[Njabs-talk] Minutes for NJABS Call 12/11/2011

[Benjamin Vercellone]

Technology touches iPhone 4S.

Apologies for being several minutes late and missing some things 
firsthand until approx. 8:09 PM.

Approx.8:00 PM: Greg recited the NFB pledge. Then he talked for several 
minutes about the new iPhone 4S.

8:09 PM: Danny talked about Siri. TO activate it, press and hold the 
home button.

It is a service on the iPhone 4S, and it is able to not only recognize 
your voice for simple dictation, but also to answer some questions and 
find information previously not possible with this type of voice interface.

You can ask questions using Siri. Where is the nearest Italian 
Restaurant for example? What is the weather? You can text people as 
well. This is basically talking to your iPhone. You can also say call 
whoever. You have to go by the names in your contacts but it is so much 
more convenient. Siri is amazing. It is definitely worth it. It is the 
main selling point for the iPhone 4S.

8:12 PM: Greg talked about aps. First he mentioned Omoby. Omoby can now 
identify money. Omoby is Google based. Then he talked about VizWiz. With 
VizWiz, you take a picture of something. It read's what you take a 
picture of.

Danny added concerning VizWiz. You take the picture. Then record 
something like a question. Then you send it to people on the web. They 
see your picture and message and they type their answer back. You may be 
wondering about the calorie information on a bag of Doritos. They may 
say, turn the bag of Doritos around. You may take a picture of a CD for 
example and ask what cd is this? They may say, Move the camera up. The 
name is cut off.

Greg talked about more apps. Twitter is now built into the iPhone 
operating system. One good website to visit for information on what apps 
are accessible and what ones are not is

www.applevis.com <http://www.applevis.com>.

Danny said: In addition to Applevis.com, there is also

www.maccessibility.net.

They have an extensive list of accessible IOS apps. There are many 
accessible games too.

8:17 PM: Isabel demonstrates Siri. She said what will the weather be 
like tomorrow? The iPhone brought up the weather app. Isabel can now 
swipe and read the weather with the weather app. Isabel said: I love 
you. Siri said: You can't. You can say things like find the nearest cab. 
Isabel said: Will you marry me? Siri said: My end user license agreement 
does not cover marriage.

8:21 pm: Evelyn asked about iPhone 5.

There may be a hologram keyboard feature on iPhone 5.

Will the Siri name change? Probably not. Siri was already an assistant. 
Apple bought it out. With another app called Vlingo, you can speak in 
text messages. Not as great. It works with earlier iPhones though.

Approx. 8:22: We Talked about the Battery. There is an extended battery 
in the 4S.

8:28: Evelyn Talked about the title. Our NJABS calls now will all have 
titles. This one's title is Technology touches iPhone 4S.

Concerning the operating system on the iPhone 4S, Danny said there will 
be another upgrade soon. 5.1. It will contain fixes. It will be better 
with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. These things will be accessible using Siri. It 
is Good to have wireless off when on the street.

Beatrice left the call.

8:31 PM: Attendance was taken. Members present:

Evelyn Valdez - President.

Shafeka Hashash - Vice President.

Benjamin Vercellone -- Secretary.

Greg Rivera - board member.

Beatrice Olivetti.

Sharon Cortezano.

Carlos Herrera.

Maxine Lomax.

Mark Coleserto.

Danny Romero.

Isabel Rodriguez.

8:33 pm: The NJABS Board has new members.

Maxine Lomax. She was formerly known as Marie. She said she is Excited 
to be on NJABS. She is excited to work with us.

Next was Mark coleserto. He was not here at the time. He is the new 
treasurer. He will transfer the bank from Valley National to somewhere 
near him.

Anthony Rayes was next. I believe he is in charge of web design. He and 
Greg will put together the NJABS website.

Melissa Hurff is now engaged. Her Fiancé's name is John.

8:37 pm.

Evelyn said there is a new contest. Campus champions for challenge. 
There is a man who works for Obama. We decided to enter our NJABS 
Student Convention held this spring into the contest.

8:38 PM:

Mark came into the call.

For the contest, it will be narrowed down to 15 projects. They will be 
invited to Washington D.C. We will be on TV if selected. MCBU TV will be 
hosting our event.

We applied for a grant for the Washington seminar. We will have a 
conference call concerning the seminar. There will be a guest caller to 
discuss 3 issues. The grant money will be arriving shortly.

Next we talked about the after the holiday party. Everyone on call must 
attend. It is from 1 to 5 on January 7.

8:44 pm. Evelyn talked about the Hotel room that we reserved for that 
night. It is $85 a night.

We hope to have a student activity. This is the third year for NJABS at 
the party. We want more student attendance. It costs $25 for event. Send 
your check to Joe.

8:49 PM: Evelyn said she thinks we covered everything. Evelyn is going 
to LCB at the end of January. She thanks all of us. Happy holidays. Mary 
Fernandez is coming home soon.

Call ended.

Respectfully submitted,

Benjamin Vercellone - secretary.