[NFBCS] Hello... am I in the right place?

Sat Nov 16 20:19:22 UTC 2019

  I do have one general suggestion for you, if you don’t know it 
already I would strongly suggest learning braille. A refresher bull 
Braille Display will be helpful in the long run. I just figured I’d 
contribute something small to this discussion.

Sincerely Maurice Mines

On 16 Nov 2019, at 11:35, Alan K. Martinez via NFBCS wrote:

> Hello,
>
> Thank you everyone for the confirmation reply.  I appreciate it.  I 
> hope to learn a lot from the group.  I'm mostly a fly on the wall in 
> most groups unless I'm very confident about a subject that I can chime 
> in about.  So, I might be more of a sponge absorbing information and 
> testing things out on my own.
>
> I'm currently working with the California Department of 
> Rehabilitations and The Lighthouse of San Francisco to adjust to my 
> new disability.
>
> I have low vision from Glaucoma and complications from surgeries 
> treating the condition.  I had a Trabeculectomy in my left eye that 
> wasn't 100% successful so now I have what I call a ripple in what I 
> can see with it because the retina or back of my eye is not smooth.  
> That's the best way it was described to me.  Like a balloon that is 
> slightly deflated it wrinkles.  Now that the fluid pressure in my eye 
> has been greatly reduced it is like a deflated balloon.  I also have 
> blind spots in my field of view from the nerve damage.
>
> Then recently I had vitreous hemorrhaging in my right eye and very 
> high pressure and had to have a shunt or plate installed.  After that 
> surgery I must have had some nerve damage and have blind spots in my 
> vision.
>
> I've had cataract surgery in both eyes.
>
> This is why I'm working with the Department of Rehabilitations and The 
> Lighthouse.
>
> Before my vision problems I was an information technology support 
> technician.  I mainly did deskside support, troubleshooting and break 
> fix on hardware.  I also did some light network administration.
>
> I worked for Big 6 accounting firms like Arthur Andersen and Deloitte 
> and Touche.  I also did work for Piper Jaffray and Company supporting 
> their investment bankers and trading floor.  I worked at The Gap, and 
> San Francisco International Airport in their International Terminal.
>
> Around 2011 my contract ended with The Gap and it was a little hard to 
> find more work, so I decided to try to go back to school and pursue a 
> Computer Science degree.  I was attending City College of San 
> Francisco and hoping to transfer to San Francisco State.  But I had to 
> drop out because of the vision problems.  I was studying more towards 
> software engineering and information security or cyber security.  I 
> know a little C++ and Java after taking a few classes and was hoping 
> to get into Python.  Now that I'm not attending school, I'm trying to 
> learn things on my own.
>
> I'm very interested in Cyber Security and doing a lot of self-study.  
> I'm focusing on Linux right now as one of the tools in Cyber Security. 
>  I have several laptops, mostly Lenovo ThinkPads, a MacBook Pro, an 
> iMac, and Apple G4 desktop, and a bunch of Raspberry Pi's.  I'm using 
> Windows, macOS, iOS, and Linux.  The main system I have at my desk 
> runs macOS for now, but I'm setting up a new refurbished ThinkPad 
> where I triple booted it with Debian, Kali, and Windows 10.  I'm 
> working with this system right now so I can learn BASH shell scripting 
> and Python.
>
> Most of my studying right now is towards getting my certifications in 
> CompTIA's Network+ and Security+ first.  I'm not sure what to pursue 
> after that but with those I hope to meet the department of 
> rehabilitations requirements so I can get job placement.
>
> That's probably a lot about me and maybe more than anyone wanted to 
> read...  sorry...
>
> Reading it over it looks like I might be biting off more than I can 
> chew with my goals.  But I have a lot of time on my hands right now.  
> I just need to get better organized and focused.
>
> Amy suggests that I get in contact with a few members here if I have 
> some technical questions regarding Linux and the accessibility 
> features it has to offer if I'm having trouble.  I don't have any 
> questions yet.  I'm still exploring a little bit and will look for a 
> Dark Mode theme.  I'll probably work mostly in the command line and I 
> know how to turn the terminal black but there are still some things I 
> use in the G U I because I don't know how to work around a function in 
> the command line or there might not be a command line option.
>
> I have one question though.  I understand that a lot of members might 
> be using voice over to read the text like this email and I don't know 
> how well that works for certain acronyms like CLI.  I was trying to 
> spell out the words fully so that the readers can speak them more 
> clearly.  I'm only assuming this is more helpful and don't know if I 
> can use acronyms or abbreviations.  If there is anything that I'm 
> doing wrong or can do something a little more helpful, please let me 
> know.
>
>
> Thanks everyone,
>
> Alan
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On 11/15/19, 08:35, "Curtis Chong" <chong.curtis at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>     Hello Alan:
>
>     If Amy Mason referred you to this list, I am confident that you 
> are in the right place<smile>. There is a variety of interests on this 
> list, but the primary focus involves blind people who are 
> professionally working in the field of technology, whether it be 
> access technology or information technology.
>
>     So, please tell us about yourself.
>
>     Cordially,
>
>     Curtis Chong, Treasurer
>     National Federation of the Blind in Computer Science
>
>
>     -----Original Message-----
>     From: NFBCS <nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Alan K. 
> Martinez via NFBCS
>     Sent: Thursday, November 14, 2019 11:36 PM
>     To: nfbcs at nfbnet.org
>     Cc: Alan K. Martinez <alan.k.martinez.02 at gmail.com>
>     Subject: [NFBCS] Hello... am I in the right place?
>
>     Hello everyone,
>
>
>
>     Before I make a fool of myself with a bloated introduction I would 
> like to make sure I’m in the right place.
>
>
>
>     I was referred to NFBNET.org and specifically the Computer Science 
> group by Amy Mason of The Lighthouse in San Francisco.
>
>
>
>     I’m just sending an initial message to make sure I’ve 
> subscribed to the correct group.
>
>
>
>     Please let me know where to go if I’m not in the righte place.
>
>
>
>     Thanks,
>
>
>
>     Alan
>
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>
>
>
>
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