Triple-click Home

Listen to Triple-click Home Episode 20: A Scary Space Odyssey

Since Buddy Brannan was unable to join us for this month’s episode of Triple-click Home, Jamie Pauls joins Alena Roberts and John Panarese to discuss the top news stories of the month. The team has some app recommendations to share along the way, and Alena rounds out the show with an interview with the developer of the Voice Dream app for reading books and many other types of documents on your iOS device.

Apple Took Three Days to Tell Developers About a Site Hack

Researcher claims he told Apple of Developer Center vulnerability but didn’t maliciously steal data

iOS 7 preview: Siri gets a new look, access to settings, more services, still no predictive results

Nobody Has Tried The Real iOS 7

With Its Acquisition Of Locationary, Apple Zeros In On Maps, Big Data And Competing With Google

With all of our talk of travel, John recommends All Access: Talking Menus.

Apple acquires navigation service Hopstop

HopStop for Windows Phone Scrapped Following Apple Deal

States Combat Cell Phone Use On The Road But Deaths Persist

How Will Apple Handle Verizon’s iPhone Shortfall?

Comparing T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon’s Upgrade Plans

Here’s all the evidence that Apple is making an actual TV—and the remote will likely be your hand

iPad mini 2 with Retina display won’t be released this year?

Recharging iPhone blamed for another serious shock in China

You Won’t Need a PIN When You Pay for Everything with Your Face

Apple should lead the move to DRM-free ebooks

How to request a refund for an iTunes or App Store purchase

App Updates: Fleksy Version 1.8 links favorites with contacts, improves responsiveness and accuracy, and adds themes There is also a new update to MBraile

Seeing Eye GPS: a Turn-by-Turn GPS application for the iPhone Developed Specifically for the Blind

Listen to Joe Steinkamp’s interview with the developers of the iOS game Solara on SeroTalk Podcast 162

Alena has been playing with the crossword game Word Shuffle.

Contacting the Team

The Triple-click Home team would love to hear from you. Here is how you can get in touch with them: Follow Alena Roberts on Twitter Follow Buddy Brannan on Twitter Follow John Panarese on Twitter Follow Triple-click Home on Twitter Thanks for listening!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Listen to Triple-click Home Episode 17: Differently Evil This time around, Jamie Pauls joins Buddy Brannan and Alena Roberts in a discussion of the top news stories of the month. Along with the news, Alena and Jamie bring you an interview with Bill Spiry about Earl, the news reader app with the cool name! Finally, this month’s podcast introduces a new resource segment, Our first topic is Switching to the Mac. Of course, your emails make our show complete and we include them here. We trust that John will be able to join us again next month. Stories covered in this podcast include: Apple announces WWDC 2013 details, promises new iOS and OSX builds Microsoft Isn’t Going To Release Office For iOS And Android Until 2014 Tim Cook issues an apology to Apple’s Chinese customers Analyst: Apple 60-inch iTV with iRing motion controller to launch in 2013 Apple patents way to show info to callers on hold Apple hangs onto your Siri data for two years Verizon’s new phone upgrade policy draws scrutiny Hands-on: Twitter music is all about discovery, not listening Two Great Options to Get All Your News in One Place

Special Feature: Switching to the Mac

Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual, Mountain Lion Edition by David Pogue OS X Mountain Lion: The Missing Manual Take Control of Using Mountain Lion by Matt Neuburg VoiceOver Getting Started for OS X Technology podcasts from Vision Australia Apple and Other Accessible technology by David Woodbridge The Tech Doctor Podcast MacForTheBlind AppleVis MacVisionaries

Mailbag

Markus from Ireland writes:

> Hi there,

> In this episode you talked about positioning and navigation solutions. With Sendero GPS LookAround, Ariadne GPS, iMove, BlindSquare, to name but a few which spring to my mind, we have quite a lot of choice. I think it would be a good idea to share our experiences and put together an overview about the specific features of each app. In other words: What can one app do which others can’t?

> I would like to contribute my little overview which is based on my experiences with Sendero GPS, Ariadne GPS, iMove and BlindSquare.

> I have used these apps, have been a beta tester for two of them and have also used them parallel in the same location, just to see what happens.

> iMove makes it very easy and quick to save a location as a favorite by recording an audio label. Nevertheless, I am not entirely convinced whether I like this. I am just as hesitant to stop in a place and speak a description into my phone as I am to shout in public in order to find someone who should be there somewhere.

> I would rather save a point as a favorite, type an acronym into the description field and edit the place later. Another downside to the recording is that it can be difficult to notice the announcement. There will be background noise from traffic etc. during the recording, which will be similar to the noise around me when approaching the place. I find a TTS voice easier to distinguish from my environment than my own recording.

> I also have to say that the POI which the app gets from Google are far away from sufficient. Otherwise iMove does a decent job for a free app.

> I like Ariadne GPS because it tells me my speed and the altitude, whereas iMove only displays the speed. Otherwise, I have to say, that for me Ariadne has been replaced by BlindSquare.

> BlindSquare is not cheap, thanks to the Acapella licence which the developer has to pay for the TTS, but I think the app is worth every single cent of its price. I got a bit of O & M training recently to learn a new route in the town I moved to a few months ago. this gave me and the trainer a good chance to put BlindSquare to a test. Still at home, I picked a random shop on our town’s Main Street and saved it as a favorite. One has the option to manually insert an alert distance to be reminded when approaching the place. These places are FourSquare places; however, if the FourSquare place is not all that accurate, one can save an own favorite, and this is very accurate. When walking, one can decide whether to listen to the usual POI within the set radius – “Public Library, 65 yards at 1 o’clock.”, or track a particular place. This way I just saved a favorite at a particular destination. On the way there I didn’t have to save any places, turn-offs and crossroads because BlindSquare announces when one is approaching a crossroads and tells the streets which are crossing there. If one is not sure about the current position, , shaking the phone does the trick.

> In areas where I have at least a rough idea which POI to expect and what to listen for, BlindSquare is a brilliant app which I would not want to miss anymore. It does not offer turn-by-turn navigation at the moment but we’ll see what is going to happen in the future.

> In unfamiliar places I still like using Garmin’s Navigon Mobile Navigator. This, of course, is pretty expensive but lets you download maps for offline use and offers turn-by-turn navigation for various types of vehicles and pedestrians.

> I am looking forward to hearing about the experiences of you and your listeners.

And again Markus writes:

> Hi There!

> I really enjoyed listening to episode 16, as I always enjoy listening to TripleClickHome. 🙂

> You talked about switching from Windows to Mac OS and especially you, John, reminded people to always be aware that they are not using a Windows computer and a windows screenreader anymore. I lost my sight nearly 14 years ago and have worked with JAWS and NVDA since. After two and a half years with iPhones and iPods, I bought a MacBook air this January. What a piece of hardware and technology! I just love it!

> I don’t know whether it helped that I have used a Bluetooth keyboard with my iPhone for a while but the only confusion I encountered during the early period of my Mac life was that the left Ctrl and the FN keys are exactly the other way around as they are on my Toshiba notebook. However, for some research tasks I still need to switch on my Windows notebook, and whenever I do this I have to pause sometimes and think about keyboard shortcuts.

> I am amazed that nearly 14 years of experience with Windows cause hardly any transfer effect on the use of the Mac and VoiceOver. By contrast, three months of every-day use of the Mac still have a big influence on the use of Windows key strokes. NVDA has been confused quite a bit recently – “FN, left windows and space bar? What the hell is that in aide of!?”

> What are your experiences?

Jenine Stanley says:

> Hey Gang,

> Thanks for review of IMove. As someone who works at a guide dog school and who used to teach Trekker Products to our grads, I get asked about apps all the time. I haven’t tried I-Move yet though I did download it.

> Here’s really all I want to know about any GPS app proported to be “for the blind”.

> Does it give intersection descriptions when walking? Does it identify intersection by name in vehicles, say vehicles traveling over X mph? Or can it be set to do so if traveling slower or not wanting the full description?

> The other features are great and useful but I want to turn it on, have it do these things, sometimes in the background, and just work.

> Not being a Humanware fan girl at all, I still recommend the Trekker Breeze for most people asking me as it’s easy, works out of the box and gives them generally what they need, street identification. Yes, I warn them about Humanware’s update policy and that the POI’s aren’t going to stay accurate because the maps don’t get updated in a reasonable time frame. You also don’t have off-line browsing capability, which for me is huge in any GPS app so OK, that would be another good feature to know about, but I’m not so big on things like the Look Around Wand. Nice, helpful, but I could live with say a light version of the Seeing Eye GPS app that just did the intersection description and identification bits, say.

And again Jenine says:

Great interview with Stan Cox from the Apple Store. It just amazes me the complete arrogance and stupidity of humanity that people would actually walk away or better yet, complain, because he was sent to help them. Incredible. Good for Stan for not letting it get to him in the long run and good for his coworkers for sticking up for him and getting it.

Thanks also to Stan for pointing out that a job seeker needs to have answers as to how to do things.

Pam Francis emails us to say:

> It’s that time of year again, tax time. So, with W2 within reach, I sat down at the computer which was booted to windows 7 and opened internet explorer 9 and went to www.turbotax.com. I signed in and with Rita beside me, went through the entering of my personal information to start my E-filing. After several screens of entry, that thing happened. It’s that thing that happens in Windows and Internet Explorer, that evil thing that Windows users have come to know well and accept with the promise from Microsoft that it will get better in the next version. It goes like this.

> Internet Explorer has stopped responding. Windows will check online for a solution to this problem. Windows will restart the program. (Or, something like that.) Then, my home page appeared.

> After muttering a few therapeutic expletives, I knew I had a possible solution. I shut the computer down and booted to Mac OS and opened Safari. I went back into TurboTax.com and entered all the data again. And, after several more screens of do you have any more taxable income such as investments, foreign bank accounts, etc. was able to E-file my taxes. And, when I clicked the “save to my computer” link, I didn’t get that stupid question that says, “What do you want to do with this file”? with the open or save buttons. I closed Safari after signing out and went to my downloads and there, in a .PDF format that VoiceOver could read to me, was a copy of my tax return that I could have, hold, love and cherish, print or whatever I wanted to do with it. I soon received an email from TurboTax stating that my return has been excepted by the internal revenue service.

> Got to love my Mac.

> Sent from my MacBook Pro.

Wayne writes:

> Hello Serotek,

> Well, actually, I am really mailingTriple Click Home.

> Hi buddy and the gang,

> I wanted to check out your thoughts on a couple of features of the Apple Maps app. Interestingly, I haven’t heard very much frompodcasters in demonstrating the Apple maps app since its release.

> I know the Maps app has issues with missing data in some areas. However, I don’t think that this is as greater problem as has been presented through seemingly distorted media representation.

> Anyway, I was prompted to drop you a line following the iMove app recommendation in the last podcast by Buddy One of the benefits iMove offered is the announcement of POI’s such as businesses.

> Apple Mapsalso offers this facility by switching on @Tracking@to Heading. This announces approaching street intersections / names. It also announces POI’s that are being passed such as businesses including funnily enough the name of my neighbours business a couple of doors down – retied now, but offering electrical supplies such as washers etc.

> Also, the Apple Maps zoom feature allows the user to zoom in and out even to country view and then to use the rotor to access points of interest in that area.

> I was able to zoom out and jump across to India and China; zoom in and take a look at the POI’s in that area. using the rotor.

> Obviously, there are important improvements to improve data re: POI’s but the usability of Apple Maps as a mobility aid seems to have been overlooked by many podcasters in terms of demonstration.

> I often use Apple Maps when travelling on a bus on long journeys or unfamiliar areas to orientate me to street names and POI’s in that area. It works well. I suppose data usage is a consideration but most journeys would be manageable.

> I do also have Navigon; Blind Squre; Ariadne GPS; Where To; Ableroad and others. Mostly, I will download apps to support developers efforts in supporting us as a community but also to give me an additional resource.. We can use as many resources as possible in enabling as much independence as possible.

> I did download IMove some time ago but didn’t really seem to get anything more than Apple Maps and other apps gave me. Might re-install iMove though and give it another go.

> I am a long cane user with extensive field loss and poor contrast sensitivity. Good tools for adventuring are really helpful so the more the merrier!

> Thanks for a great podcast – all the best to you all.

> Wayne

> PS: Sorry to waffle – apparently, I’m known for it!

Wrapping Up

The Old Hat Guide to iPhone Accessibility by Fedora Outlier LLC Review: CamFind for iPhone lets you search for anything with your camera If you use assistive technology & Facebook, please visit our accessibility page and comment Why does Apple want to launch an iRadio service? No, Facebook Home won’t be coming to the iPhone. Here’s why Prosthetic hands controlled by iPhone app help a father hold his daughter’s hand again

Contacting the Team

The Triple-click Home team would love to hear from you. Here is how you can get in touch with them: Follow Alena Roberts on Twitter Follow Buddy Brannan on Twitter Follow John Panarese on Twitter Follow Triple-click Home on Twitter Thanks for listening!

Do you enjoy our SPN Podcasts? You can help us out a whole lot by taking this very short survey.

Aftershokz

Looking for headphones with a safer open ear design so you can still talk with others around you or hear your environment? Aftershokz Headphones utilize Bone Conduction audio that lets you listen to your favorite tunes, or SeroTalk network podcasts, yet still be able to hear your nearby surroundings. You can get 40% off if you use the promotional code SPN40 at the checkout area on the Aftershokz website just for being a listener of this very podcast!

To learn more about these amazing headphones, and to read about the new Bluez with wireless options, visit Aftershokz.com. You can also catch SPN’s own Mike Calvo, from last year, reviewing a pair of the Aftershocks that he uses in his daily work.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

 

Listen to Triple-click Home Episode 16: Don’t Take Attachments from Strangers

Welcome to the latest episode of Triple-click Home. This month, Alena takes the host’s chair with support from Buddy and John. Along with the top stories of the month, Buddy brings you an interview with Apple specialist Stan Cox. Finally, the Triple-click home team suggests some apps you might want to take a look at.

In the News

Apple Acquires Indoor Location Company WifiSLAM

What, exactly, WiFiSLAM is, and why Apple acquired it

Eric Schmidt hints Google Now for iOS stuck in App Store approval process

New Trojan Hits Mac Users As They Surf The Web

Apple beefs up iCloud, Apple ID security with two-step verification

How To Set Up Apple’s New Two-Step Verification

Apple Releases Patch For Evasi0n Jailbreak (After It’s Used 18 Million Times)

Apple rolls out OS X 10.8.3 with support for Windows 8 in Boot Camp

Hands on: Podcasts 1.2 is the one Apple should have shipped

Jony Ive Leaves His Mark As Skeuomorphism Concept Vanishes From One App

John Browett and Apple retail: “rejected for fit rather than competency”

Why did Apple hire Adobe CTO Kevin Lynch?

Samsung confirms it’s trying to beat Apple to market with a smart watch

Apple applies for patent to bring wireless charging to the Smart Cover

Facebook updates flagship iOS app with cover photos, group messaging improvements

iPhone iOs 6 Updates (IOS6-UPDATE)

Series: Mac, PC, or Both: Choices for Blind and Visually Impaired Computer UsersPart I

Sendero Announces Features, Preview for Seeing Eye GPS for iOS

Free Sight Compass App Helps you Navigate Hotels, Bathrooms, and More

exclusive look at the BARD iOS app

Open that iPad before you buy it

Renewable energy now powers 75 percent of Apple’s facilities

Mailbag

Blog comment from jan brown

Hello Tripple Click Home.
I love reading about my phone but was disappointed that you were not thrilled as I was by the new App Braille Touch. I have trouble writing with Flexy and find Braille Touch so exciting. I can text away and bore more people more easily.

Email from Chelsea Cook

Hi Happy Apple People,

Love the way you guys have developed the Triple Click Home podcast. I had a quick question about backing up my Mac. The idea of bootable backups intrigues me, and the two most talked-about programs for accomplishing this are super duper and Carbon Copy Cloner. I used CCC for awhile, but missed the donation window and am trying to decide between the two. What do you guys use, and what are your recommendations?

Chelsea

Email from Jenine Stanley

Excellent interview with the developer of TapTap See.

I downloaded the product in its first version and haven’t really played much with it. The one thing I want to try though when traveling is to see if it can recognize individual buttons on a soda machine. Granted, there are some standard layouts but it would be nice to learn about a machine, especially if I’m spending time in a location and using the machine a lot.

I’ll be interested to hear if anyone has tried this and will let you all know if it works when I travel next week.

Jenine Stanley

Triple-click Home Team’s apps of the month

This month, Buddy continues the GPS theme by recommending iMove.

For reading books and other documents, John recommends Voice Dream Reader.

When you are ready for a break from work, Alena recommends two games: Clever Clues and WordCord.

Contacting the Team

The Triple-click Home team would love to hear from you. Here is how you can get in touch with them:

Follow Alena Roberts on Twitter

Follow Buddy Brannan on Twitter

Follow John Panarese on Twitter

Follow Triple-click Home on Twitter

Thanks for listening!

 

Listen to Triple-click Home Episode 16: Don’t Take Attachments from Strangers

Welcome to the latest episode of Triple-click Home. This month, Alena takes the host’s chair with support from Buddy and John. Along with the top stories of the month, Buddy brings you an interview with Apple specialist Stan Cox. Finally, the Triple-click home team suggests some apps you might want to take a look at.

In the News

Apple Acquires Indoor Location Company WifiSLAM

What, exactly, WiFiSLAM is, and why Apple acquired it

Eric Schmidt hints Google Now for iOS stuck in App Store approval process

New Trojan Hits Mac Users As They Surf The Web

Apple beefs up iCloud, Apple ID security with two-step verification

How To Set Up Apple’s New Two-Step Verification

Apple Releases Patch For Evasi0n Jailbreak (After It’s Used 18 Million Times)

Apple rolls out OS X 10.8.3 with support for Windows 8 in Boot Camp

Hands on: Podcasts 1.2 is the one Apple should have shipped

Jony Ive Leaves His Mark As Skeuomorphism Concept Vanishes From One App

John Browett and Apple retail: “rejected for fit rather than competency”

Why did Apple hire Adobe CTO Kevin Lynch?

Samsung confirms it’s trying to beat Apple to market with a smart watch

Apple applies for patent to bring wireless charging to the Smart Cover

Facebook updates flagship iOS app with cover photos, group messaging improvements

iPhone iOs 6 Updates (IOS6-UPDATE)

Series: Mac, PC, or Both: Choices for Blind and Visually Impaired Computer UsersPart I

Sendero Announces Features, Preview for Seeing Eye GPS for iOS

Free Sight Compass App Helps you Navigate Hotels, Bathrooms, and More

exclusive look at the BARD iOS app

Open that iPad before you buy it

Renewable energy now powers 75 percent of Apple’s facilities

Mailbag

Blog comment from jan brown

Hello Tripple Click Home.
I love reading about my phone but was disappointed that you were not thrilled as I was by the new App Braille Touch. I have trouble writing with Flexy and find Braille Touch so exciting. I can text away and bore more people more easily.

Email from Chelsea Cook

Hi Happy Apple People,

Love the way you guys have developed the Triple Click Home podcast. I had a quick question about backing up my Mac. The idea of bootable backups intrigues me, and the two most talked-about programs for accomplishing this are super duper and Carbon Copy Cloner. I used CCC for awhile, but missed the donation window and am trying to decide between the two. What do you guys use, and what are your recommendations?

Chelsea

Email from Jenine Stanley

Excellent interview with the developer of TapTap See.

I downloaded the product in its first version and haven’t really played much with it. The one thing I want to try though when traveling is to see if it can recognize individual buttons on a soda machine. Granted, there are some standard layouts but it would be nice to learn about a machine, especially if I’m spending time in a location and using the machine a lot.

I’ll be interested to hear if anyone has tried this and will let you all know if it works when I travel next week.

Jenine Stanley

Triple-click Home Team’s apps of the month

This month, Buddy continues the GPS theme by recommending iMove.

For reading books and other documents, John recommends Voice Dream Reader.

When you are ready for a break from work, Alena recommends two games: Clever Clues and WordCord.

Contacting the Team

The Triple-click Home team would love to hear from you. Here is how you can get in touch with them:

Follow Alena Roberts on Twitter

Follow Buddy Brannan on Twitter

Follow John Panarese on Twitter

Follow Triple-click Home on Twitter

Thanks for listening!

 

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Listen to Triple-click Home Episode 15: Swear On That

It’s hard to believe, but here we are at episode 15 of the Triple-click Home Podcast. In this show, Buddy Brannan and Alena Roberts are joined by Jamie Pauls to discuss the top news stories of the month. We also have an interview and an app review for you this time around, so enjoy!

The Big Stories

iOS 6.1 out:  Questions and answers

Apple releases 6.1.1 software update to fix iOS 6.1 connectivity problems

iOS 6.1 brings back bug that gives anyone access to your contacts, photos

Now all that’s left is Apple: Macmillan reaches e-book pricing settlement with the DOJ

Google Could Pay Apple $1 Billion Next Year To Remain Default Search Engine On iOS, Report Says

Insiders “now confident” Apple will launch lower-priced, lightweight iPhone as early as June

Report: Apple Prepping Curved Glass Smartwatch

Here’s why Apple needs an iWatch badly, but likely won’t make one

Apple working on technology to benefit hearing aid wearers

ZFS-loving Mac users demand support in OS X 10.9

Why do iPhone and iPad users jailbreak? Freedom

Interview: TapTapSee

The object recognition app TapTapSee has taken the blind community by storm. Alena Roberts and Jamie Pauls interview Brad Folkens, CEO of Net Ideas, LLC about the company, the app, and possible future offerings.

Download TapTapSee from the app store

Follow TapTapSee on Twitter

Resources and AT News

Get a List of Siri Commands Directly from Siri

Use These Special Siri Commands When Dictating Text On iPhone Or iPad [iOS Tips]

What’s Your Type? A Key to Input Methods for VoiceOver Users

New Tech Doctor Podcast Entitled: “iPhone Typing Competition” Listen at your own risk.

New Tech Doctor podcast entitled: BrailleTouch

Febooary 8: Review of AFB AccessNote iPhone app

App review by Lisa Salinger: Amazon Cloud Player

In this month’s app review, Lisa Salinger takes us on a quick tour of the Amazon Cloud Player. She discusses purchasing, downloading and playing content.

Wrapping Up

AI Squared has released ZoomText for the Mac

iPad app replaces physical Bible in New Jersey swear-in ceremony

The Triple-click Home team would love to hear from you. Here is how you can get in touch with them:

Follow Alena Roberts on Twitter

Follow Buddy Brannan on Twitter

Follow John Panarese on Twitter

Follow Triple-click Home on Twitter

Follow Jamie Pauls on Twitter

Follow the SeroTalk Podcast on Twitter

Thanks for listening!

 

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Listen to Triple-click Home Episode 14: Now, Peter

Welcome to our 14^th episode of Triple-click Home. We begin this show with a very important announcement from Pete Bossley. Other obligations require Pete to leave our podcast family for the forseeable future, and we will truly miss him. Never fear, though. He might just show up again sometime. That being said, the show must go on. Alena takes the lead role this month, and Buddy interviews David Ward about his exciting new Braille Sonar Reference app.

The Big Stories

One year, four departed execs, and a lot to be determined for Apple

So, what is Apple’s next big thing going to be?

iPhone and innovation: Is hardware the only place Apple can go to keep up the buzz?

The worst app Apple ever made

Apple App Store hits 40 billion downloads; 20 billion in 2012, alone

three reasons why apple stocks have plummeted

In iPhone vs. Galaxy battle, Apple still way on top

A possible explanation for the iOS New Year’s Do Not Disturb bug

Verizon prepared to follow T-Mobile’s lead if ending phone subsidies proves profitable  

Walmart now offers iPhone 5 on Straight Talk’s no-contract unlimited plans

T-Mobile USA to soon sell iPhones, cut subsidies

Apple needs to get serious about Siri

Siri why aren’t you sassy?

Amazon MP3 store now available to iPhone users

Be sure to check out Amazon’s Instant Video app for streaming movies and TV shows as well.

Facebook Rolls Out Free Voice Calls Through Messenger App For U.S. iPhone Users

Former Windows Chief Sinofsky Caught Using an iPhone

Mailbag

From Jenine Stanley:

Hi Gang,

This is one of those stories that’s just so, well, disgusting, it deserves telling. Can’t wait to hear where this one goes from your perspective either.

I got my I-Phone 4S in December 2011 and the first thing I got for it, even before I got the phone, was an Otterbox Defender case and Speed dots. I took said case to the Apple Store and had the salesman put it on my shiny new phone. Yay!

The case is starting to show some wear with the rubber not staying as tight as it once did but other than that, it’s never been off my phone, until …

I was in Manhattan recently for work and a short vacation with friends. I was heading back to the airport and had to take a car service from Midtown to Islip airport. For those who don’t know, this is about a 45 minute drive on a good day.

I’d been feeling less than my best throughout the vacation and that morning I was really not feeling well at all but thought it might pass as these things do.

As always I had a slight dread not knowing the car service and how they would react to my guide dog.

No problem! Carmel Transportation was great and if you’re ever in NYC, call them. They have a marvelous number 666-6666.

The driver was nice, appropriate about the dog and off we went.

About 20 minutes into the ride, I started to get that feeling, you know, the one that says, Uh-oh, I think I’m going to be sick.

I started to get out one of the ubiquitous plastic bags all guide dog handlers have stuff into every pocket they own. Alas, not fast enough though.

The remains of the delicious pizza I’d had the night before soon covered my lap and dowsed my precious phone!

The phone was plugged into an external battery at the time and the headphones were in.

After apologizing to the driver and trying in vain to clean myself up a tad, I removed the phone from my lap and began to wipe it off. Wow!

Luckily, the driver was great about the whole thing and stopped at a gas station, helped me get my suitcase out so I could change clothes and of course cleaned the back of the car.

In the meantime, my poor guide dog was trying to get as far away from me as he could. Guys don’t handle barfing chicks well you know.

The phone still amazingly enough worked. It was a bit slow on the response but I figured this was because the screen was beyond filthy. I carefully cleaned it with a wet paper towel, then with hand sanitizer.

I wanted to get the case open but couldn’t do that because really you need either good fingernails or a flathead screw driver for  this and I had neither.

Once I got home and showed the phone to my husband, he confirmed how disgusting it looked, which meant that some of the substance had gotten inside the case. OK, no big deal. I finally got the case off and cleaned the phone thoroughly. It works fine now but I do need a new case and speed dots screen because, well, apparently vomit is quite staining. Pizza vomit more so.

To top this off, the last leg of my flight home was cancelled due to weather and I ended up staying overnight in Baltimore. Not horrible as I did get to shower and clean up a bit more but …

You know how once you smell something, you keep on smelling it even if all evidence of it is gone? Well, I swore everything I owned, touched or thought about for the remainder of that trip wreaked of vomit.

The truly funny part though happened on my flight home, finally.

I was sitting there playing 7 Little Words when the man in the seat next to me said, “Oh, we have the same case.”

Now this either sounds like a bad commercial or an even worse pick up line.

I explained that yes, I’d had mine for over a year and despite it, uh, falling into a puddle of vomit in the subway, (revise, revise, revise) it still protected the phone well. And by the way, did he know how to get the case open?

“No, my wife put it on for me.” He said.

Somehow I don’t think Otterbox will be wanting this testimonial for their web site but in case your phone is immersed in vomit, if you get it out quickly, your Defender case will do a nice job of protecting it.

***

Markus writes:

Hi again, guys!

Different topic, different e-mail.

There is a VoiceOver bug which has quietly annoyed me since iOS 6 and I would like to know how the rest of the community thinks about this. I have e-mailed Apple Accessibility but God knows when and if this will be fixed.

When I open a page with an editing field – be it an e-mail, a message, a new Tweet in Tweetlist Pro or Status Report, VoiceOver says: “New message, to…” and then immediately jumps back to the first element on the page.

I then have to go back to the editing field. I find this quite annoying.

How about you?

And here is a suggestion which I have mentioned to Apple Accessibility but, again, no comments on whether this is going to happen or not: A VoiceOver gesture to turn it on and off.

Even for us VoiceOver users there are apps which can be used better when VoiceOver is turned off. Some apps don’t work at all with VoiceOver turned on but are useable for us when it is turned off.

I have the feeling that I use the Home button on my 4s more often than my wife (who can see) uses the button on her 3Gs. Just as well! The 3Gs used to be my phone and the Home button sometimes needs a second press to react.

I would welcome a finger gesture to turn VoiceOver off and on again – parallel to “Triple Click Home”. Oh, we’ve got to keep that, because otherwise you would have to change the name of your podcast! “V-Swipe”

or something like that would sound a bit strange. 😉 What do you guys think about this?

And now that I have mentioned apps without VoiceOver, I would like to give you a list of my (personal) favorite apps which I use without VoiceOver.

After all, we all talk a lot about what we expect from our devices but hardly ever mention how we could adapt to make things work – even without VoiceOver.

djay for iPhone by algoriddim

https://itunes.apple.com/de/app/djay-for-iphone/id424492403?l=en&mt=8

A fantastic music player with playlists, crossfade, real-time effects and real-time scratching on the turntable. Apparently, and this is something I have not tried yet, one can split the audio signal and pre-listen to tracks inkl. VoiceOver before sending them through the master volume control. Otherwise VoiceOver has to be turned on again to make changes to the settings, effects, etc.

SoundPrism by Audanika GmbH

https://itunes.apple.com/de/app/soundprism/id386833491?l=en&mt=8

An on-screen synthesizer which is super easy to use. However, VoiceOver has to be turned on again in order to change the instrument; furthermore, the buttons are not labeled properly. But the playing itself works excellent.

Echo Piano™ by Ting Wang

https://itunes.apple.com/de/app/echo-piano/id378718173?l=en&mt=8

An on-screen-piano. I haven’t had this for very long but it seems to be pretty straight forward.

ThumbJam by Sonosaurus LLC

https://itunes.apple.com/de/app/thumbjam/id338977566?l=en&mt=8

And, of course, the mother of all on-screen-bands! I am happy that the developers seem to know how to spell the word “accessibility”. With an update last year, the app is now useable with VoiceOver turned on. I still prefer when it is turned off though. Downside to this is the immense use of the Home button.

iAmGuitar by savageApps

https://itunes.apple.com/de/app/iamguitar/id407752080?l=en&mt=8

The selection of the guitars is hit and miss; however, the strumming and picking and playing different cords works just fine. A nice little guitar in the shape of my iPhone! I must e-mail the developer and tell them about the inaccessibility of the settings section. Hey, but for playing around and songwriting one doesn’t need to make any changes. I love this app.

CarTunes Music Player by Ryan Oksenhorn

https://itunes.apple.com/de/app/cartunes-music-player/id415408192?l=en&mt=8

This app surprised me a few weeks ago. I found it through App of the Day and was quite interested when I read about – easy control with the swipe of a finger. And this is what it is, a music player which wasn’t developed with blind people in mind at all but which works just wonderful!

Single-finger swipe right – previous track.

Single-finger swipe left – next track.

Tap anywhere on the screen – Play/Stop

Put one finger on the screen and drag it up or down (like moving an app but without the first single tap) – Volume up and Volume down Single-finger swipe up – selection of media. Now we have to turn on VoiceOver to select our music. Once that has been don, we can turn Voiceover off again and listen to our playlist without VoiceOver’s announcements.

Epic! I love it!

That’s all from me for now. All the best,

Markus

***

And another email from Markus reads:

Hi Guys!

First of all I would like to wish you all a happy and successful 2013. I am amazed hoch much effort is put into the SeroTalk network and I specifically enjoy your podcast.

Informative, entertaining, just exactly the way I like podcasts! 😉

In episode 12, Alena said she would love a sort of stand or holder for the iPhone when using OCR apps. I’ve got good news for you!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/limemouse/scanbox-turn-your-smartphone-into-a-portable-scann

I had heard about this project last May but couldn’t order one as they were only presenting the project on KickStarter.com

I think it might be worth getting in touch with those guys.

I know another guy from a German Apple mailing list; he is a retired engineer and designed such a stand as well. Let me know if you would like to get in contact with him.

Keep up the good work! All the Best,

Markus from Galway (pronounced Gallway), Ireland

More Stories and Our Apps of the Month

Book Review: All You Need and Want to Know about iMessaging

New: Draconis Entertainment Releases a New Mini Title for Mac OS X – SilverDollar

Happy birthday, Lisa: Apple’s slow but heavy workhorse turns 30

This month, Alena recommends TapTapSee, an object recognition app that is easy to use and apparently quite accurate.

Buddy is intrigued with, but a bit confused by VoiceVision, an app that is supposed to help identify colors through sound.

Alena is still enjoying the game 7 Little Words as well as Hourly Quiz, which she considers to be another enjoyable game.

John hasn’t had time to play with apps much this month due to some health issues in his family.

Remember to check out AppleVis for lots of great recommendations.

Interview: Braille Sonar Reference App

This month, Buddy Brannan visits with David Ward of At Your Fingertips about his new Braille Sonar Reference app for looking up Braille contractions. This is bound to be a great resource for all and information regarding the Unified English Braille code will be included in the future.

Contacting the Team

The Triple-click Home team would love to hear from you. Here is how you can get in touch with them:

Follow Alena Roberts on Twitter

Follow Buddy Brannan on Twitter

Follow John Panarese on Twitter

Follow Triple-click Home on Twitter

Thanks for listening!

 

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Listen to Triple-click Home Episode 10: Disrupting Is What They Do

In the absence of Alena Roberts who was training with her new guide dog at the time of recording, uddy Brannan, Peter Bossley and John Panarese forge ahead with this month’s show. There was no shortage of topics this time around, and as might be expected, iPhone 5 and iOS 6 dominated the discussion. Nevertheless, there are some surprises along the way as well as an interview with Michael Hanson of the AppleVis Web site which was conducted by Jamie Pauls. Stories covered in this episode of the Triple-click Home podcast include:

iPhone 5 review: Newest Apple smartphone blends beauty, versatility

iPhone 5: What we didn’t get

What You Need to Know About Apple’s New Lightning Connector

Apple Senior Vice President Phil Schiller on NFC, Wireless Charging and the Lightning Connector

SeroTalk Podcast 124: Big Ol’ Crunch

iPhone 5 Pre-Orders Sell Out in An Hour

The Worst Thing About the iPhone 5 Is Also the Most Brilliant

Apple Shows Improved iPod Nano, Retina-Display iPod Touch with Siri

Apple: We didn’t pass iPhone, iPad device IDs to FBI

 Apple win whacks Android resale prices

Fleksy is an alternate text input tool for the visually impaired

Apple in talks with cable operators to use Apple TV device as set-top-box

A Cautionary Tale: Do not move or rename your iCloud folder

Finally, Facebook Speeds Up Its iOS App

Parallels 8 vs. VMWare Fusion 5 Benchmarks

The iMac is a great machine until something goes wrong. Here’s why you might think twice about buying one

a Review of The XPrint Server by Mike Calvo

Apple Makes Last Minute Accessibility Fixes to the App Store Ahead of iOS 6 Release

Instructions for mapping the capslock key to work as VO keys

Contacting the Team

The Triple-click Home team would love to hear from you. Here is how you can get in touch with them:

Follow Alena Roberts on Twitter

Follow Buddy Brannan on Twitter

Follow Pete Bossley on Twitter

Follow John Panarese on Twitter

Ftollow Triple-click Home on Twitter

tThanks for listening!

 

Podcast: Play in new window | Download