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The podcasting community would like Apple to clarify its intentions with respect to concerns it may be attempting to take the term “podcast” as part of its iPod trademark. Many of us believe this is inappropriate and potentially harmful to the podcasting community. iPods are certainly not required to play podcasts and iTunes is not the first or only available software for receiving podcast enclosures. Further, the ongoing inaccessibility of Apple’s iTunes player on both the Macintosh and Windows platforms means that any attempts on Apple’s part to close the ability to receive “podcasts” to alternative software could spell unmitigated disaster for blind listeners. I have signed, and urge everyone to do likewise, the ‘Podcast’ is NOT Apple’s Trademark online petition asking Apple to stop sending cease and desist letters to podcasting related companies and explain the company’s intentions toward the podcasting community.

Todd is incredibly unhappy about Apple’s apparent moves to use its iPod trademark against the podcasting community, and so am I! What is Apple really trying to do here? Do they want us all to play our “podcasts” on their iTunes software? If so, well, the blind community says “no thanks”! iTunes remains largely inaccessible. Apple should be glad there are alternatives to receiving podcasts, otherwise they may actually find themselves in a world of hurt, with their iTunes University offering in clear violation of the ADA and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act with respect to accessibility concerns. I hope this all doesn’t turn out to be our downfall as a community, with the bulk of all podcast listeners now using iTunes, to the detriment of all other podcatchers. Not quite certain what should be done yet, but I’m quite sure the fur is going to fly at the expo next weekend. Too bad I’ll be missing the action!

Check out this early morning (5:30) walk to scope out another bus stop. This one is much better. There are no significant obstacles. The bus route stopping there is workable if the necessary arrangements can be made at the other end of the line.

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Listen as I chat with all of you while trying to walk down the street to check out the bus stop Karen would use if she rode to work using that method of public transportation. You’ll get a sense on just how unsafe the situation remains with respect to the construction work in the vicinity of the stop and in many other places along the route back home. It is quite frustrating to have so much construction in one area!

I would also like to remind everyone to avoid eating any raw spinach, including that packaged in bagged salads, for the time being due to the potential for E. coli poisoning. Be very careful!

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Hello everyone. Enjoy this new podcast from us as we take a short bus ride to Ruby Tuesday for dinner and chat about the improving weather and many other things happening with us lately.

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If you’re looking for an accessible, VT-100 terminal emulator for serial, SSH (including SSH2) and telnet connections, download the free, open source UTF-8 TeraTerm Pro 4.45 and get a modified set of JAWS scripts to enhance its accessibility by adding features such as the automatic speaking of new text as it scrolls to the screen.

Follow these steps to configure TeraTerm to work best with JAWS:

1. Launch TeraTerm by pressing enter on the UTF-8 TeraTerm Pro desktop icon.
2. Press escape on the list of available connections.
3. Press alt+s to pull down the Settup menu.
4. Press w to open the Window settings dialogue.
5. Press alt+o to move to the cursor shape combo box.
6. Press down arrow twice to select horizontal line.
7. Press enter to accept the change and dismiss the dialogue.
8. Press alt+s again to return to the setup menu.
9. Press s to save the modified configuration.
10. Press enter to accept the default teraterm.ini file.

After downloading the JAWS scripts, unzip them to your shared JAWS settings folder, which is usually c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Freedom Scientific\JAWS\7.10\SETTINGS\enu. Once you have successfully installed the scripts, open TeraTerm and press JAWS Key+H for a list of all available hotkeys. The JAWS Key+A command will be of particular interest to those who wish to automatically hear new text as it scrolls to the screen during a session.

After the fifth anniversary of 9/11, it has been a very difficult week for many of us. Unwind and relax this evening as Karen and I open the cafe under the Desert Skies tonight from 2 to 4 Universal Saturday, 7:00 to 9 PM tonight Pacific and 10 PM to midnight Eastern. We’ll be serving up your favorite
virtual appetizers, beverages, the famous (or is that infamous) impossible question and, oh, yeah, of course, your favorite tunes from the 1960’s through today. We’re on ACB Radio Interactive, so don’t miss us!

Read and learn how you can get yourself a copy of our Desert Cafe 9/11 Tribute Show if you missed it this morning, September 11, 2006 from 12:30 to 15:00 Universal on ACB Radio Interactive.

Karen and I would just like to remind everyone to take some moments of silence today in remembrance of the 9/11 victims and their families.

Hello Everyone,

This quick note is to let you all know that, thanks to the special permission granted by ACB Radio Interactive management, The Desert Cafe will actually begin at 12:30 Universal time, 5:30 Pacific or 8:30 AM Eastern time. This means we will be able to cover the bulk of the 9/11 events during the running of the show, with short moments of silence at the approximate time of each. Don’t miss it!