[NFBofSC] NJ Tech Division Meeting

[Steve Cook]

Monday, February 8, 2021 at 7:30 PM Eastern 

Hello All tekkies

I am hopeful you are all well, safe and warm.

I have given you a lot to read but with the snow outside you have the time.

There are 3 items here:

1. the minutes

2. the agenda and

3 the zoom details

Please be aware of the start time of 7:30 to allow those  of us involved with the Washington Seminar to finish that and get on our call too!

Lastly I am excited to have 2 presenters this month 

 

National Federation of the Blind of New Jersey's Technology Division January Meeting

Minutes from our tech division meeting Monday, January 11, 2021 at 7 PM via Zoom 

1. Roll Call: Mary Jo Partyka 

There were 35 in attendance. 

Officers: 

Linda Melendez, President NFBNJ 

Jane Degenshein, president 

Tony Santiago, vice president 

Mary Jo Partyka, recording secretary 

Annemarie Cooke, treasurer 

Board members-Mario Brusco, Anne Marie Harris, Brian Keane, Andy Smith 

Members included: 

joanna Benthall, Ward Biondi, Tracy Carcione, Ada Crandle, Linda DeBerardinis, Lori Falk, Chris Franz, Renee Freiling, Phil Harrison, Peggy Kane, Clark King, Zoraida Krell, Olga Kronenberg, Reggie Lancaster, Marian Lee, Liz Morgan, Ursula Rucki, Jocelyn Santiago, Ellen Sullivan, Jennifer Uchanow, Jimmy Vonderlinden, Ruth Williams 

Guests: Les Cameron, Brian Mackey, Carol Thomas,   Danielle Dibello

 

2. Welcoming remarks: Janie Degenshein 

Janie thanked all for being on this call. 

A shout out to Misty Hagan for making her reminder calls which allows us to get this kind of representation on the call. 

A reminder that alt a will unmute on the computer and *6 will unmute you on the telephone 

to raise your hand is alt y on the computer 

and *9 on the telephone 

3. NFB Pledge: All 

I pledge to participate actively in the efforts of the National Federation of the Blind 

to achieve equality, opportunity, and security for the blind 

to support the policies and programs of the federation 

and to abide by its constitution 

4. Secretary's Report: Mary Jo Partyka 

Mary Jo asked if all received the minutes and if there were any additions or corrections. 

There were none. 

Motion: Ellen Sullivan 

Second: Linda DeBerardinis 

Discussion 

Anyone who doesn't approve the motion raise your hand 

The motion passed. 

5. Treasurer's Report: Annemarie Cooke 

December 1, 2020 

Opening balance: $1172.95 

Deposit on December 2-$35.00 

Deposit on December 9-$40.00 

Working balance: $1237.95 

December 11 debit of $10.00 for PAC Plan 

$50.00 mailed to the two Door Prize winners from the state convention 

December 31 

Closing balance: $187.95 

Motion: Mario Brusco 

Second: Brian Keane 

Discussion 

Anyone who disagrees raise your hand 

The treasurer's report is approved. 

6. Dues: Annemarie Cooke 

Annemarie noted that there were several people who haven’t paid dues. She asked that since PayPal for the Divisions will not be in place until after February 1, that members send her their dues directly. Annemarie’s address is 7 Mayfair Road, Southampton, NJ 08088. You can pay dues by check or money order. Some people sent cash. Make checks out to Technology Division, NFBNJ or National Federation of the Blind of New Jersey. Put the words”dues for 2021” in the memo field of the check. 

7. NFBNJ Updates: Janie Degenshein and Linda Melendez 

technology plans for our affiliate?Linda Melendez told the group that we had our first board meeting and a chapter presidents meeting. Her 3 priorities for this quarter are 

technology, membership, and fund-raising. 

In terms of technology, she would like to have the At Large Chapter, the student division and the Sports and Rec, Senior and Technology divisions on PayPal by February 1. . The chapters will be coming on PayPal in March or April of this year. Linda would like to work on ways to increase and engage our members. Ellen is working on fund-raising and there is a possibility that we might do a 50-50 raffle to raise money for the state affiliate. 

Linda also mentioned that on January 14, we are having a Sending our Support (S O S) for Joe Ruffalo. This event will be held on Zoom at 6:30 PM and representatives from the national office, as well as family and friends of Joe, will be invited to this call. 

Linda stated that she and Ryan Stevens are working on plans for our involvement in the Washington Seminar which will be held virtually during the week of February 8. There will be a Washington Seminar Town Hall on January 25 at 7:00 PM in which the issues and procedures of the Washington Seminar will be explained to the membership. 

8. A Tech Discussion regarding the new e reader from the TBBC: Andy Smith, Tracy Carcione, 

Andy Smith and  Tracy Carcione, shared their experiences with the EReader Pilot which enables people to read books with a 20-cell Braille display. New Jersey was one of the four states chosen by NLS (the National Library Service) to participate in this pilot project. According to Andy Smith, the E-Reader will replace Braille books. Those who use this device will be able to download Braille books directly from the BARD site onto the Braille display. These braille books could be copied to a cartridge or they can be read directly from the Braille display. Some people connected the Braille display to their iDevices. The E-Reader supports Daisy text only and there is an SD card where the books could be copied or saved. Some testers had difficulty connecting to WiFi because the manual did not explain that if your password begins with a letter, the dot 5, 6 sign must be put before the letters in accordance with United English Braille (UEB) standards. Books can be read in contracted, uncontracted and regular Braille. You can only use Bookshare books on this device if you download them to an SD card or a thumb drive. 

According to Tracy Carcione, the E-Reader is about the same size as a paperback book and easy to carry around. Tracy said she had difficulty connecting it to her iPhone. Tracy also talked about the Search feature available on the E-Reader. 

Liz Morgan told the group that people can bookmark these books so they don’t lose their place 

Jane asked how people could apply to be a tester for the E-Reader and Tracy stated that they should contact the New Jersey Talking Book and Braille Center (njsltbbc) and express their interest in participating. 

9. Old/New Business: All 

Jane shared about the Verizon Volunteer Project.the first recipients will be given their slots in the next week or so. 

If interested in the possibility of becoming a recipient, send Jane an email and what help is needed. 

Zoraida Krell asked if you had to be a Verizon customer to take advantage of this project and Jane said no. Anyone who needs this help can participate. 

Les Cameron asked if he could get help with BARD Express in Georgia. Jane said she would have to find an answer to his question. Liz Morgan said she could help Les with BARD Express. 

10. Round the Phone: Janie Degenshein and Tony Santiago 

If time permits 

Keep questions general in nature and a one minute requirement needs to be met so keep your questions or comments on point please! 

Andy Smith asked Brian Mackey how he liked the Victor Reader Trek that he purchased. Brian said that the Victor Trek has some interesting features including GPS, Bluetooth capability, When you power the machine up or down, it will vibrate. The device can also function as a ham radio and an SD card comes with it. The Victor Trek has 15 gigabytes of Ram. 

Ward Biondi said he is having trouble getting Siri to search for information on Youtube. Ellen Sullivan said that some new controls are being put on Youtube, Facebook, and on Siri to control extraneous talking on the Internet. 

Linda DeBerardinis said she has been having a problem with low volume on her iPhone. She said she also doesn’t get sound when she sends a text to someone. Anne Marie Harris said she had the same problem with her iPhone and she looked on Youtube for an answer. They suggested that she unplug and plug in her phone which solved her problem. Annemarie Cooke told the group that another update for IOS 14 was scheduled for tonight which might resolve the problem. Bea Oliveti suggested that Linda turn her iPhone off and on again and if that doesn’t help, she should call Apple Support. 

jimmy Vonderlinden suggested that Linda turn her volume up when she contacts Siri. Subsequent to tonight’s call, Lori Falk sent Jane a link to a podcast which discusses the subject Linda DeBerardinis raised. 

Here is that info:

Thomas Domville shows us How to control the various volume 

levels in iOS. 

Podcast File 

AppleVisPodcast1193.mp3 

https://www.applevis.com/podcasts/how-control-various-volume-levels-ios 

Phil Harrison said his computer keeps going on and off. He couldn’t get email or messages. A black box appears on the screen and sometimes shuts down his email. .The computer is six years old. Tony asked Phil about the computer specs but Phil didn’t know the answers. Phil is running Windows 10 with JAWS 16. Having a small degree of Ram and an older version of JAWS may be contributing to his problems. Someone will have to analyze his computer to resolve the problem. Eight to sixteen gigs of ram is necessary to have your computer run smoothly. Brian Keane asked if the computer hangs up. Brian suggested the computer might be overheated. Brian Keane said he would help Phil with this problem. Reggie Lancaster thought that Phil’s computer might have a serious virus. 

Jane reminded everyone about the SOS for Joe Ruffalo on January 14 and about the January 13 Book Club in which they will discuss “The Magic Fingers of Frankie Presto"by Mitch Albom. 

11. Adjournment 

The next meeting will be Monday, February 8 at 7:30 PM via Zoom. 

Motion to adjourn: Chris Franz 

Seconded: Andy Smith 

Respectfully submitted,

Mary Jo Partyka, Secretary

Reviewed by

Jane Degenshein, President

***

Agenda for the technology division meeting slated for Monday, February, 8, 2020 at 7:30 PM via zoom

1. Roll Call

2. Welcoming Remarks: Jane Degenshein

3. NFB Pledge: All

4. Secretary's Report: Mary Jo Partyka

5. Treasurer's Report: Annemarie Cooke

6. Guest Presenter: Matt Vollbrecht

Matt will share with us his offerings for this spring and updates as well.

7. Tech tip Time: Tony Santiago

Tony shares the value he finds  in his everyday life with the apple watch.

8. Old/New Business: All

Updates from Linda Melendez

Dues can be paid via PayPal now.

9. Adjourn

(We don't have round the phone this month as we have 2 terrific presentations and questions will be taken after each)

Respectfully submitted,

Jane Degenshein, President

***

Zoom Details:

Topic: NFBNJ Technology Division Meeting 

Date: Monday, Feb 8, 2021 

Time: 07:30 PM Eastern Time 

Join Zoom Meeting 

https://zoom.us/j/6477660103?pwd=Qkw0RGxYdGc5TjVBdVZmUnFYYnlCQT09 

Meeting ID: 647 766 0103 

Passcode: 612068 

One tap mobile 

+16468769923,,6477660103#,,,,*612068# US (New York) 

Dial by your location 

+1 646 876 9923 US (New York) 

Meeting ID: 647 766 0103 

Passcode: 612068 

 

 

 

Keep Smiling,
Janie Degenshein
Happiness isn't having what you want, but wanting what you already have!
Facilitator of ECHO (Eyes Closed Hearts Open)
state affiliate board member
President of the senior division of the National Federation of the Blind of New Jersey
to join the senior list serve:
https://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbnj-seniors_nfbnet.org
President of the Technology division of the National federation of the Blind of New Jersey
To join the tech div list serve:
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/njtechdiv_nfbnet.org

NFBNJ Newsline co-ordinator
jdegen16 at comcast.net <mailto:jdegen16 at comcast.net> 

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