[nfb-talk] nfb-talk Digest, Vol 6, Issue 18

Wed Nov 19 18:07:14 UTC 2008

What does this have to do with blindness?

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Sent: Wednesday, November 19, 2008 12:00 PM
To: nfb-talk at nfbnet.org
Subject: nfb-talk Digest, Vol 6, Issue 18

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Today's Topics:

   1. Re: Crossing the Street for the Blind (John G. Heim)
   2. NBP: Pre-order J.K Rowling's 'Tales of Beedle the Bard'
      (Tony Grima)
   3. Geerat Vermeij to Serve as National Ambassador for Braille
      Literacy (Freeh,	Jessica)
   4. stand for classic knfb reader (tribble)
   5. Huge Price Reduction on K-NFB and K-ReaderMobileSoftware!
      (David B Andrews)
   6. Fw: City threatens blind woman over unpaid 1-cent bill (Ed Meskys)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 12:51:53 -0600
From: "John G. Heim" <jheim at math.wisc.edu>
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Crossing the Street for the Blind
To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
Message-ID: <046201c949ae$b9032ce0$4ba65c90 at math.wisc.edu>
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
	reply-type=response

Well, I like the idea of being able to trigger the audible walk signal from 
a distance. And the idea of the device being IP over power lines is very 
good. It could then be controlled at some central location like at the 
street department's headquarters. Sounds as if the engineers are going a bit

over board but some of their ideas are good.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "T. Joseph Carter" <carter.tjoseph at gmail.com>
To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, November 12, 2008 6:07 PM
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Crossing the Street for the Blind

> Richard Wall is definitely Piled Higher and Deeper, as they say.  It's 
> apparent to me that the average blind person is safer in an intersection 
> than the average sightie ever will be because we are paying attention to 
> the traffic at our intersection and that of intersections off in the 
> distance.  We can hear around bends and hills that a sightie can't, and we

> know how to listen.
>
> At night, in the early morning, or in the late afternoon, a sighted person

> has less use of their eyes, but we still have good use of our ears.  Only 
> during those times the sun is not close to the horizon do sighted people 
> have it easy.  Then, they have to actually see what they look at, which 
> doesn't always happen.
>
> A sighted person is only safer if and when they begin to adopt our own 
> techniques in addition to their eyes, because their eyes might see a 
> hybrid.
>
> Such wrong-headed foundations leave me little expectation that anything he

> is likely to produce to help the poor helpless blind people.  It should 
> come as no surprise, then, that Wall proposes that blind people be 
> fiddling with a cell phone when they want to cross a street to trigger the

> actuated signal, audible alarms if you step outside of a crosswalk, and a 
> four-way red light if a blind person haplessly wanders into the road..
>
> I cannot say that this is how we treat children, because honestly it 
> isn't.  Children are presumed to neither need nor be safe having this 
> technology.  It is to be restricted to blind people alone, as a security 
> measure.
>
> And finally, while we are on the subject of security, let us consider that

> security-through-obscurity model.  Let us assume hypothetically that I am 
> recruited by some organization that wishes to cause havoc of some sort. 
> Let us say that they obtain my cell phone software and it gives them 
> access to control every lighted intersection in the city.  Of course, Wall

> wouldn't think a blind person capable of such nefarious action, but I 
> think we of the NFB know that blind people come in all forms.  It only 
> takes one of them to create chaos anywhere this system of Wall's is 
> deployed.
>
> No, this is an insult.  We don't need this thing, and I doubt many of us 
> would want it either.
>
> Joseph
>
> On Tue, Nov 11, 2008 at 05:08:45PM -0700, Alicia Richards wrote:
>>The following was just posted to the Colorado Association of Blind 
>>Students mailing list.  I'm curious to know what you guys have to say 
>>about it.  I wonder, does the NFB know of this technology, and do we plan 
>>to do anything about it?
>>For the 21.2 million Americans who suffer from vision loss,
>>crossing the
>>street can be a stressful and potentially dangerous proposition.
>>Thanks to engineers at the University of Idaho, many visually impaired
>>individuals soon may have a greatly reduced risk thanks to a tool
>>already in their pockets - their cell phone.
>>
>>The statistics for vision loss, provided by the American
>>Foundation for
>>the Blind, include anyone reporting difficulty seeing, even while
>>wearing glasses or contact lenses. No matter the level of visual
>>impairment, many conditions - including visual noise, walking at
>>night
>>and irregular intersections - can result in missing a crosswalk.
>>
>>Regardless of conditions, the new system being developed in
>>Moscow,
>>Idaho, will make intersections safer and easier to navigate.
>>
>>"Minute for minute on the road, any pedestrian is 150 percent
>>more
>>likely to
>>
>>be injured by a car than somebody driving one," said Richard
>>Wall,
>>professor
>>
>>of electrical and computer engineering. "But it is pretty
>>apparent that
>>the
>>
>>blind pedestrians are the ones most at risk at intersections.b
>>
>>The new technology utilizes features already available in many
>>cellular
>>
>>phones, including communications, Global Positioning Satellite
>>(GPS)
>>
>>functions and magnetic compasses to help visually impaired
>>pedestrians.
>>
>>Specialized software allows these pedestrians to activate the
>>crossing
>>
>>signal remotely without having to locate the physical button.
>>
>>Then, the GPS system monitors the position and direction of
>>travel while
>>crossing. As long as the crosser stays within the crosswalk,
>>nothing
>>happens. But stray outside the lines, and an audible warning
>>activates
>>alerting the pedestrian of their danger. It then provides
>>directions on
>>how to get back within the safety zone. Should the walker somehow
>>end up
>>in the middle of the intersection, the system automatically would
>>turn
>>every light red, stopping traffic and averting a potential
>>disaster.
>>
>>"It's true that this would disrupt the timing of the signal
>>patterns
>>when it gets activated," said Wall. "But we would much rather
>>disrupt
>>them for a few seconds than for a half hour while an ambulance
>>assists a
>>traffic victim."
>>
>>To ensure people don't trigger the alarm just for fun, only those
>>who
>>need the help would be able to acquire the necessary software.
>>
>>The system requires more than software, however. It also requires
>>the
>>installation of new hardware in thousands of lights across the
>>country.
>>Luckily, Wall and his team have found a solution that not only is
>>cost
>>effective, it simplifies the existing system.
>>
>>Many crosswalks currently have handicapped-Many crosswalks curre
>>provide
>>help such as audio tones indicating when it is safe to cross.
>>However,
>>the box that controls the intersection contains a massive amount
>>of
>>wiring. This is necessary to connect each actuator with each
>>signal so
>>at any given time, the control box knows each state.
>>
>>Wall's new system simplifies each box to only two wires, both
>>already
>>required to power the signals. It uses a technology called
>>Ethernet over
>>power line, which allows information to be broadcast over power
>>lines.
>>
>>The future is clear for Wall and his research team. They have
>>established dates to deliver the engineering and expect field
>>trials to
>>commence in June. They are building prototypes supported by funds
>>from
>>the University Transportation Centers program, Idaho's Higher
>>Education
>>Research Council and their commercial partner, Campbell Company,
>>who
>>currently makes the accessible pedestrian signals that chirp and
>>talk
>>for the handicapped.
>>
>>"The signals we're building are more than prototypes. These
>>devices
>>actually can go into the field and work today," said Wall. "We're
>>using
>>existing infrastructure and communicating intelligence over it.
>>It's
>>cost effective, it simplifies the connection to two wires and it
>>can be
>>immediately installed in all the existing crosswalks in the
>>country."
>>
>>If you would like more information, or to speak with the people
>>involved, please let me know.
>>
>>Ken Kingery
>>
>>Science/Research Writer
>>
>>University of Idaho
>>
>>Office: 208-885-9156
>>
>>Cell: 614-570-3942 _______________________________________________
>>nfb-talk mailing list
>>nfb-talk at nfbnet.org
>>http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-talk_nfbnet.org
>
> _______________________________________________
> nfb-talk mailing list
> nfb-talk at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-talk_nfbnet.org
>
> 

------------------------------

Message: 2
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:03:45 -0600
From: "Tony Grima" <agrima at nbp.org> (by way of David Andrews
	<dandrews at visi.com>)
Subject: [nfb-talk] NBP: Pre-order J.K Rowling's 'Tales of Beedle the
	Bard'
To: david.andrews at nfbnet.org
Message-ID: <auto-000075399464 at mailfront1.g2host.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed

The Tales of Beedle the Bard
By J.K. Rowling
One volume in braille or PortaBook, $12.99

Reserve your braille copy of J.K. Rowling's latest book now!

By special arrangement with the print book's publishers, National
Braille Press is pleased to offer the braille edition of The Tales of
Beedle the Bard - Rowling's companion piece to her Harry Potter books -
on December 4th, the same day the print book goes on sale.

The Tales of Beedle the Bard are known to millions of Harry Potter fans
as the volume of wizarding fairy tales left to Hermione Granger, by
Hogwarts Headmaster Albus Dumbledore in the seventh and final book,
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.  The five fairy tales contained
clues that were crucial to Harry Potter's final mission to destroy Lord
Voldemort, but only one of the stories - 'The Tale of the Three
Brothers' - was actually recounted in the book.

Note that the book will be released on December 4th, 2008, but if you
order now your credit card will be charged immediately.

To order or read more about this book online, visit
http://www.nbp.org/ic/nbp/BEEDLE.html

******
To order any books, send payment to:
NBP, 88 St. Stephen Street, Boston, MA 02115-4302
Or call and charge it: toll-free (800) 548-7323 or (617) 266-6160 ext
20. Or order any of our books online at
http://www.nbp.org/ic/nbp/publications/index.html .

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PLEASE DO NOT respond to this message! It is an automated message and 
your query will not reach us. Send questions to orders at nbp.org .

------------------------------

Message: 3
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 21:33:04 -0600
From: "Freeh,	Jessica" <JFreeh at nfb.org> (by way of David Andrews
	<dandrews at visi.com>)
Subject: [nfb-talk] Geerat Vermeij to Serve as National Ambassador for
	Braille Literacy
To: david.andrews at nfbnet.org
Message-ID: <auto-000075440923 at mailfront1.g2host.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"; format=flowed

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:

Chris Danielsen

Public Relations Specialist

National Federation of the Blind

(410) 659-9314, extension 2330

(410) 262-1281 (Cell)

<mailto:cdanielsen at nfb.org>cdanielsen at nfb.org

Geerat Vermeij to Serve as National Ambassador for Braille Literacy

Baltimore, Maryland (November 17, 2008): The 
National Federation of the Blind (NFB), the 
nation?s leading advocate for Braille literacy, 
announced today that Dr. Geerat Vermeij, 
professor of geology at the University of 
California at Davis and MacArthur Fellowship 
Award recipient, will serve as a National 
Ambassador for Braille literacy.  As an 
ambassador, Dr. Vermeij will help advance the 
NFB?s Braille Readers are Leaders campaign, a 
national initiative to promote the importance of 
reading and writing Braille for blind children 
and adults.  The Braille Readers are Leaders 
campaign kicked off in July of 2008 with the 
unveiling of the design of a commemorative coin 
to be minted in 2009 in recognition of the 
two-hundredth anniversary of the birth of Louis 
Braille (1809?1852), the inventor of the reading 
and writing code for the blind that bears his name.

Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National 
Federation of the Blind, said: ?The National 
Federation of the Blind is pleased to have Dr. 
Vermeij as part of this historic initiative to 
bring Braille literacy to all of the blind 
children and adults in America who need it.  Dr. 
Vermeij is a professor, an evolutionary biologist 
and paleontologist, and an accomplished 
author????and he uses Braille to effectively do 
this work.  His success as a blind individual is 
surely an inspiration to blind children and 
adults learning Braille throughout the United 
States and the world.  There can be no doubt that 
the ability to read and write Braille competently 
and efficiently is the key to education, 
employment, and success for the blind.  Despite 
the undisputed value of Braille, however, only 
about 10 percent of blind children in the United 
States are currently learning it.  Society would 
never accept a 10 percent literacy rate among 
sighted children; it should not accept such an 
outrageously low literacy rate among the 
blind.  The Braille Readers are Leaders campaign, 
with the support of influential scholars like 
Geerat Vermeij, will reverse the downward trend 
in Braille literacy and ensure that equal 
opportunities in education and employment are 
available to all of the nation?s blind.?

Geerat Vermeij said: ?I am honored and pleased to 
serve as a National Ambassador for the Braille 
Readers are Leaders campaign.  I can emphatically 
say that Braille literacy is critical and that 
the lack of Braille instruction in classrooms 
today is outrageous.  Without the use of Braille, 
I simply would not be able to do my job??I use it 
every day while collecting and analyzing data, 
maintaining an enormous Braille library of 
scientific material, and writing 
manuscripts.  Braille literacy has helped me to 
achieve my goals, and I hope to help other blind 
children and adults do the same.?

For more information about the Braille Readers 
are Leaders campaign and the Louis Braille 
commemorative coin, please visit <http://www.braille.org/>www.braille.org.

###

------------------------------

Message: 4
Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2008 08:35:30 -0600
From: "tribble" <lauraeaves at yahoo.com>
Subject: [nfb-talk] stand for classic knfb reader
To: <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>,	"Multiple recipients of NFBnet GUI-TALK
	Mailing List"	<gui-talk at NFBnet.org>, "NFBnet NFBCS Mailing List"
	<nfbcs at nfbnet.org>,	"NFBnet National Association to Promote the
Use of
	Braille Mailing	List" <napub at nfbnet.org>
Message-ID: <E0659408891A4B259A3E4E66C9C65E29 at bassclef>
Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="iso-8859-1"

Hi all -- if you are interested in purchasing the item in the subject line, 
please call me for an excellent deal. I haven't found a new use for the 
stand since I upgraded to the mobile reader. And the nfb store is selling 
them but not buying them (go figure).
I'll give a price a fraction of the original price and much less than what 
the nfb store is selling them for.
My email is lauraeaves at yahoo.com and my cell phone is 651-269-2224
Thanks and happy reading.
--le 

------------------------------

Message: 5
Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2008 10:20:24 -0600
From: "David B Andrews" <David.B.Andrews at state.mn.us> (by way of David
	Andrews	<dandrews at visi.com>)
Subject: [nfb-talk] Huge Price Reduction on K-NFB and
	K-ReaderMobileSoftware!
To: david.andrews at nfbnet.org
Message-ID: <auto-000075498520 at mailfront1.g2host.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; Format="flowed"

----- Original Message -----
From: "Earle Harrison" <earle at handytech.us>
 > Sent: Tuesday, November 18, 2008 1:55 PM
Subject: Huge Price Reduction on K-NFB and K-Reader
MobileSoftware!

Handy Tech North America is pleased to announce the most significant
price reduction of the world's most portable, and now  most affordable
camera
based image capture and read technology.

Effective immediately, and just in time for the holidays, customers will
enjoy a $600.00 price reduction in the K Reader and K-NFB Reader Mobile
software Products.

Just released in January of 2008, both the K-Reader and K-NFB Reader
Mobile software were priced at $1,595.00.  The new price is $995.00.

We at Handy Tech North America both applaud and appreciate this
incredible
development because it places this awesome technology well within the
grasp of consumers who simply couldn't afford it before.  We understand that
for some, $1,495.00 the new cost of the K-Reader and K-NFB Reader with Nokia
N82 Mobile bundle, may as well be a million dollars because some people
don't
have that either, but considering that only 2 years ago the original
reader cost $3500.00 is amazing!  I would challenge those who would argue
that
the cost is still too high, to name another product in the assistive
technology industry that has come down in price by $2000 over a two 
year period, I
can't think of one myself at the moment.

Here is the new price breakdown:

K-NFB Reader Software only: $995.00
- for people who already own a supported phone such as the N82 and would
like to install the software themselves.

Nokia N82 and K-NFB Reader installed and configured: $1,495.00
- for people who have no immediate desire to access the features of the
phone, but want a portable and reliable means of accessing print
materials.

Nokia N82, K-NFB Reader and choice of Mobile Speak or Talks screen reader
installed and configured: $1,795.00
- for people who want access to print materials and wish to access the
 >> features of the phone such as messaging, contacts, calendar appointments
and
much more.

Nokia N-82, K-NFB Reader, choice of either Talks or Mobile Speak screen
reader, Way Finder Access GPS navigation software with GPS receiver
installed and configured: $2,295.00
- for people who want to add GPS navigation to an accessible phone and
the world's most portable means of accessing printed materials.

The above pricing is subject to change without notice.

For more information call Handy Tech North America at:  651-636-5184 or
  e-mail:  sales at handytech.us

Best Regards,

Earle Harrison
Handy Tech North America
Ph:  651-636-5184
Fx:  866-347-8249
Em:  earle at handytech.us
Wb:  <http://www.handytech.us>www.handytech.us
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FN:Tanner, David
TEL;WORK:651-642-0795
ORG:;SSB
TEL;PREF;FAX:651-649-5927
EMAIL;WORK;PREF;NGW:DTANNER at ngwmail.des.state.mn.us
N:Tanner;David
TITLE:Rehab Tech Spec
END:VCARD

------------------------------

Message: 6
Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2008 11:27:09 -0500
From: "Ed Meskys" <edmeskys at localnet.com>
Subject: [nfb-talk] Fw: City threatens blind woman over unpaid 1-cent
	bill
To: "nfb-talk" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>, "NHBLIND-TALK NH Blind/Low
	Vision List"	<NHBLIND-TALK at LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG>
Message-ID: <002b01c94a66$f5479ac0$87449942 at pavilion>
Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="Windows-1252"

Sent: Tuesday, November 18, 2008 5:13 PM
Subject: City threatens blind woman over unpaid 1-cent bill

City threatens blind woman over unpaid 1-cent bill

November 18, 2008

ATTLEBORO, Mass.?A 74-year-old blind woman was shocked when her
daughter found a letter from the city saying a lien would be placed
on her home unless she paid an overdue water bill.

The amount? 1 cent.

Eileen Wilbur told The Sun Chronicle of Attleboro the letter sent her
blood pressure soaring, and pointed out that stamps cost 42 cents.

City Collector Debora Marcoccio said the letter was among 2,000 sent
out. A computer automatically prints letters for accounts with an
overdue balance, and they are not reviewed by staff before being
mailed, she said.

The letter warned of a lien and a $48 penalty if the overdue bill is
not paid by Dec. 10. The charge was from the previous fiscal year,
which ran from July 2007 to July 2008.

"My question is, how come it wasn't paid when the (original) bills
went out?" Marcoccio said.

Wilbur's daughter, Rose Brederson, who discovered the bill in her
mother's mail, called the situation "ridiculous." But she said her
mother, who has lived in the home since 1959, would likely end up
paying the penny.

------

Information from: The Sun Chronicle, http://www.thesunchronicle.com

------------------------------

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End of nfb-talk Digest, Vol 6, Issue 18
***************************************