has enjoyed his experience since purchasing the Sound+Sleep High Fidelity Sleep Sound Machine. From the web: Adaptive Sound Technologies, Inc. specializes in high quality, white noise, sound masking fans for bedrooms. The LectroFans feature white, pink and brown noise variants, as well as well as twenty unique, real-time synthesized, non-looping sounds designed to mask disruptive noises and aid sleep. You can find out more about Adaptive Sound Technologies  on the web, and if you have any other questions Call Adaptive Sound Technologies at408-377-3411. Contact: Thank you for listening! You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Storeand Google Play Store. Check out the Blind Abilities Communityon Facebook, the Blin

If you follow social media, you may have noticed some initiatives to enlighten our fellow society members on how to interact with people who happen to be Blind/Visually Impaired.  There was the “Just Ask, Don't Grab” campaign by Dr. Amy Kavanagh and other people from the Blind and Visually Impaired community addressing incidents where sighted members of our society feel obligated to save the day for the presumably helpless blind person. If you are out and about in the public sphere, chances are you've also encountered those people who take it upon themselves to determine what is best for you and have no idea how to assist and land up grabbing, insisting, demanding and upsetting you when they're actually trying to help. Unsolicited help can be frustrating, distracting or even dangerous  especially when focus on the environment is needed - crossing streets, navigating train platforms, ascending and descending stairs, to cite just a few examples.  Yes, sometimes those interactions can be useful, answering a qu

Jim Johnson, Vice President of Pharmacy Operations for In-Store Pharmacy with Sobeys and Jenna Reed, Director of Marketing, from En-Vision America, join Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities studio to bring you the breaking news: ScriptAbility Accessible Rx Labels First Time in Canadian History -- Accessible Prescription Labels Available In-Store Across Large Pharmacy Chain! En-Vision America has partnered up with Empire LTD of Canada and has brought the Script Ability service across Canada through the Empire brand pharmacies. Empire Company Limited, which runs brands Lawtons Drugs, Sobeys, Safeway Canada, Thrifty Foods, Foodland, IGA (Western Canada) and Fresh Co are now offering talking prescription labels for blind, visually impaired and print impaired patients at all pharmacy locations, in store, throughout the country. As usual, it's free for patients.   En-Vision America is an innovative technology company specializing in enhancing the lives of people who are visually impaired, print impaired and blind.