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!
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