The Desert Cafe Opens in Eight Hours!

by
Hello Everyone,
 
Take a gamble and join  us   in the Cafe,
As usual a variety of  music we will play,
We hope this blend will cleanse your heart and soul,
We’ll play songs about changing friendship from artists like Sarah McLachlan and Billy Joel.
From Asia to the Doobie Brothers,
and many others.
Mostly  70’s,80’s but also some Modern Stuff,
We will not play any Hilary Duff,
or Simply Red,
here in the U. S,  Remember, The Clocks for most are one hour ahead,
it will  still be at 2 to 4 UTC,
Fun it will be.
There will be  plenty of virtual Beverages and food to devour,
some healthy,tasty, some  sweet, or sour.
Darrell is the  Technical Master,
he will also tell you about the Mock Disaster,
the  Terrorist attack that will  occur Tomorrow morning at ASU,
if your   interested, listen, please  do!.
Be there,
or be square,
for now Take care.
 
The show can be heard on ACB Radio Interactive at 02:00 Universal time on Tuesday, that’s Monday evening in the United States at 7:00 Pacific (and Arizona), 8:00 Mountain, 9:00 Central and 10:00 Eastern. Visit http://interactive.acbradio.org to listen.
 
See you tonight,
 
Karen and Darrell in the Desert Cafe on ACB Radio Interactive

Walking with Mobile Geo 1.5 Part 1

by

By popular demand, Karen and I are once again exploring the possibility of returning to podcasting. In this new episode, we take a short Saturday afternoon walk while I experiment with the new Mobile Geo 1.5 accessible GPS solution developed by Code Factory and Sendero Group. We hope you enjoy this sound seeing adventure. As always, your feedback and active participation is appreciated.

Correction: Though Mobile Geo relies on technology licensed from Sendero, the product is developed and sold by Code Factory. I make several references in the podcast to the need for Sendero to fix certain problems. That may or may not be entirely factual, depending on the technical nature of the issue. It is the case, however, that Code Factory is the first line of attack on any concerns having to do with the Mobile Geo product. I apologize for my unintentional misrepresentation of fact in this podcast episode.

Download and Listen

The Desert Cafe Opens in Just Over Four Hours!

by
Hello Everyone,
 
Come join Darrell and me,
 at  2 to 4 UTC.
On ACB Radio,
Think you will enjoy the  show.
Back East, there is a  major storm,
but,in the Cafe, you  can stay warm.
we will have  cool tunes and hot  beverages   to make you  smile,
so, stay awhile.
Out here, we are baking  in the sun,
forget about the  heat! have fun.
It doesn’t matter where you are, What   Continent ,
 your time in the  cafe will  be well spent.
playing mostly songs from 85,
 and other decades, too, so do arrive.
 be here in three hours, do attend,
  hope to see you friend.
 
The show can be heard on ACB Radio Interactive at 02:00 Universal time on Tuesday, that’s Monday evening in the United States at 6:00 Pacific, 7:00 Mountain (and Arizona), 8:00 Central and 9:00 Eastern. Visit http://interactive.acbradio.org to listen.
 
See you tonight,
 
Karen and Darrell in the Desert Cafe on ACB Radio Interactive

Remote Access Features in Serotek’s Product Save the Day!

by

It was a Thursday afternoon when I was sitting in the lounge in University Center wondering what to do. I was frantic. I had completed my journalism ethics assignment, copied it to my USB flash drive, then discovered I had left the device at home! I was at school and my completed assignment was at home. Turning it in late was simply not an option. I had an hour before the start of class, so running home on the light rail was an option just out of reach. So, did I give up and accept the inevitable? Heck no!!!

Fortunately, I happen to be a Serotek customer and loyal supporter of the company’s innovative products. I decided to avail myself of the remote access facilities of the System Access Mobile Network in order to gain access to my home desktop computer, locate my assignment and e-mail it to myself using SendSpace. I didn’t have my USB flash drive on hand, and I had no Serotek software installed on my netbook computer, yet I was able to get the job done using the satogo.com web based access solution. Major kudos and thanks go to Mike and the gang at Serotek for helping me save my academic life!

Catch a Special Cover Edition of the Desert Cafe in Two Hours!

by
Hello Everyone,
 
Join us this evening for a special Friday night edition  of the Desert Cafe as we attempt to fill Jeff’s shoes while he slaves away at work. We’ll keep the tempo upbeat with a party atmosphere, so you all can bailar en la café!!!
 
The show can be heard on ACB Radio Interactive at 02:00 Universal time on Saturday, that’s Friday evening in the United States at 6:00 Pacific, 7:00 Mountain (and Arizona), 8:00 Central and 9:00 Eastern. Visit http://interactive.acbradio.org to listen.
 
See you tonight,
 
Karen and Darrell in the Desert Cafe on ACB Radio Interactive
Darrell Shandrow – Accessibility Evangelist
Information should be accessible to us without need of translation by another person.
Blind Access Journal blog and podcast: http://www.blindaccessjournal.com

Catch the Desert Cafe in Six Hours!

by
Hello Everyone,
 
Join us  this evening in the  Desert Cafe as we celebrate Presidents’ Day, talk about  our Valentine’s Day weekend and see if we can keep everyone from tearing apart the cafe during the two hours it is open. A great mix of  music will entertain you and  help you get your  week off to a good start. There may even be some new music from a local independent musician, which you certainly won’t want to miss.
 
The show can be heard on ACB Radio Interactive at 02:00 Universal time on Tuesday, that’s Monday evening in the United States at 6:00 Pacific, 7:00 Mountain (and Arizona), 8:00 Central and 9:00 Eastern. Visit http://interactive.acbradio.org to listen.
 
See you tonight,
 
Karen and Darrell in the Desert Cafe on ACB Radio Interactive

The Desert Cafe Goes Live in Two Hours!

by
Hello Everyone,
 
Join us  this evening in the  Desert Cafe for a pre-Valentine’s Day celebration of friendship, love and all the great things that eminate from such wonderful feelings. We’ll share with all of you some audio footage from Saturday’s Unity Walk and try out a bit of modern rock music. We  will  have a great mix of  music to  entertain you and  help you get your  week off to a good start. We know the President is speaking tonight. Hopefully, you’ll lend an ear to us and the other to Mr. President.
 
The show can be heard on ACB Radio Interactive at 02:00 Universal time on Tuesday, that’s Monday evening in the United States at 6:00 Pacific, 7:00 Mountain (and Arizona), 8:00 Central and 9:00 Eastern. Visit http://interactive.acbradio.org to listen.
 
See you tonight,
 
Karen and Darrell in the Desert Cafe on ACB Radio Interactive
Darrell Shandrow – Accessibility Evangelist
Information should be accessible to us without need of translation by another person.
Blind Access Journal blog and podcast: http://www.blindaccessjournal.com

Catch the Desert Cafe in Three Hours!

by
Hello Everyone,
 
Join us  this evening in the  Desert Cafe.    Those of  you  who are  Steelers   fans, we will continue   the celebration with a   special   drink for you while we Cardinals fans lick our wounds.    We will not let you   Cardinal’s hang out to dry in the  Desert sun; we have   a unique  beverage  for you as well.  In addition, Darrell will make  a  secret  recipe to cure me and those of you who are also  feeling  ill. Darrell will be  flying  solo most  of the  time, but I will  make an appearance.    We  will  have a great mix of  music to  entertain you and  help you get your  week off to a good start.
 
The show can be heard on ACB Radio Interactive at 02:00 Universal time on Tuesday, that’s Monday evening in the United States at 6:00 Pacific, 7:00 Mountain (and Arizona), 8:00 Central and 9:00 Eastern. Visit http://interactive.acbradio.org to listen.
 
See you tonight,
 
Karen and Darrell in the Desert Cafe on ACB Radio Interactive

MSI Wind U100 Function Key Commands

by

The MSI Wind U100 is being utilized by a growing number of blind college students and professionals who require a full-featured computer that is nearly as portable as one of the specialized note taking products on the assistive technology market. A number of special function key commands enable quick access to important features such as the adjustment of audio output volume, screen brightness and wireless networking.

The special function key commands are entered by holding the FN key, the farthest key on the leftmost end of the bottom row of the keyboard, while pressing one of the function keys on the top row. The following is a list of the available function key commands:

  • Enable or disable support for multiple monitors: FN+F2

  • Enable or disable the touchpad: FN+F3

  • Decrease screen brightness: FN+F4

  • Increase screen brightness: FN+F5

  • Enable or disable the built-in web cam: FN+F6

  • Decrease audio volume: FN+F7

  • Increase audio volume: FN+F8

  • Mute audio: FN+F9 (Be very careful!)

  • Switch between slow battery saving and regular CPU speed: FN+F10

  • Switch between Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and no wireless support: FN+F11

  • Switch into standby mode: FN+F12

Pay particular attention to the following notes covering the features controlled by the function key commands:

  • Turning off the touch pad remains effective only until the MSI Wind reboots. It is necessary to do this again after a reboot.

  • Decreasing the screen brightness will not completely disable the screen.

  • Exercise care when muting the system audio. The setting applies everywhere, including the screen reader, and lasts through a reboot.

  • When toggling wireless connectivity, observe the following conditions and sounds as you press FN+F11:

    • JAWS says “F24”, Wi-Fi is enabled and Bluetooth is disabled.

    • JAWS says “zoom”, two ascending tones are heard and Bluetooth is enabled.

    • JAWS says “zoom”, two descending tones are heard and both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are disabled.

  • After entering standby mode, press the power button to resume normal operation. You may need to select your username to complete the Windows Logon process.

The MSI Wind has been in regular service here at Blind Access Journal as a portable workstation and note taking device for almost two months. We continue to recommend this netbook as a possible substitute for traditional, expensive, specialized note taking products from the assistive technology industry.

Catch the Pre-Super Bowl Desert Cafe Show Tomorrow Night on ACB Radio Interactive!

by
Hello Everyone,
 
  Join Darrell and me in the  Desert Cafe for a pre-Super Bowl Party Tomorrow night as we fill in for Jeff Bishop while he continues his training at Guide Dogs for the Blind in Portland, Oregon. We will not have beer or chili dogs or chips with salsa nor will we have the  television set on. We will, however, have the juke box playing with 3 hours of your favorite music from the 70’s through today. There  will be great food and drink and a wide variety of hits to entertain you. So, before the big game on Sunday, stop by the cafe. Hope you will grab a seat and have a tall cold beverage or a hot delicious  mug of coffee, tea or coco to keep you warm. It does not matter if your a Cardinals or Steelers fan or   don’t like football at all. There will be great tunes and  food to satisfy every appetite.
 
The show can be heard on ACB Radio Interactive at 02:00 Universal time on Saturday, that’s Friday evening in the United States at 6:00 Pacific, 7:00 Mountain (and Arizona), 8:00 Central and 9:00 Eastern. Visit http://interactive.acbradio.org to listen.
 
See you tomorrow night,
 
Karen and Darrell in the Desert Cafe on ACB Radio Interactive