[Trainer-talk] new notetaker
David Sexton
david at rustytelephone.net
Thu Aug 27 20:31:09 UTC 2009
I love linux and use it everyday, but why not just install this software on a netbook running linux for less than $300? Find a good program to disable the screen to save battery...
David
* David B Andrews <David.B.Andrews at state.mn.us> [090827 10:28]:
> At the risk of sounding negative, I am skeptical about this. First, we
> are seeing things move towards smart phones, and net books, instead of
> dedicated notetakers. Why not use a netbook with system Access. You
> are still under the $1000 figure with power, flexibility, and lots of
> options.
>
>
> I suspect they will find it hard, and expensive to get dedicated
> hardware manufactured. Then, it is out of date in a couple years. If
> they are able to do something for between $500 and $1000 we are looking
> at from $1000 to $2000 by the time it is made, imported, and supported
> by a commercial company in the U.S. So, are you saving money.
>
> There have and are a couple attempts to do notetaker type things using
> Linux, Papenmeier had one, now we have tie Icon/Braille Plus. They tend
> to be not that flexible, not as full-featured as Windows stuff, and it
> is difficult to add features. If you read through the document you see
> lots of compromises, and stuff it can't do in terms of syncing,
> compatibility, etc. I am sorry, but I don't see this going anywhere!
>
> Dave
>
>
>
> David Andrews
> Chief Technology Officer
> Minnesota State Services for the Blind
> 2200 University Ave. W., #240
> St. Paul, MN 55114-1840
> (651) 642-0513 Office
> (612) 730-7931 Cell
> (651) 649-5927 Fax
>
>
> >>> "Josh" <jkenn337 at gmail.com> 8/27/2009 1:00 PM >>>
> hi here it is.
>
> Noteaker FAQ
>
> Date: 23 February 2009 Version 1.0
>
> Notetaker Frequently Ask Questions
>
> Notetaker%20FAQ_html_m1020ef67
>
> Notetaker%20FAQ_html_m4cad18c
>
> Noteaker FAQ
>
> Version 1.0
>
> 23 February 2009
>
> Compiled by:
>
> Willem van der Walt
>
> Gerhard van den Berg
>
> Meraka CSIR
>
> Table of Contents
>
> Q1 What is the Notetaker? 4
>
> Q2 What are the Design Criteria for the Notetaker? 4
>
> Q3 How does this Notetaker differ form other notetakers 4
>
> Q4 If the Notetaker uses a computer platform what operating system does
> it use? 5
>
> Q5 How fast is the Notetaker's processor? 5
>
> Q6 How much does the Notetaker cost? 5
>
> Q7 How much memory does the Notetaker have? 5
>
> Q8 How much space has the Notetaker for storing files? 6
>
> Q9 Does the device have a media card slot? 6
>
> Q10 Can one use a USB pen drive (memory stick) with the device? 6
>
> Q11 How does the Notetaker work? 6
>
> Q12 Which Communication interfaces do the Notetaker support? 6
>
> Q13 Which Interfaces and Peripherals are supported? 7
>
> Q14 Is there support for Braille and other keyboards? 7
>
> Q15 Does the Notetaker provide for the partly sighted? 7
>
> Q16 Does the Notetaker run Windows XP? 7
>
> Q17 What Operating system does the Notetaker use? 8
>
> Q18 What other Programs are available for the Notetaker? 8
>
> Q19 Will it be possible to cut/paste between different applications?
> 10
>
> Q20 Does the Notetaker have a Braille display 10
>
> Q21 Which Braille displays will the device support? 10
>
> Q22 Will grade 2 Braille be supported? 10
>
> Q23 What about the weight? I have difficulty with carrying heavy
> equipment. 10
>
> Q24 What are the chances of loosing data if the batteries run down? 10
>
> Q25 Will the device warn you about low batteries? 10
>
> Q26 Is there an OCR (Optical Character Recognition) program? 11
>
> Q27 Does the device come with a modem built in? 11
>
> Q28 Would it be easy to add extra languages in terms of speech
> synthesis? 11
>
> Q29 Will the device be able to extract compressed archives like .zip
> files? 11
>
> Q30 Will it be possible to move files between the device and a normal
> Windows based desktop PC? 11
>
> Q31 Why can the device read, but not write DVDs? 12
>
> Q32 Will the device be able to read/convert PDF documents? 12
>
> Q33 Can the device read and write Microsoft documents like Word and
> Excel files? 12
>
> Q34 Can one hear an example of the free speech synthesizers used on the
> system? 13
>
> Q35 Are there any commercial voices available that sound better? 13
>
> Q36 Can email and diary entries by synchronized with MS Outlook type
> applications? 13
>
> Q37 Is there any indication when the Notetaker will be available? 13
>
> Q38 Why did you not answer my question? 14
>
> CSIR Notetaker FAQ
>
> Introduction
>
> This FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) discusses the features and
> operation of the Notetaker, an assistive device for the Blind developed
> by the Meraka Institute
> of the CSIR.
>
> Q1What is the Notetaker?
>
> The Notetaker is really a communication and computing device for the
> Blind based on a personal computer. It runs special programs to enable
> the Blind to
> access modern electronic media and other information sources
> including:
>
> Access recorded books and music,
> study material and electronic documents,
> also access the internet,
> send and receive e-mails and
> serve as a personal organiser.
>
> It can also assist the Blind in preparing, editing and spell check
> letters, documents and student assignments. The Notetaker is a device to
> provide the
> Blind at work, at home and in the classroom with the ability to record
> and play back lectures or events as well as edit, annotate and organise
> such recordings.
>
>
> Q2What are the Design Criteria for the Notetaker?
>
> The criteria is to design a device that must be small, light, cheap,
> flexible, locally supported, modular in terms of hardware, run of main
> and rechargeable
> batteries It must also be adaptable for South African needs and
> affordable.
>
> Q3How does this Notetaker differ form other notetakers
>
> Most commercially available notetakers are dedicated devices with
> proprietary programs to control their operation and functions. Programs
> and program updates
> are only available from the manufacturer or agents.
>
> The CSIR based the Notetaker on a Personal Computer platform and free
> open source software. The CSIR follows an open design and development
> policy, which
> allows anybody with the necessary skills to enhance existing functions
> or develop new functions by changing and enhancing existing, or writing
> new programs.
>
> The Notetaker is small and lightweight, and can operate of rechargeable
> batteries and mains power and is thus very similar to a small laptop. It
> does however
> have features that are not available on the ordinary laptop.
>
> The idea is to provide a blind person with easy accessible
> communication and computing tools to access many of the modern media and
> information systems.
>
> Q4If the Notetaker uses a computer platform what operating system does
> it use?
>
> A computer platform can do very little on its own; it requires an
> operating system to communicate with a keyboard and a display as well as
> stored programs
> and data. Popular examples for the PC are DOS (Disk Operating System),
> Microsoft Windows and Unix, while the Apple computer uses the OS-X as
> operating
> system.
>
> The Notetaker uses the Debian Linux as operating system (not Microsoft
> Windows) because it is much easier to interface the output of the Open
> Source programs
> of the Unix systems with the voice output of the Notetaker. The Debian
> Linux operating system and the programs that run on the Notetaker are
> also free.
> Program upgrades and enhancements are also free. This has a major
> impact on the purchasing and running cost of the Notetaker. Unix also
> perform better
> that Microsoft Windows on a small platform.
>
> Q5How fast is the Notetaker's processor?
>
> The PC platform for the Notetaker employs 600 Mega Hertz to 1Giga Hertz
> CPUs.
>
> Q6How much does the Notetaker cost?
>
> The targeted price is 5000 to 10000 Rand (or 500 to 1000 US dollars),
> depending on configuration options such as extra memory, large disk
> space or special
> keyboards.
>
> The Notetaker uses free Open Source programs for its operating system
> and functions. In the Open Source environment most software can
> downloaded from the
> internet at no cost. A developer might charges a small price for the
> distribution of the software on disk. It is also possible that a
> developer might charge
> for a special program, but the Open Source licensing of the software
> promotes the free distribution of the software.
>
> The hardware is thus the main cost component of the Notetaker.
>
> The CSIR has already developed three Notetaker prototypes. The main aim
> of these prototypes was to reduce the cost, weight, size and provide
> enhance battery
> operation. No single hardware platform meets all criteria and features.
> The challenge is to find a platform where the required features,
> modifications
> or enhancements can be added with little increase in cost.
>
> The Department of Science and Technology (DST) of South Africa provides
> the funds for the development of the Notetaker , which is part of the
> Meraka Institute's
> National Accessibility Portal project for the disabled.
>
> Q7How much memory does the Notetaker have?
>
> The Notetaker is normally fitted with 512 Megabyte to 2 Gigabyte of RAM
> (Random Access Memory), the standard RAM used in laptop computers. This
> RAM is for
> running programs and is not where data is stored. Data is stored on
> hard disk or solid-state disk so that the data is retained when the
> Notetaker is switched
> off or the batteries run down.
>
> Q8How much space has the Notetaker for storing files?
>
> The Notetaker use a standard notebook hard drive for program and file
> storage. Notebook hard drives sizes range from 40 Giga bytes to about
> 200 Giga bytes.
> One can use any capacity, as long as the physical drive size remains
> the same. Notebook drives are used because they are low power, shock
> resistant and
> physically small.
>
> The Current Notetaker programs use about 25 Gigabytes and the Wikipedia
> about 7 Gigabytes.
>
> Q9Does the device have a media card slot?
>
> No, but some Notetaker configurations might have it built in. Even in a
> configuration without a built-in media slot, it can use an external USB
> media card-reader.
>
> Q10Can one use a USB pen drive (memory stick) with the device?
>
> Yes, most of them will work.
>
> Q11How does the Notetaker work?
>
> A Blind person uses a standard QWERTY keyboard to communicate with the
> Notetaker.
>
> A user accesses the Notetaker's features through a menu system, which
> are navigated by pressing the first letter of the feature-description or
> the arrow
> keys to scroll until one reaches the desired menu option and then press
> the Enter key to use the specific feature.
>
> All output is through the speech-synthesiser in the language currently
> selected.
>
> Efforts to provide a 9-key Braille chording keyboard, as an alternative
> to the QWERTY keyboard, are under way.
>
> Q12Which Communication interfaces do the Notetaker support?
>
> The Notetaker supports various network interfaces for communicating
> with the outside world. These include a wired 10/100 UTP Ethernet
> interface, a WiFi
> wireless network interface (803.11 a/b & g) and Bluetooth. To reduce
> size and power, some Notetaker implementations might not have a WiFi or
> Bluetooth
> wireless network interface.
>
> The Notetaker can support external USB dial-up and GSM GPRS modems.
>
> Q13Which Interfaces and Peripherals are supported?
>
> The Notetaker has many standard Personal Computer Interfaces such as
> Video, Audio, USB (Universal Serial Bus) and Network interfaces as
> mentioned in 12.
> (Which communication interfaces do the Notetaker support)
>
> External storage devices such as hard disks and CD/DVD readers,
> printers, FAX machines, document scanners and Braille displays can be
> supported via the
> USB interfaces. In some instances, USB to parallel port converters
> might be required.
>
> Q14Is there support for Braille and other keyboards?
>
> The Notetaker uses the standard QWERTY keyboard similar to the PC 104
> keyboard with a USB interface. It should be possible to use any Personal
> Computer
> compatible keyboard with a USB interface.
>
> The CSIR initiated the development of a 9-key Braille chording keyboard
> as an alternative to the QWERTY keyboard. The idea is to have a Braille
> keyboard
> that will be a swap-out replacement for a standard PC 104 USB QWERTY
> keyboard. The plan is to support PC keyboard key sequences as well as
> multi-language
> "contracted" Braille. Keys such as the inverted T cursor keys, numeric
> key-pad and the F1 to F12 function will be retained to keep the
> Notetaker interface
> as standard as possible.
>
> Q15Does the Notetaker provide for the partly sighted?
>
> The Notetaker is optimised for the totally blind person that cannot use
> a computer screen. To reduce power consumption and reduce weight a
> notetaker might
> not have a screen.
>
> Notetakers will normally have a video connector to attach a VGA
> computer screen. A screen is handy and necessary when sighted persons
> use it or assists
> a blind person with the Notetaker. A screen is also handy for advanced
> system faultfinding (when the voice output is not working).
>
> Partly sighted persons often prefer to use ordinary computers or
> laptops with large screens and vision-enhancing programs such as
> Zoomtext. Partly sighted
> persons can however use the Notetaker and many of the special programs
> to assist them.
>
> Q16Does the Notetaker run Windows XP?
>
> The Notetaker does not run Windows XP or any other Windows operating
> system. For a detailed discussion on the Notetaker's operating system,
> see question
> 2 (What is the design criteria for the Notetaker?) and 17 (What
> Operating system does the Notetaker use?)"
>
> Q17What Operating system does the Notetaker use?
>
> Although the Notetaker runs on a PC platform, it uses Debian Unix as
> operating system and not Microsoft Windows.
>
> The Linux operating system is much better suited (than MS Windows) for
> the implementation of the text and voice interfaces used by the Blind.
> The Debian
> Unix operating system software as well as future software upgrades are
> free.
>
> Q18What other Programs are available for the Notetaker?
>
> Three programs are central to the operation of the Notetaker:
>
> 1. The Debian Linux operating system.
>
> 2. Programs that control the reading of the computer output and the
> voice synthesiser programs that communicates with the blind user.
>
> 3. A menu program called "KIES" (pounced KISS) and is the Afrikaans for
> choose or select. KIES is a special program to enhance the interface
> between the
> Blind computer user and the Notetaker.
>
> The following are some additional features, programs and functions
> provided by the Notetaker:
>
> 1. Functions that enable the user to install any console-based Unix
> program, which can be configured to work well with the speakup
> screenreader. There exists
> many of these free and easy to install programs.
>
> 2. A personal database that is fully programmable.
> This allows the creation of custom data basis fully searchable over all
> fields, examples include:
> a) Contact lists - with names, numbers, addresses, e-mail address, etc
> b) CD records lists - with Album name, artist, track titles etc.
>
> The database allows searching on the various columns simultaneously.
>
> 3. An e-mail program
>
> 4. A scientific calculator.
>
> 5. An English dictionary with an easy lookup facility.
>
> 6. An offline-version of wikipedia if the final Notetaker configuration
> has enough storage.
>
> 7. A Web browser.
>
> 8. A customisable menu system.
>
> 9. Support for speech synthesis in local languages, currently English
> and Afrikaans and possibly Zulu, with others to follow as they become
> available.
>
> 10. Reading of Daisy books in Daisy 2.02 format with expansion to
> include Daisy 3 when the player software becomes available. The current
> player supports
> the synchronisation of text with audio.
>
> 11. Recording of audio in digital format hopefully at high quality, and
> suitable for recording in lecture rooms etc.
>
> 12. An easy-to-use editing program for audio files, allowing deletion
> and insertion of sound.
>
> 13. A function to write data and audio compact disks. Should the final
> configuration not have a built-in CD-writer, this function will still be
> doable using
> an external USB CD-writer.
>
> 14. Reading of DVD disks, both data and commercially available films,
> provided that the configuration has a DVD player.
>
> 15. Word processing.
>
> 16. Reading of various document formats.
>
> 17. Access to external USB and storage devices.
>
> 18. Uncompressing of a number of different compressed file formats E.G.
> zip, bz2 etc.
>
> 19. Support for on-the-fly changing of synthesizer language.
>
> 20. Optical character recognition using the ocropus software.
>
> Any scanner supported by the same backend can be used. Although the OCR
> is not as accurate as current commercial products, it is already usable
> for many
> things.
>
> The database allows searching on the various columns simultaneously.
> For example:
> When searching, you are presented with the same column headings as in
> the database.
> If you put a letter 'A' in the artist column and the word 'love' in the
> track title column the search will return all the entries with artists
> containing
> the letter 'A' in the name and with tracks containing the word 'love'
> in the track title.
>
> Since the user can effectively add features, the menu system also
> allows for the addition of new menus and/or menu-entries to accommodate
> the newly added
> features.
>
> Support for email and web connectivity is provided through one or more
> of the following communication methods:
>
> Ethernet through a local area network or ADSL, dial up through an
> external modem, or connectivity through wireless LAN. Connectivity
> through mobile phones
> is under consideration.
>
> Q19Will it be possible to cut/paste between different applications?
>
> Yes is possible to cut and paste between programs that support cut and
> paste.
>
> Q20Does the Notetaker have a Braille display
>
> The Notetaker does not have an integrated Braille display but can
> support add-on Braille displays.
>
> Q21Which Braille displays will the device support?
>
> All displays supported by the "Brltty" software, which will be used to
> drive them. It should be possible to write drivers for a particular
> display if the
> required technical documentation is available.
>
> Q22Will grade 2 Braille be supported?
>
> Theoretically, it can be supported, but no work in that regard has been
> done. Apparently, some Braille printers have internal support for grade
> 2 translation.
> In principal, there is no reason why an embosser cannot be connected to
> the device.
>
> Q23What about the weight? I have difficulty with carrying heavy
> equipment.
>
> The Notetakes's weight is similar to that of a small laptop. The
> batteries contribute the most to the overall weight of the Notetaker.
>
> Q24What are the chances of loosing data if the batteries run down?
>
> All saved information will be available once the device is recharged,
> as information is stored on disk.
>
> Q25Will the device warn you about low batteries?
>
> Yes, we are working on battery low warnings and the automatic saving of
> information before the system shuts down or operation becomes erratic
> due to low
> power.
>
> Q26Is there an OCR (Optical Character Recognition) program?
>
> Yes, we have ocropus with tesseract. an open-source OCR (Optical
> Character Recognition) with limited capabilities. We added supporting
> software to turn
> pages 180 degrees and to merge multiple pages into a single document.
>
> It is possible to buy good OCR engines for Linux and thus the
> Notetaker, but the free open-source OCR program software will be
> distributed with the Notetaker.
>
> Another OCR supporting applications is an image viewer for the blind.
> The idea is that e mail might arrive with and an image file attached.
> There might
> be text in such an image format. Such an image could be quickly OCRed
> and text it contains could be extracted and made available. If it was
> just a picture
> of someone's child or pet, well you will just get nothing.
>
> Q27Does the device come with a modem built in?
>
> No, but the Notetaker supports external dial-up and GSM GPRS modems
> connected to a USB port.
>
> Q28Would it be easy to add extra languages in terms of speech
> synthesis?
>
> If it is a text-to-speech program runs for Linux it is should be
> possible to add it. Adding an additional language to an existing
> text-to-speech program
> is usually easy. Adding a new text-to-speech program might require
> assistance.
>
> Q29Will the device be able to extract compressed archives like .zip
> files?
>
> Yes, bz2 and zip formats are currently supported. It might be possible
> to support other compression formats such as 7zip if there is a
> requirement.
>
> Q30Will it be possible to move files between the device and a normal
> Windows based desktop PC?
>
> Yes, one can use removable media such as memory sticks or write the
> files to CDs.
>
> For moving or sharing files on a regular basis, there are many options,
> and we have not selected a specific one yet (integrated it into the menu
> system).
>
> One could do it through a cross-over UTP cable (Ethernet cable). Most
> modern pc's have an on board Ethernet port and Ethernet cards for PCs
> are cheap. This
> would be the preferred method.
>
> With TCP/IPA over Ethernet as the basic communication method, there
> several ways of affecting the up and download of files.
>
> 1. Through a web interface, using Internet Explorer from the side of
> the Windows desktop. This would make it platform independent and is
> relatively easy
> to implement, given what already exist on the device.
>
> 2. By making the hard drive on the desktop sharable, the device can see
> it in such a way that the desktop hard drive would look like a
> sub-directory on
> the device. One would then use the copy feature of the device to move
> around files.
>
> 3. We can make the device appear to the Windows PC as another Windows
> computer with some shared drives. One would then use the Windows pc's
> Microsoft Explorer
> to move/copy files.
>
> The last two methods can get tricky to set up due to security
> considerations on both sides, but once set up, it works well. There are
> other ways too, not
> using Ethernet.
>
> One would have to decide if a combination of the above methods or just
> one or the other should be used. Note that this is the kind of option
> that can be
> changed if a particular choice has problems.
>
> Q31Why can the device read, but not write DVDs?
>
> Replacing the DVD-reader/CD-writer slim-line drive with one that can
> also write DVDs will allow for DVD writing.
>
> Some software would have to be configured separately as well. The
> slim-line DVD writers are still a little expensive and we are trying to
> keep costs down.
>
> Q32Will the device be able to read/convert PDF documents?
>
> Yes, except if it is a .pdf where the text is in image format only.
> Where the .pdf file contains text or text and images the text in the
> .pdf file can be
> converted to voice output.
>
> Q33Can the device read and write Microsoft documents like Word and
> Excel files?
>
> The Notetaker can read them, and through conversion write in the MS
> Word and Excel formats. There are however problems with complex
> Microsoft documents
> and there might be issues with writing some files. Rather than spending
> too much time on this now, we are waiting for all the various players to
> streamline
> conversion to and from Open Document Format (ODF) which would solve a
> lot of problems.
>
> A comment regarding spreadsheets: The calculator has a feature called a
> matrix which we want to explore further as we believe one could make a
> tool which
> works more effectively with speech and with which one can do typical
> spreadsheet-like tasks.
>
> Q34Can one hear an example of the free speech synthesizers used on the
> system?
>
> There are now two versions of the same example, a .wav and a .mp3 which
> contain an example of both the English and Afrikaans of Espeak.
>
> The mp3 might sound a little crackly, so we offer the .wav as well.
>
> Find it at:
>
> ftp://ftp.csir.co.za/MI/National_Accessibility_Portal/wvdwalt/bid.wav
> and
>
> ftp://ftp.csir.co.za/MI/National_Accessibility_Portal/wvdwalt/bid.mp3
>
> Q35Are there any commercial voices available that sound better?
>
> Yes, IBM Viavoice is available. Currently there are problems buying the
> Linux version, but we got pricing a while back. It was $40 for a single
> license
> and $5 each if we can get 300 people to buy. We are trying to find out
> about Realspeak, a high quality voice. If anyone has contact info, let
> us know.
> The Software Dectalk is also available, but we think the Viavoice and
> Realspeak are better. Another commercial voice is the Cepstral voice
> set.
>
> We will distribute the software for the device with only free,
> open-source voices, but will help to get the others activated, if
> someone wants to buy and
> use any of the ones listed above.
>
> Q36Can email and diary entries by synchronized with MS Outlook type
> applications?
>
> Not in the current version.
>
> Q37Is there any indication when the Notetaker will be available?
>
> The KISS menu software for the Notetaker is already available for
> download and install on Debian Unix processors.
>
> For the KIES README see:
> ftp://linux-speakup.org/pub/linux/goodies/kies.README
> For the KIES tar file see:
> ftp://linux-speakup.org/pub/linux/goodies/kiesfile.tar.bz2
> or:
> ftp://ftp.csir.co.za/mi/national_accessibility_portal/wvdwalt/kies-15649.tar.bz2
>
>
> The development of local South African Languages for the Notetaker
> depends on finding a committed person or persons with the correct
> language knowledge
> and some computer skills.
>
> The hardware poses the greater challenge. After we have found the most
> suitable hardware and identified the changes required, we have to find a
> manufacturer
> willing to make some modification and repackage the Notetaker in the
> optimal format for the Blind.
>
> We hope to have a Notetaker available for purchase by the beginning of
> 2010.
>
> Q38Why did you not answer my question?
>
> If we missed answering a question, it is not intentional. Please just
> drop us a line and we will try to answer.
>
> Willem van der Walt
>
> e-mail: wvdwalt at csir.co.za
>
> End of document
>
> Notetaker%20FAQ_html_7d33d9be
>
> Notetaker%20FAQ_html_7f51c73
>
> Page 14 of 14
>
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