Blind Bargains

Blind Bargains Qast 71: Echoes Of Herbs And Spices


J.J. and Joe are back, and better than ever, with a week's worth of news. Plus, Scott is on board to talk about the Amazon Echo and voice remote. Sound Off, a tip and the "Last Word" round out this episode. So sit back and relax as the BBQ Crew prepares for takeoff down the podcast runway.

Shout out this week to David Woodbridge for this kind mention of our show in his blog post on his fave podcasts. We're in some amazing company!

In The News:

You can now Also Explore What's Nearby With iOS
User's Guide link

Thanks to Cool blind Tech, and for iOS, Draw2Measure Protractor

From AppleVis, also for iOS, Yes Chef - Hands Free Recipe Assistant

Braigo launches web app to help blind people parse text on images

Android 7.0 released

Mastering GitHub with a screen reader, part 1.

Magic 13 update has been released

The August 2016 Access World, with a few names you might recognize from this here podcast, is now online

Chronicles from the Conventions

Braille Comes to the Echo in a Challenging way

Demonstration: Amazon Echo Voice Remote

You could not resist the urge to get that amazon Echo thingy. But you didn't want to go "all in" by equipping every room in your house with one. Scott might just have the perfect solution for you. The voice remote works with the Echo and the Dot, not the Tap, to let you speak to Alexa from places not directly within her ability to hear you from across the room... or rooms. Scott demonstrates how to connect the device, gives a physical description of the remote and shows us how well the unit works in a real life test situation. If you found this demo helpful, and you would like to nab one for yourself, visit the product webpage.

Tip: Text to Speech to Audio File

Balabolka is a pretty powerful text-to-speech tool which will take just about any file format and read it out loud. Listen as the app demonstrates itself in this week's tip. Thanks to @brianhartgen for the tip.

Sound Off:

We highlight three emails this week. First up, Jan Brown;

"Sent from my iPhone Keyboards are great but fingers are quicker
I wish, in these days of braille everywhere, that somebody would show up at CSUN and do a workshop on writing braille in iOS.
Why get an expensive note taker when you can write all kinds of braille for different contexts right on your smallish I device?
You can write about as fast as you can on a keyboard unless somebody is around to watch.
If you want to edit, go to Voice Dream Writer or pages and make it look all pretty I was on Klango for a few years and had some fun.

That's all folks.."

Next, Ms. Sharon Ewing.

"I wanted to compliment you guys on the podcast with all the tips in it. It was fabulous. As I am a new listener to Blind Bargains, at least on a consistent basis, I was amused and educated imagine getting that all in one package. I have been guilty of listening to CSun stuff, but never the regular podcast, that will change!

Joe, as always, does a terrific job (finally adding in the keystrokes for things, I see), and the content was more than worthwhile. So, thanks for just putting out quality stuff.

J.J., you were entirely too intrigued with that drum beat by letter business, but a laugh, all the same.

I have downloaded the App on my iPhone and will be adding the feed to my podcast stream.

Take care, JJ, Joe and the BB Team,"

lastly, from Lydia...

"Hello,
I just finished listening to Blind Bargains Qast 70, and I have to admit that my favorite part of the entire show was when Patrick almost said "Copyright 2015." Well, at least he caught the mistake and corrected it. That really made my day. Again, keep up the great work. I also liked listening to episode 68 as well. You should do those Live shows more often when you can. Again, I can't thank you enough for the great podcasts.
Sincerely,
Lydia Alverson

Last Word:

A Youtube clip, a blast from future's past and one last smell of summer comprise this week's offerings.
Ocarina Cover Compilation | The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D
Omni Magazine Archives
KFC Extra Crispy Sunscreen

One more show to go before we talk about the new iPhones, and for joe the new Playstations, as September 7th looms ever closer. have a great week everyone!

Listen to the File


File size: 56.6MB
Length: 49:33

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Joe Steinkamp is no stranger to the world of technology, having been a user of video magnification and blindness related electronic devices since 1979. Joe has worked in radio, retail management and Vocational Rehabilitation for blind and low vision individuals in Texas. He has been writing about the A.T. Industry for 15 years and podcasting about it for almost a decade.


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