Re: [Techno-Chat]: Storage Of Data in a FTP Server

[Gordon Smith]

There are a couple of things I can suggest. Rumpus is perfectly capable of 
using network resourced drives, such as MyCloud devices or other devices on a 
local network or high-speed Internet connected resource.

However, the down side to this approach is obviously that you’d need to make 
sure the the network resource is available and rapidly accessible at all times. 
This could be an issue if you have a high level of network traffic, such as 
streaming media. Regardless of whether or not your Rumpus server is 
participating in the stream, it will still suffer some latency due to the 
network traffic being processed by your gateway/router/switch.

In view of this, I would hesitate to recommend this approach. Instead, the best 
way you could deal with this is to use a large local drive, whether SSD or HDD. 
This way, Rumpus would not need to worry about accessing network resources 
before it can serve to clients. As with any such solution, if you have a 
network which doesn’t quite cut it in terms of speed, this can slow down the 
process.

A slow Internet connection is also a big handicap with any form of server. As 
is a NAT network using a single public IP. This is because of the additional 
load it puts on to the server.

So really, what I’m advocating is a locally stored approach, with the highest 
possible speed of public IP access. If it were possible, I would be looking 
into the chances of obtaining multiple static IP addresses from your ISP. You’d 
be amazed just how much that can improve things for server-side functionality. 
A file transfer mechanism will slow down your NAT network, possibly to the 
point of gridlock, especially if yo are allowing multi-user simultaneous access 
via the Internet.

Just a few thoughts.


> On 16 Jul 2020, at 14:31, Dane Trethowan  wrote:
> 
> Hi.
> Up until recently I was quite content to use the second drive on my Mac mini 
> Server machine - which runs the Rumps FTP server - for data storage but that 
> was then
> The amount of data I need to store online has increased 5 fold so I’m left 
> wondering about the most efficient way of handling this.
> At the moment I’m using a collection of Seagate Expansion 5TB drives plugged 
> into spare USB ports, so far so good but I wonder whether there’s a more 
> practical way of doing this?
> 
> --
> 
> This post, like all posts to the Techno Chat E-Mail group has been scanned by 
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Re: [Techno-Chat]: Storage Of Data in a FTP Server

[Gordon Smith]

Yes, there should be a way around that problem. Go into the preferences for the 
drive, (Command+I), and move to the Sharing permissions. Enable a new 
permission set for Everyone, if it does not already exist. Then, ensure that 
the drive is marked as “Shared”, and it should work.


> On 19 Jul 2020, at 19:54, Dane Trethowan  wrote:
> 
> Okay thanks I’ll look at that in a moment.
> Another problem has popped up along similar lines, it concerns NTFS drives I 
> have added to the server machine which I wish to access via another computer 
> on the network.
> I have a number of Paragon NTFS For Mac licenses here and I installed one of 
> those on the Server machine, so far so good and I can read/write to the NTFS 
> drives I added to the server however I cannot access them via another 
> computer on the Network.
> Is there any way around this or am I going to have to reformat the NTFS 
> drives to HFS.
> 
> 
>> On 18 Jul 2020, at 1:18 am, Gordon Smith  wrote:
>> 
>> I'm not sure what you mean by more practical. You. Have a couple of options 
>> realistically speaking. First, you could addmore drives to your machine and 
>> point your server to custom folders. Rumpus is incredibly powerful in that 
>> regard. You do it like this:
>> • Prepare your drive so that it's in a format that your Mac would recognise 
>> and allow read/write access. Note that by default, MacOS cannot write to an 
>> NTFS volume, although it can read from them.
>> • Plug in your drive and ensure it's active.
>> • Set up a folder set for custom access to. That drive within Rumpus.
>> • Allocate your read/write permissions for the folder. Note that the 
>> permissions can be overridden on a per-user basis if required.
>> • Point your custom folder set to /Volumes/Drive/Folder/ and that's it.
>> 
>> So, define "More Practical", please. Feel free to take this off list if you 
>> require detailed configuration help.
>> 
>> 
>> On 16/07/2020, 14:31, "Dane Trethowan"  wrote:
>> 
>>   Hi.
>>   Up until recently I was quite content to use the second drive on my Mac 
>> mini Server machine - which runs the Rumps FTP server - for data storage but 
>> that was then
>>   The amount of data I need to store online has increased 5 fold so I’m left 
>> wondering about the most efficient way of handling this.
>>   At the moment I’m using a collection of Seagate Expansion 5TB drives 
>> plugged into spare USB ports, so far so good but I wonder whether there’s a 
>> more practical way of doing this?
>> 
>>   --
>> 
>>   This post, like all posts to the Techno Chat E-Mail group has been scanned 
>> by our server-side antivirus/malware solution. This should not, however, be 
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>> culpability whatever, implicit or otherwise, for any compromise to your 
>> systems as a result of opening any post to this group. Suffice it to say 
>> that we remain vigilant within the boundaries of reason. We strongly urge 
>> you to do likewise! You have been warned!!!
>> 
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>> This post, like all posts to the Techno Chat E-Mail group has been scanned 
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>> systems as a result of opening any post to this group. Suffice it to say 
>> that we remain vigilant within the boundaries of reason. We strongly urge 
>> you to do likewise! You have been warned!!!
>> 
>> You can find an RSS listing of all posts to this group at:
>> <https://mail.mac-access.net:7025/list/techno-chat@tec

Re: [Techno-Chat]: Storage Of Data in a FTP Server

[Gordon Smith]

I'm not sure what you mean by more practical. You. Have a couple of options 
realistically speaking. First, you could addmore drives to your machine and 
point your server to custom folders. Rumpus is incredibly powerful in that 
regard. You do it like this:
• Prepare your drive so that it's in a format that your Mac would recognise and 
allow read/write access. Note that by default, MacOS cannot write to an NTFS 
volume, although it can read from them.
• Plug in your drive and ensure it's active.
• Set up a folder set for custom access to. That drive within Rumpus.
• Allocate your read/write permissions for the folder. Note that the 
permissions can be overridden on a per-user basis if required.
• Point your custom folder set to /Volumes/Drive/Folder/ and that's it.

So, define "More Practical", please. Feel free to take this off list if you 
require detailed configuration help.


On 16/07/2020, 14:31, "Dane Trethowan"  wrote:

Hi.
Up until recently I was quite content to use the second drive on my Mac 
mini Server machine - which runs the Rumps FTP server - for data storage but 
that was then
The amount of data I need to store online has increased 5 fold so I’m left 
wondering about the most efficient way of handling this.
At the moment I’m using a collection of Seagate Expansion 5TB drives 
plugged into spare USB ports, so far so good but I wonder whether there’s a 
more practical way of doing this?

--

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by our server-side antivirus/malware solution. This should not, however, be 
viewed as a substitution for your own security strategy. We assume no 
culpability whatever, implicit or otherwise, for any compromise to your systems 
as a result of opening any post to this group. Suffice it to say that we remain 
vigilant within the boundaries of reason. We strongly urge you to do likewise! 
You have been warned!!!

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[Techno-Chat]: Paint Your Home With WiFi!

[Gordon Smith]

I recently had occasion to buy external WiFi gateway equipment as my cable 
modem doesn’t support WiFi when multiple Static IPs are configured, for some 
reason.

First off, I tried a TPLink device – just a cheap one, which looked to have 
some useful features. Yes, it sort of worked. But for in my configuration, I 
just could not get it to function properly as a private NAT network within my 
public one.

Next, I tried a Google Nest WiFi. Not a bad piece of kit. However, I wasn’t 
happy with the speed and reliability of the device. So, I opted to return that 
to Google for a refund.

My search eventually took me back to TPLink, whereupon I made a discovery. That 
being the TPLink M1300. Like the Google device, these things provide Meshed 
WiFi. However, the performance of them in terms of both speed and reliability 
is simply not comparable to the Google Meshed WiFi system. The Deco M1300 gives 
me a staggering 2700MB/ps, with a staggering 7000 square feet coverage.

I decided I may as well do this properly. So, I bought 4 of the little beasts. 
Having placed them strategically around my home, I downloaded the app which you 
need to configure them.

The iOS app, at first, appeared to be very inaccessible. The Android app, on 
the other hand, proved to be a very different story. I worked through the 
configuration of the main device, and then simply added the other three by 
telling the main device where they are located, and at what elevation. Then, I 
updated the firmware in all 4 devices, which was a one-step procedure. When all 
was done, I opted to put the system through it’s paces.

The performance, even at the far extremes of it’s coverage, was staggering. I 
paid a visit to my sister’s house, which is about 500 meters down the road from 
here. I was still able to use my phone on my own WiFi network without any sign 
of drop-out or loss of signal. In fact, the signal was almost three quarters 
full, and as I say, it worked perfectly.

These Deco devices by far out-perform the Google Nest WiFi, and it’s no 
surprise that public sector organisations are using them over here for public 
WiFi.

Indeed, my local library’s public network uses them, as does our local academic 
network which covers schools, colleges and universities around the country.

I wish I’d discovered these earlier because they give me one other important 
advantage. Each device has 2 GigaNet LAN or WAN ports. You configure one of 
them on the master device to handle your Internet throughput, and the others 
are yours to use locally. So, I now have 2 available lAN ports in each of the 
slave devices, and one on the Master. This in itself is a terrific advantage to 
me personally.

It doesn’t stop there. These devices have a dynamic firewall, and frequently 
updated anti-virus and intruder detection systems. That in itself is far from 
unique, of course. Many routers and hubs now offer those services. All the 
same, it’s nice to know that, should any device on the local network become 
infected, it is immediately blacklisted until I am able to address the problem. 
That obviously prevents the infection from spreading, and saves work.

As luck would have it, I have one of my niece’s machines here to sort out. It’s 
riddled with viruses, she’s obviously been rather careless. However, it did 
present me with an opportunity to test the responsiveness of the routers to the 
presence of an infected device. As soon as I booted Windows, and it went live 
on my network, the Deco pushed a notification to both my iPhone and my Android 
tablet, and the infected computer was automatically prohibited from using 
either the LAN or the WAN connections.

So, all in all, I am impressed. These devices are tricky-band transceivers. 
They use the standard 2.4 and 5GHz bands for network traffic, and the third 
band is used for communications between the meshed devices on the network.

As I said, I have 4 of them placed around my house. Two of them are at the 
front, and two at the rear. Coverage is universally excellent, and the guest 
networks also work well. Devices on the guest networks cannot, of course, 
access LAN devices on the main networks. So that’s great for when I get company.

Anyway, all in all, I’m very impressed and pleased with these little things. 
They don’t look at all like a conventional router. They are circular in shape, 
and measure about 4 inches wide, and about half an inch deep. They can be 
self-standing, supported in custom stands or wall-mounted. The additional 
mounting kits are an optional extra. But they’re cheap enough, so when possible 
I will acquire some of those so that I can locate the devices more discretely 
and conveniently.

Anyway, there we go. Just a few rambling thoughts, for whatever interest they 
may be.

Cheers.

Gordon.

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This post, like all posts to the Techno Chat E-Mail group has been scanned by 
our server-side antivirus/malware solution. This should not, however, be 

[Techno-Chat]: All things Apple

[Gordon Smith]

Good day all.

I’ve been monitoring/following list discussions with interest, even  though I 
haven’t posted for some time.

Just a gentle reminder. Please try to limit discussion of Apple-related topics 
to the appropriate mailing list, mac-acc...@mac-access.net. This helps users to 
compartmentalise topics so that they see those which interest them and not the 
rest.

Thanks for your understanding on this one. I mention it because I’ve been 
contacted by a couple of people off list about this issue.

Many thanks.

Gordon.



smime.p7s
Description: S/MIME cryptographic signature

[Techno-Chat]: Samsung Releases Portable SSD T7 Touch – the New Standard in Speed and Security for External Storage Devices – Samsung Global Newsroom

[Gordon Smith]

This could be a significant development, especially since it supersedes the now 
popularised so-called USB C (USB 3.1) standard. I will be keeping an ear out 
for these devices.
>



smime.p7s
Description: S/MIME cryptographic signature

Re: [Techno-Chat]: Icom IC-R30 Professional Wide-Band Radio Communications Receiver

[Gordon Smith]

You know, I do believe it can. Although I really wouldn’t like to swear to 
that. I will check and get back to you.


On 7 Jan 2020, at 04:39, The wolf  wrote:

can it decode drm broadcasts?


On 1/6/2020 5:02 PM, Gordon Smith wrote:
> Actually, at this stage of my learning processes, it would be wrong to call 
> my article a “Review”. These were just a few ramblings and off-the-cuff 
> observations.
> 
> I did neglect to explain what CW and CW Reverse modes do. So that oversight, 
> I shall correct now.
> 
> CW, or, Carrier Wave, works similarly to the way sidebands work, although in 
> the case of CW there is a modulated carrier wave, whereas with SSB (Single 
> Sideband),there is no carrier wave at all. CW and CW reverse differ only 
> slightly. But it’s useful to have both modes available. Usually, when 
> somebody with eyes uses a radio in CW mode these days, they have access to 
> wave form imagers. Thus it is a simple matter to tune for what’s known as 
> “Zero Beat”. That is to say, the receiver and transmitter are tuned to 
> precisely the same frequency. If you monitor a CW signal, you will find that 
> the tone of the signal can be, to put it in layman’s terms, pitch-tuned. That 
> is where Zero Beat comes in. Usually, if the receiver is tuned to the precise 
> transmitted signal’s frequency, a morse key would cause the transmitter to 
> emit tones at precisely the same frequency as the remote station.
> 
> In the case of CW Reverse, when you modify your frequency by increasing it, 
> the reverse occurs. So, instead of decreasing in pitch when you tune up, the 
> pitch of the tone you hear or see goes down, and visa versa. It is very 
> uncommon to find a receiver these days which makes use of this kind of 
> reception tuning. Where it comes into its own is when you have two very 
> strong CW signals, both transmitting at the same time, on almost adjacent 
> frequencies. By switching to CW Reverse mode, you can modify your centre, or 
> “Spot” frequency so that, in reality, it differs from that of the remote 
> station you’re tuning too, but it actually sounds exactly the same as if you 
> were on the same frequency.
> 
> Many amateur radio tuners use a system which some call a “Clarifier”, (such 
> as Yasue). Kenwood, for example, call the function “R.I.T.”, (Receive 
> Incremental Tuning). So all Icom have done here is taken the function to the 
> next stage. In effect, therefore, all CW Reverse amounts too is a posh name 
> for a good old--fashioned R.I.T. system.
> 
> That’s a very crude explanation, but it just about sums up what the mode is 
> used for.
> 
> This receiver also decodes many of the now used digital modes of 
> transmission, amateur and commercial. For example, it can decode D-Star 
> transmissions without breaking sweat.
> 
> I could continue to ecstorl the virtues of this radio for the next several 
> hours. But I really don’t think I’ll do so. Right at the moment, if you don’t 
> mind. It’s late, I’m tired and have a busy day ahead tomorrow. ;-)
> 
> Actually, last night I dispensed with my media centre in my bedroom and used 
> this radio instead to listen to Smooth Radio on FM. I found the audio 
> reproduction perfectly adequate for those times when one is drifting off to 
> sleep, and not really fussy about audio sound quality.
> 
> It may even be that you are drifting off to sleep just reading or listening 
> to this message. I certainly know how to waffle, don’t I! :-)
> 
> On 6 Jan 2020, at 14:20, Dane Trethowan  wrote:
> 
> Thank you for an interesting review.
> I first heard about the Icom IC-r30 in October last year when a friend of 
> mine mentioned a fully featured hand-held receiver had been available for 
> some time of excellent quality with an excellent feature set.
> I was anxious to find out more so I asked about and it didn’t take me long to 
> discover that the Icom IC-R30 was already very well regarded and a star in 
> its own right when it comes to handheld receivers which I had little regard 
> for until this time.
> It seemed therefore fitting that I should make an attempt to get to know a 
> radio such as this so I bought one for my Birthday.
> I echo many of the points by Gordon and I also agree that the IC-R30 is not a 
> radio I will fully master overnight.
> The equipment is feature rich without a doubt, like a car whose every nook 
> and cranny is in occupation.
> Some of the functions I think worth notting concern the wide variety of 
> control the user has over the radio.
> The IC-R630 has a 3.5MM jack above the USB socket on the right-hand side.
> By default this jack will accept a standard pair of stereo headphones but 
> that’s just the beginning.
> The socket can be programmed to do several different thinks

Re: [Techno-Chat]: Icom IC-R30 Professional Wide-Band Radio Communications Receiver

[Gordon Smith]

Actually, at this stage of my learning processes, it would be wrong to call my 
article a “Review”. These were just a few ramblings and off-the-cuff 
observations.

I did neglect to explain what CW and CW Reverse modes do. So that oversight, I 
shall correct now.

CW, or, Carrier Wave, works similarly to the way sidebands work, although in 
the case of CW there is a modulated carrier wave, whereas with SSB (Single 
Sideband),there is no carrier wave at all. CW and CW reverse differ only 
slightly. But it’s useful to have both modes available. Usually, when somebody 
with eyes uses a radio in CW mode these days, they have access to wave form 
imagers. Thus it is a simple matter to tune for what’s known as “Zero Beat”. 
That is to say, the receiver and transmitter are tuned to precisely the same 
frequency. If you monitor a CW signal, you will find that the tone of the 
signal can be, to put it in layman’s terms, pitch-tuned. That is where Zero 
Beat comes in. Usually, if the receiver is tuned to the precise transmitted 
signal’s frequency, a morse key would cause the transmitter to emit tones at 
precisely the same frequency as the remote station.

In the case of CW Reverse, when you modify your frequency by increasing it, the 
reverse occurs. So, instead of decreasing in pitch when you tune up, the pitch 
of the tone you hear or see goes down, and visa versa. It is very uncommon to 
find a receiver these days which makes use of this kind of reception tuning. 
Where it comes into its own is when you have two very strong CW signals, both 
transmitting at the same time, on almost adjacent frequencies. By switching to 
CW Reverse mode, you can modify your centre, or “Spot” frequency so that, in 
reality, it differs from that of the remote station you’re tuning too, but it 
actually sounds exactly the same as if you were on the same frequency.

Many amateur radio tuners use a system which some call a “Clarifier”, (such as 
Yasue). Kenwood, for example, call the function “R.I.T.”, (Receive Incremental 
Tuning). So all Icom have done here is taken the function to the next stage. In 
effect, therefore, all CW Reverse amounts too is a posh name for a good 
old--fashioned R.I.T. system.

That’s a very crude explanation, but it just about sums up what the mode is 
used for.

This receiver also decodes many of the now used digital modes of transmission, 
amateur and commercial. For example, it can decode D-Star transmissions without 
breaking sweat.

I could continue to ecstorl the virtues of this radio for the next several 
hours. But I really don’t think I’ll do so. Right at the moment, if you don’t 
mind. It’s late, I’m tired and have a busy day ahead tomorrow. ;-)

Actually, last night I dispensed with my media centre in my bedroom and used 
this radio instead to listen to Smooth Radio on FM. I found the audio 
reproduction perfectly adequate for those times when one is drifting off to 
sleep, and not really fussy about audio sound quality.

It may even be that you are drifting off to sleep just reading or listening to 
this message. I certainly know how to waffle, don’t I! :-)

On 6 Jan 2020, at 14:20, Dane Trethowan  wrote:

Thank you for an interesting review.
I first heard about the Icom IC-r30 in October last year when a friend of mine 
mentioned a fully featured hand-held receiver had been available for some time 
of excellent quality with an excellent feature set.
I was anxious to find out more so I asked about and it didn’t take me long to 
discover that the Icom IC-R30 was already very well regarded and a star in its 
own right when it comes to handheld receivers which I had little regard for 
until this time.
It seemed therefore fitting that I should make an attempt to get to know a 
radio such as this so I bought one for my Birthday.
I echo many of the points by Gordon and I also agree that the IC-R30 is not a 
radio I will fully master overnight.
The equipment is feature rich without a doubt, like a car whose every nook and 
cranny is in occupation.
Some of the functions I think worth notting concern the wide variety of control 
the user has over the radio.
The IC-R630 has a 3.5MM jack above the USB socket on the right-hand side.
By default this jack will accept a standard pair of stereo headphones but 
that’s just the beginning.
The socket can be programmed to do several different thinks: act as an external 
speaker or line-out connection, as an external antenna connection etc.
Those who read Gordon’s review will know that this radio is able to receive the 
standard AM Broadcast Band, not a necessary quality perhaps in a receiver of 
this calibre but convenient all the same.
So what if I told you that Icom had actually gone a step further by including a 
lipstick aerial for the AM Broadcast Band inside the radio? How Icom managed to 
get anything extra into such a small body is beyond me but they managed and 
thus one can easily tune to and send to memory any frequency on that band.
The lipstick 

Re: [Techno-Chat]: The Best Windows 10 System Repair Tool For Your PC

[Gordon Smith]

This is precisely why I suggested this app. It is streets ahead of any other 
utility of its kind. The functionalities are very comparable between both 
Windows and MacOS versions. And they’re very good at releasing updates when OS 
functions are added/changed/removed. I’ve been using the app on both platforms 
for about 3 years now, all be it the Windows. Version was in private beta for 
most of that time. I worked with them to help ensure accessibility. They are 
very proactive in this area. They did a lot of work with me on VoiceOver when I 
first bought the Mac version and, as I say, the Windows version is now also 
going from strength to strength.

Hope you find it of value on both platforms. To be honest, although I do still 
use Cocktail from time to time, it’s far less frequently than it used to be 
because this app just does it all.


On 24 Dec 2019, at 05:06, grtd...@internode.on.net wrote:

Hi.
I just bought CleanmyPC and will probably buy CleanmyMac.
The Interface for the Windows application seems quite accessible using JAWS.
I’ve only been using the App for 10 minutes and have noticed the very 
informative and user-friendly Interface.
CleanMyPC goes several levels further into cleaning maintenance than I’ve seen 
before in an App.
For example you can perform a “Scan” of your PC – easiest way to clean – to 
have the App come up with some basic findings.
To my surprise removing the Hibernation file was amongst the choices presented 
along with quite a detailed explanation of why one may wish to do this.
In my case reclaiming the 12GB space used by this file is damn handy given I 
only have a 256GB SSD and I don’t use the function anyway.
I bought a license for 2 PC’S for $80 australian, got a $29 discount. These are 
yearly licenses and permanent purchase licenses are available.
Off to find out more about the CleanMyMac App.
 
 
From: Gordon Smith mailto:gor...@mac-access.net>> 
Sent: Saturday, 21 December 2019 8:29 AM
To: techno-chat@techno-chat.net <mailto:techno-chat@techno-chat.net>
Subject: Re: [Techno-Chat]: The Best Windows 10 System Repair Tool For Your PC
 
I have to say I don’t agree with the below. Unfortunately, Microsoft still 
won’t rewrite their low-level operating system which is still DOS. Windows 
simply papers over the cracks in that regard, including the entry of long 
filenames.
 
Under the hood, (the bonnet, as we call it), the base operating system cannot 
handle those long filenames. Thus, an index is required whereby the Windows 
interface simply does a match-up between the invisible short filename, and the 
long filename. So as far as the user is concerned, long filenames are the norm.
 
Regarding maintenance of SSD drives, I couldn’t disagree more. Any file storage 
system is subject to the software application or data modification formats. The 
Windows NTFS system is, as I said, a very archaic system, first introduced in 
Windows 95 or 98. So fragmentation can still be a big issue. File fragmentation 
I mean, rather than sector or cluster fragmentation. File fragmentation will 
occur whatever operating system is in use.
 
Regarding registry and cache maintenance, in my view, the best Windows repair 
utility and maintenance utility is produced by MacPaw, and it’s the Windows 
equivalent to the Mac’s version of CleanMyMac. Predictably, I guess, it’s name 
is CleanMyPC.
 
The application of this utility can make a difference with even the latest and 
greatest SSD devices. It’s the registry which stil causes the most problems in 
Windows 10. Errors still happen, they’re just not as noticeable.
 
Finally, for the moment, I would also stil advocate the application of 
synchronous backups. For this purpose, I still use my old trusty RolllBack RX 
Professional. Oh yes, and Diskeeper 18 as well. These three utilities give me 
peace of mind, but I’m not going to become complacent enough to assume that 
Windows 10 is the solution to all issues. It clearly isn’t.
 
On a light-hearted note, I had a great laugh this morning when listening to my 
local BBC Radio station. It was only by chance that I was listening, but I’m 
ever so glad I was.
 
I guess I should feel sympathy for the poor lady presenter on air at the time. 
She obviously became flustered and her technical engineers in the MCR, (Master 
Control Room) didn’t do much to help her.
 
Basically, she went to introduce a piece of music which was performed by a 
local artist who was in the studio. When she pushed the button to activate the 
computer which they were using to play all their music, Windows presented her 
with a black screen and totally crashed.
 
The entire studio facility froze. She was left with microphone control, but 
nothing else. Even the digital studio monitor clock on the wall went dark.
 
She was desperately trying to keep the interview going whilst they recovered 
the system. But it was clear that all of her pre-prepared script suddenly 
disappeared before her eyes and she didn’t have

Re: [Techno-Chat]: The Best Windows 10 System Repair Tool For Your PC

[Gordon Smith]

The Mac version is very similar. I can also tell you that the Windows version 
was actually ported from the Mac version, but yes, the interface of CleanMyPC 
is very accessible, and the functionality of the software is extremely 
sophisticated.

Regarding the hibernation state, that is one aspect of Windows which really 
vexes me, and has done for quite a few years. Regardless of whether or not you 
use hibernation, that file is always there, and it grows as time goes on. There 
isn’t much you can do about that, unless your machine has a power profile which 
does not include either the Sleep or the Hibernate functions. An example of 
this is the ElBraille. It makes no sense to have a machine like that in 
Hibernation mode. So the functionality has been removed.


On 24 Dec 2019, at 05:06, grtd...@internode.on.net wrote:

Hi.
I just bought CleanmyPC and will probably buy CleanmyMac.
The Interface for the Windows application seems quite accessible using JAWS.
I’ve only been using the App for 10 minutes and have noticed the very 
informative and user-friendly Interface.
CleanMyPC goes several levels further into cleaning maintenance than I’ve seen 
before in an App.
For example you can perform a “Scan” of your PC – easiest way to clean – to 
have the App come up with some basic findings.
To my surprise removing the Hibernation file was amongst the choices presented 
along with quite a detailed explanation of why one may wish to do this.
In my case reclaiming the 12GB space used by this file is damn handy given I 
only have a 256GB SSD and I don’t use the function anyway.
I bought a license for 2 PC’S for $80 australian, got a $29 discount. These are 
yearly licenses and permanent purchase licenses are available.
Off to find out more about the CleanMyMac App.
 
 
From: Gordon Smith mailto:gor...@mac-access.net>> 
Sent: Saturday, 21 December 2019 8:29 AM
To: techno-chat@techno-chat.net <mailto:techno-chat@techno-chat.net>
Subject: Re: [Techno-Chat]: The Best Windows 10 System Repair Tool For Your PC
 
I have to say I don’t agree with the below. Unfortunately, Microsoft still 
won’t rewrite their low-level operating system which is still DOS. Windows 
simply papers over the cracks in that regard, including the entry of long 
filenames.
 
Under the hood, (the bonnet, as we call it), the base operating system cannot 
handle those long filenames. Thus, an index is required whereby the Windows 
interface simply does a match-up between the invisible short filename, and the 
long filename. So as far as the user is concerned, long filenames are the norm.
 
Regarding maintenance of SSD drives, I couldn’t disagree more. Any file storage 
system is subject to the software application or data modification formats. The 
Windows NTFS system is, as I said, a very archaic system, first introduced in 
Windows 95 or 98. So fragmentation can still be a big issue. File fragmentation 
I mean, rather than sector or cluster fragmentation. File fragmentation will 
occur whatever operating system is in use.
 
Regarding registry and cache maintenance, in my view, the best Windows repair 
utility and maintenance utility is produced by MacPaw, and it’s the Windows 
equivalent to the Mac’s version of CleanMyMac. Predictably, I guess, it’s name 
is CleanMyPC.
 
The application of this utility can make a difference with even the latest and 
greatest SSD devices. It’s the registry which stil causes the most problems in 
Windows 10. Errors still happen, they’re just not as noticeable.
 
Finally, for the moment, I would also stil advocate the application of 
synchronous backups. For this purpose, I still use my old trusty RolllBack RX 
Professional. Oh yes, and Diskeeper 18 as well. These three utilities give me 
peace of mind, but I’m not going to become complacent enough to assume that 
Windows 10 is the solution to all issues. It clearly isn’t.
 
On a light-hearted note, I had a great laugh this morning when listening to my 
local BBC Radio station. It was only by chance that I was listening, but I’m 
ever so glad I was.
 
I guess I should feel sympathy for the poor lady presenter on air at the time. 
She obviously became flustered and her technical engineers in the MCR, (Master 
Control Room) didn’t do much to help her.
 
Basically, she went to introduce a piece of music which was performed by a 
local artist who was in the studio. When she pushed the button to activate the 
computer which they were using to play all their music, Windows presented her 
with a black screen and totally crashed.
 
The entire studio facility froze. She was left with microphone control, but 
nothing else. Even the digital studio monitor clock on the wall went dark.
 
She was desperately trying to keep the interview going whilst they recovered 
the system. But it was clear that all of her pre-prepared script suddenly 
disappeared before her eyes and she didn’t have a clue what to say to the 
artist during the outage.
 
Took about 5 minutes to get

Re: [Techno-Chat]: Orbit Reader

[Gordon Smith]

Hello Roger.

Yes, that is so. But it is by design. You can manually set the mode back to 
Stand-Alone by pressing Select+Left arrow on the navigation pad. As a more 
permanent fix, you can turn Bluetooth® off from the main menu screen, and back 
on again when you need it. Your connection should resume as before.

There are aspects of the Orbit which I don’t particularly like, and that is one 
of them. Another is not being able to route the editor cursor to a specific 
point on a line, not easily, at any rate. Yes, there are commands to move the 
cursor in stand-alone mode. But I do find myself missing the router keys of 
other displays.


On 6 Jan 2020, at 14:48, Roger Firman  wrote:

Dear Gordon,

Was it you who noted that the Orbit Reader jumped to a blue tooth
connection? If so, you can turn that function to manual if required.

Regards,

Roger Firman.


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Re: [Techno-Chat]: The Best Windows 10 System Repair Tool For Your PC

[Gordon Smith]

I can definitely recommend the MacPaw products for both MacOs and Windows. They 
far outstrip the versions of CCleaner Professional or Network which I’ve seen.


On 24 Dec 2019, at 07:16, Dane Trethowan  wrote:

Yes you can try before you by and that goes for both versions.


> On 24 Dec 2019, at 6:11 pm, Roger Firman  > wrote:
> 
> Hello,
>  
> Si this a product you can try before you buy or do you need to make the 
> purchase first?
>  
> Regards,
>  
> Roger Firman.




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[Techno-Chat]: Icom IC-R30 Professional Wide-Band Radio Communications Receiver

[Gordon Smith]

Good evening everybody.

You may remember Dane writing on list about this device some time ago. I had 
been doing some research into similar devices for some time on and off, so it 
tweaked my interest. That, of course, is the precise reason that this E-Mail 
list exists and whilst I’m on, please feel free to spread the word amongst your 
friends that this group exists. Always nice to have a good circulation and 
helps to stimulate conversation.

Anyway, to the point. Just before Christmas, I decided to take the plunge, and 
I bought one of those radio receivers. I have not been disappointed in what my 
money bought for me. My only slight gripe, and it really is a slight one, is 
that I never discovered until today that there is a version of that receiver 
which also has a 3G LTE modem, so that you can use it with wireless broadband. 
But then again, it may not be accessible anyway, so perhaps it isn’t really an 
issue at all.

I managed to locate some adapters which have allowed me to hook up my existing 
VHF/UHF Colinear antenna to the device. Since doing so on Friday, the 
performance of the device has greatly impressed me.

It comes with a 27-inch metallic telescopic whip antenna which, depending on 
your location, may or may not be adequate. In mine, it is not adequate, I’m 
sorry to say. But the external antenna made the receiver sound like a totally 
different device. Thus, I have a few comments to make here and now, but will do 
so in extensio in our Blog, in due course.

Those of you who have been amateur radio enthusiasts for some years may 
remember the old 1980s lineup of Kenwood handheld transceivers. Actually, I 
stil have one in a cupboard here, but haven’t tried using it in years. Guess I 
must do so. Anyway, to the point. This receiver is the absolute business when 
it comes to versatility. It handles just about every mode of emission known to 
mankind, including, but not limited to, FM, (Wide and narrow), AM, (wide and 
narrow), Lower Sideband, Upper Sideband, CW, CW Reverse, (I’l explain what that 
is in a moment), as well as just about every digital mode of communications in 
use across amateur and commercial communications networks. I’m being very 
specific about using the words “Communications Networks”, because I don’t want 
to give anybody the impression that it handles systems like DAB or DAB+, as 
used by many broadcasters across the world.

Undoubtedly, if one could obtain the right codec, and compile it into a 
compatible firmware update, one could probably enable those modes too, as the 
device is an SDR device.

The device has mobile apps available for it in the Google Play Store and the 
Apple iOS/iPadOS App Store. However, as yet, despite the fact that I do have a 
working Bluetooth pairing between my iPhone and the IC-R30, for whatever reason 
the app refuses to connect to it.

For those with vision, the device has a high resolution 2.8-Inch display, and 
I’m told that the menus are very clearly visible. With practice, I dare say 
that the menu structure will become navigable for a blind person once you spend 
a lifetime going through the Advanced (Power) user’s guide. I’m in the process 
of transcribing both the basic and advanced manuals into Braille actually. 
Anyway, that’s beside the point for the moment.

I have absolutely no complaints regarding the audio that the device kicks out. 
Given its very low profile speaker, it’s actually extremely easy on the ear. 
With a decent antenna system, resonant at or around the frequency range you 
wish to listen too, the device is also remarkably sensitive – by far 
out-performing other receivers and scanners (the two ar very different in 
nature), which I’ve been fortunate enough to try over the last couple of years. 
As I said, it’s a market I’ve been looking at for a couple of years now and I’m 
happy that I’ve finally found a device which fits my needs, in almost every 
respect. Actually, in some respects, it easily surpasses my expectations, so 
that too came as a pleasant surprise.

The receiver is marketed as a “Wide Band” receiver – and that is exactly what 
it is. Indeed, it has absolutely no gaps anywhere between 100 KHz and 3.999 
GHZ, with only digital mobile phone reception being beyond its capabilities, as 
you’d expect, of course.

In general, there is not quite the same sensitivity at the lower end of the 
spectrum But, again,  I do not currently have an antenna which is resonant on 
HF and lower, so perhaps that isn’t too surprising.

What is surprising is that this device is capable of not only dual-band 
simultaneous reception, but it also sports 2000 memory channels, programmable 
into groups so that you can easily sequence your memories in whatever order you 
wish, and just attach the specific memories to specific groups.

Battery charge cycle is quite impressive. The manufacturers state that you can 
get around 8.5 hours of life per charge. But my tests have only produced around 
6 hours per charge. That 

[Techno-Chat]: Station Playlist Creator

[Gordon Smith]

Good evening everybody.

Somebody on list wrote to me a while ago asking me whether I would be able to 
let them have a backdated version of SPL and Studio if I came across them. I’m 
sorry, I can’t remember who it was, but presumably if they’re still on list 
they will know and can get back to me if appropriate.

I happened to be going through an old archive a couple of days ago, looking for 
something entirely different when, what do you know … I discovered the exact 
version of SPL, (v5.20)that I’d been looking for.

If that person would still be interested, let me know and I’ll give you a link 
to the files.

Regards

Gordon.



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Re: [Techno-Chat]: Orbit Devices

[Gordon Smith]

Hi Roger.

It’s also worth adding at this point that, if you’re a member of the RNIB 
Connect group here in the UK, you can get up to a 10% discount on purchases 
from RNIB. This is something I plan to take advantage of next year, as a 
registered volunteer for RNiB’s “Technology For Life”team. I’m also going to be 
doing some remote volunteer work for them, via their helpline. That works by 
the customer in need of help calling RNIB, and they are connected to the most 
appropriate available volunteer with the skills to help the customer. Of 
course, this depends on which volunteers are available at the time. Once the 
person at RNIB’s HQ matches up the customer with the volunteer, then RNIB calls 
that volunteer and pipes the customer through to them. So no personal data is 
swapped between the two parties save Christian names.


On 20 Dec 2019, at 21:09, Roger Firman  wrote:

Dear Gordon,

Good to hear from you.

As you say, it is offering something at a lower price-point.

Regards,

Roger.

-Original Message-
From: Gordon Smith  
Sent: 20 December 2019 20:55
To: Techno-Chat ... Technology Enthusiasm! 
Subject: Re: [Techno-Chat]: Orbit Devices

Hi Roger

My apologies for the delay in responding to you here. Things have been really 
hectic lately.

Yes, indeed, it is a shame that they’ve increased the prices. But having had 
one on loan for the last couple of months, I can recommend the Orbit as an 
alternative option for those on a low budget. There are, of course, always 
drawbacks wen one pays for the cheapest option. For instance, the Orbit Reader 
20 has no routing keys, so it’s difficult to put the cursor on a precise spot. 
One thing I have discovered which annoys me is that if you’re reading 
something, and a Bluetooth® connection is established with a regular device 
using the Orbit as a display, the mode jumps to Bluetooth® whether you want it 
too or not.


On 25 Oct 2019, at 05:32, Roger Firman  wrote:

Dear Gordon,

That there is a choice for braille displays is a good thing, including the 
financial option.

In the next few years it will be interesting to see how developments take 
place, it is a pity that there has been such a price increase of the Orbit 
Reader and again this could place it beyond what some can afford to pay.

Best wishes,

Roger.



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Re: [Techno-Chat]: The Best Windows 10 System Repair Tool For Your PC

[Gordon Smith]

I have to say I don’t agree with the below. Unfortunately, Microsoft still 
won’t rewrite their low-level operating system which is still DOS. Windows 
simply papers over the cracks in that regard, including the entry of long 
filenames.

Under the hood, (the bonnet, as we call it), the base operating system cannot 
handle those long filenames. Thus, an index is required whereby the Windows 
interface simply does a match-up between the invisible short filename, and the 
long filename. So as far as the user is concerned, long filenames are the norm.

Regarding maintenance of SSD drives, I couldn’t disagree more. Any file storage 
system is subject to the software application or data modification formats. The 
Windows NTFS system is, as I said, a very archaic system, first introduced in 
Windows 95 or 98. So fragmentation can still be a big issue. File fragmentation 
I mean, rather than sector or cluster fragmentation. File fragmentation will 
occur whatever operating system is in use.

Regarding registry and cache maintenance, in my view, the best Windows repair 
utility and maintenance utility is produced by MacPaw, and it’s the Windows 
equivalent to the Mac’s version of CleanMyMac. Predictably, I guess, it’s name 
is CleanMyPC.

The application of this utility can make a difference with even the latest and 
greatest SSD devices. It’s the registry which stil causes the most problems in 
Windows 10. Errors still happen, they’re just not as noticeable.

Finally, for the moment, I would also stil advocate the application of 
synchronous backups. For this purpose, I still use my old trusty RolllBack RX 
Professional. Oh yes, and Diskeeper 18 as well. These three utilities give me 
peace of mind, but I’m not going to become complacent enough to assume that 
Windows 10 is the solution to all issues. It clearly isn’t.

On a light-hearted note, I had a great laugh this morning when listening to my 
local BBC Radio station. It was only by chance that I was listening, but I’m 
ever so glad I was.

I guess I should feel sympathy for the poor lady presenter on air at the time. 
She obviously became flustered and her technical engineers in the MCR, (Master 
Control Room) didn’t do much to help her.

Basically, she went to introduce a piece of music which was performed by a 
local artist who was in the studio. When she pushed the button to activate the 
computer which they were using to play all their music, Windows presented her 
with a black screen and totally crashed.

The entire studio facility froze. She was left with microphone control, but 
nothing else. Even the digital studio monitor clock on the wall went dark.

She was desperately trying to keep the interview going whilst they recovered 
the system. But it was clear that all of her pre-prepared script suddenly 
disappeared before her eyes and she didn’t have a clue what to say to the 
artist during the outage.

Took about 5 minutes to get her systems back up, but to her, it must have 
seemed like an eternity. I couldn’t resist a hearty chuckle, because it’s 
happened to me as well live on air, and I know how it feels.

But the inference that Windows 10 doesn’t crash is simply not valid. The best 
thing one could say is that it is much more stable than windows NT or earlier. 
But it’s still nowhere close to the stability of other systems, such as 
UNIX/Linux-based systems, or even Apple’s “B-OS” based system. Conversely yet 
again though, no computer system will ever be crash-proof. And I’d be a liar if 
I were to say that my Macs have never crashed.

Just my own two Kenneth, for whatever it’s worth.


On 14 Sep 2019, at 01:22, grtd...@internode.on.net wrote:

Hi there,
I’m coming in late to the conversation and only going on the subject line, is 
someone asking about what the best tool to repair a Windows system?
In my experience the short answer to that is NONE and I’ll outline my thinking 
below.
Firstly Windows 10 is without a doubt the best version of Windows there has 
ever been when it comes to stability so Windows just doesn’t crash or miss 
behave as it used to thus your Windows system should cruise along nicely.
Windows has tools built-in to optimise your system including Disk Optimiser I 
think the tool is now called so it would pay to have a look at the App and read 
up on how best to use it according to your specific needs though the software 
will run automatically.
SSD drives are now being used in modern-day computers so maintenance for the 
drive isn’t needed.
If any major problems should occur say in 6 months then its just as easy to 
reset your Windows PC and start again, this process normally takes less than an 
hour and a half so all you really need to worry about is having a good backup 
strategy in place either to the cloud, to another drive or both so you can be 
sure to have your data handy in case of an emergency.
When it comes to emptying the recycle bin then no special toos are required, 
find the Recycle Bin on your desktop, right 

Re: [Techno-Chat]: Orbit Devices

[Gordon Smith]

Hi Roger

My apologies for the delay in responding to you here. Things have been really 
hectic lately.

Yes, indeed, it is a shame that they’ve increased the prices. But having had 
one on loan for the last couple of months, I can recommend the Orbit as an 
alternative option for those on a low budget. There are, of course, always 
drawbacks wen one pays for the cheapest option. For instance, the Orbit Reader 
20 has no routing keys, so it’s difficult to put the cursor on a precise spot. 
One thing I have discovered which annoys me is that if you’re reading 
something, and a Bluetooth® connection is established with a regular device 
using the Orbit as a display, the mode jumps to Bluetooth® whether you want it 
too or not.


On 25 Oct 2019, at 05:32, Roger Firman  wrote:

Dear Gordon,

That there is a choice for braille displays is a good thing, including the 
financial option.

In the next few years it will be interesting to see how developments take 
place, it is a pity that there has been such a price increase of the Orbit 
Reader and again this could place it beyond what some can afford to pay.

Best wishes,

Roger.



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of opening any post to this group. Suffice it to say that we remain vigilant 
within the boundaries of reason. We strongly urge you to do likewise! You have 
been warned!!!

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Re: [Techno-Chat]: Orbit Devices

[Gordon Smith]

Hi Roger

Yep, that’s indeed the correct device. Unfortunately, I didn’t have it here 
long enough to perform a very in-depth evaluation. So it’s very probable that 
you’re correct. However, the guy who brought it to show me reckons you can now 
move in any direction you choose. It contains 2437 individual pins, asI said, 
and I saw my name written up on a screen, raised into tactile format. And I 
can’t deny that I was extremely impressed.

But my real rave at the moment is the Orbit Reader 20. I was somewhat dismayed 
to discover that the retail price for one of these devices has jumped up by 
more than £150 in the last 12 months or so. It became available in the UK on 27 
December 2018, and was then priced at £449.00 excluding VAT. Now, it’s priced 
at £598.00 excluding VAT and well over £600 if you have to pay VAT.

Of course, if you’re under the age of 29 and resident in the UK, you may be 
eligible for a grant for  this product. Also, if you happen to be a member of 
an RNIB Connect group, you can claim a discount, I believe it’s 10%although I’m 
not totally sure about that yet. I am a member of the Tees Valley Connect 
group, and also RNIB North-East Connect group. So I’m going to do my very best 
to get one of these things in the short term.

No, they don’t incorporate all of the features of a fully-fledged note taker 
such as the Braille Sense Polaris, Braille Sense U2 or the two HumanWare 
BrailleNote Touch models. But they aren’t intended as competitors against those 
devices. The Orbit is purely a simple note-taker and Braille display. However, 
it’s far more portable and durable than the Focus 14 Blue, although the 5th 
generation isn’t far behind it in that respect. But the Orbit uses patented 
technologies for its Braille cells, and they aren’t nearly as vulnerable to the 
same problem-causing issues which have plagued my Focus 40 Blue since 2013.

In it’s warranty coverage,  it went back to Sight And Sound no fewer than 7 
times to have blocks of cells replaced. I now have a dead display anyway, 
unfortunately, as there’s connectivity problem between the USB micro socket and 
motherboard which means that it’s no longer possible recharge the battery or 
use the display on USB. It’s had a hell of a lot of use, and I miss it greatly. 
However, I do have solutions which I can install in its place, all be it not as 
conveniently.

I also own a 4th generation Focus 14 Blue, which lives now inside of my 
ElBraille W14/G2. Not at all a bad little computer for what it is. If I am 
successful in starting my business up either late this year or early next, I’m 
going to apply to Access To Work for the 40-cell version. Much has changed 
since the original release, much has been improved.

But yes, the OrOrbit Orbit Reader 20 has a lot going for it. For what it is, 
it’s incredibly versatile. It handles every screen-reader I’ve tested it with 
extremely well, including both Google’s TalkBack and the Samsung equivalent 
when overlaid with BrailleBack which, happily, is now an integral part of the 
Google Accessibility Suite.

iOS and iPadOS both work well with it. Wish it were possible to use a Braille 
display with the Apple Watch. Love my watch, and wouldn’t be without it now. 
It’s like having my phone on my arm at all times. I even wear it when I go 
swimming, and in the shower. It’s waterproof up to a depth of 50 meters. Yes, 
it really is the height of laziness to sit in the shower and listen to music, 
the radio or whatever. But it’s so nice to be able to do it. Of course, you 
need to pair the watch with a Bluetooth® speaker. But there’s no denying it 
works well. Battery life is also great. I can use it extensively all day and 
just charge it at night when it goes into bedside  mode. In this mode, it acts 
like a large display alarm clock, minus the tick. It stays lit up during charge 
if you have Bedside mode turned on. And it wakes me every morning at 06:00.

Anyway, I’m waffling. But yep, the Orbit does have a lot going for it in my 
opinion. Especially now, as they’ve just upgraded the firmware fully support 
USB HID. And it’s good that groups like Freedom Scientific are adopting that 
technology as well. It means that we’ll never need to install hardware drivers 
again.


> On 24 Oct 2019, at 08:50, Roger Firman  wrote:
> 
> Dear Gordon,
> 
> Further to your message, are you by chance referring to the Graphiti – 
> Interactive Tactile Graphic Display?
> 
> If so, I had a short look at a prototype earlier this year and felt they have 
> missed a trick. I have a memory that it works in straight lines, it certainly 
> did at that time. For me, I felt that if it worked on the basis that you 
> could display material in both straight lines or in a more flexible way, it 
> would be much more adaptable to a much greater range of needs.
> 
> I look forward with interest to your discoveries.
> 
> Best wishes,
> 
> Roger Firman.
> 
> 
> --
> 
> This post, like all posts 

[Techno-Chat]: Orbit Devices

[Gordon Smith]

Hello everybody.

Today I’ve had an opportunity to play with a couple of Orbit’s new devices. The 
Orbit Reader 20 I already had here as it’s on loan from my hospital radio 
station so that I can assess its suitability for our needs over there.

But the exciting device is the Orbit Graphic, think I have the name correct. 
Essentially, what it does is to connect to any computer, phone or tablet, (via 
Bluetooth® 5.0 or as a replacement for a monitor, via HDMI). The devic include 
slab similar to a TrackPad 2 from Apple. Except that it uses an array of 2437 
pins to provide a tactile representation of items on the screen. The entire 
device is touch-controlled, allowing a blind person to directly interact, for 
the very first time, with a native interface, without the need for any 
screen-reader or assistive software of any kind.

Using it is a skill which one must master and, at first, it isn’t that easy. I 
had it on my desk for a couple of hours and it was only when the demo ended 
that I was starting to get the hang of navigating the screen by touch.

Being able to feel the contents of the screen, not just by lines, and not only 
in textual format, was an incredible feeling. Where there is text, so text 
appears. But where any form of graphical image appears on the screen, you get a 
true-to-life tactile graphical representation of the screen or a specific 
window.

I believe that the device is still in its final dealer testing phase, but I 
will most definitely be looking buy one when I can.

Regarding the Orbit Reader 20. This device is probably the best portable 
Braille display I have ever had the pleasure of using. The Reader 20 is the 
first display in the world to support the new USB HID standard, developed as a 
collaboration  between Orbit Research, Apple and Google. Basically it means 
that there is no software required to interface between the operating system 
and the display. So gone are the days of installing drivers, on any platform. 
It’s widely expected that other developers of assistive hardware, such as 
EliTech Group, VFO Group, and other manufacturers, will implement the standard 
in the near future. Meaning that Braille displays will be compatible right out 
of the box with just about every platform there is.


The Reader 20 is a small, rugged and compact device, supporting the new 
Bluetooth® “Just Works” protocol. It can seamlessly connect to multiple 
BlueTooth devices, and it can be used in Remote mode and stand-alone mode 
absolutely seamlessly. So, if you have something noted down on your Braille 
display’s SD. Card, and you want to transfer it to your remote device, it’s 
seamless. You can also setup the display’s SD card as a mass storage device on 
your PC or Mac if you’re using USB.

The only slight issue seems to be the absence of router keys. There are ways of 
moving the cursor, but it does take a little getting used too.

The Braille keyboard is not quite standardised, resembling that of the Seika 
Braille Minis. So, you have keys 1 through 6 where you’d expect them to be. And 
dots 7/8 located either side of the spacebar. There are two rocker switches, 
(one at east end of the display), which allow you to move the cursor by line, 
sentence or paragraph in stand-alone mode, or as your scree-reader dictates 
when using the remote mode.

There is also the now standardised menu keys, so the up/down/left/right arrow 
keys are located in a circle around the “Select” button. These keys are really 
the heart of your display. You can use them to read through files, navigate 
your screen-reader in remote mode, or perform a number of menu functions when 
switching from or two either mode.

When the device is in remote mode, you can easily jump back to the internal 
menu system and, therefore, to edit/read modes, just by pressing the up-arrow 
and OK/select buttons simultaneously.

On the rear surface of the display there are, from left-to-right:
• On/Off power button.
• Full-size SD card slot
• USBMicro slot for charging the device, or connecting to a remote computer. 
The battery in the device is user-replaceable. So no need to worry about having 
to return it to base if the battery gives out.

In conclusion, I would say it’s a very portable, light-weight, rugged and 
functional Braille device which, in some respects, out-performs even the most 
pricey competing devices. The Braille cells are a little noisy, but not 
obtrusively so. I’ve using the device quite a lot in the 24 hours or so I’ve 
had it hear, and the battery is still 80% charged. So it would appear that it’s 
a very efficient little device.

My only slight quibble is that the price has increased by almost 50% since its 
initial release in 2018. Retailing at $699 in the US, and £699.00 here in the 
UK, it’s quite a lot more pricy than it was when it was first released. But 
still, it easily beats the price of the competition. The closest approximation 
I can make to this device is the Focus 14 by Freedom, and you 

[Techno-Chat]: Station Playlist Creator 5.10/11/20

[Gordon Smith]

Hello everybody.

Just out of interest, can anybody assist me with a strange request. It’s on 
behalf of my local hospital radio station, for whom I work. Does anybody by any 
chance happen to have a copy of the registered version of Station Playlist 
Creator and Station Playlist Studio versions 5.10, 5.11 or 5.20?

I’m not asking anybody to do anything illegal, we do have our own license data. 
But my copies of the Back versions seem to have mysteriously vanished from my 
DropBox, and they’re not found amongst my deleted files.

If anybody could help, please get back to me off list – gor...@mac-access.net 
.

Thank you very much.

Gordon.



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[Techno-Chat]: The Best Windows 10 System Repair Tool For Your PC

[Gordon Smith]

Hello everybody

Well, it’s the start of the weekend, and I thought I’d bring you one of our 
little tips so that you can maybe find out for yourself just how much space 
Windows and it’s junk file removal tools really aren

User’s of Apple’s computer operating system, (MacOS), may be aware of the great 
system cleaning tool produced by MacPaw, Inc.

Now, they have the equivalent tool for Windows, and wow! It really does 
illustrate just how messy Windows and it’s apps really are, and how poor 
Microsoft’s system integrity tools are.

My portable computer, (an ElBraille) has been struggling of late, because of a 
lack of space on the Windows system drive. It’s 28.5 GB, and there was a mere 
22MB free before I tried out CleanMyPC.

Once I did, I didn’t look back! Ig detected, and removed, more junk than 
Cleaner, or any other tool had. Once registered, it also gave me the ability to 
securely shred anything which found its way into the recycle bin, and once set 
to 0% tolerance, it sure does a great job.

Before I started the checks, my drive had a mere 22MB free, of 28.5 GB. Once 
CleanMyPC finished doing it’s work, there was 10.5 GB free on the system drive. 
And it did not remove any of my user files and documents, (as some other 
cleaning tools do).

Here’s the software description, as featured on the MacPaw website and, in a 
moment, I will give you a direct link to the page where you can read about and, 
if required, download the software to try. If it works as well for you as it 
just did for me, you’ll be well satisfied.

Here is the software description:



Keep your PC clean and running like new with Clean My PC. It scans your whole 
computer to clean up junk files, speed up your PC, and boost its performance. 
Clean My PC is more than a PC cleaner — it’s an essential tool that cares for 
your computer.



SO, A LINK TO THE SOFTWARE PAGE:
http://www.macpaw.com/CLEANMYOC>>

If you own a Mac as well, try out their Mac versions, called "Clean My Mac”, 
amazingly enough! I use it here in conjunction with Cocktail because one app 
does some things better than the other.

I hope somebody finds that of help.




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Re: [Techno-Chat]: Clever Radios

[Gordon Smith]

Couple of points here.

You mentioned that this is a “Communications” receiver. The term 
“Communications” receiver usually refers to a receiver whose function is aimed 
primarily at the communications bands, be it amateur, PMR or logistical service 
providers – each of which has, of course, its own frequency ranges and modes of 
transmission.

You also said that “Short Wave” goes all the way up to 30 MHz. This is 
technically not quite correct, as from around 3 MHz upwards isn’t usually 
defined as “Short” way, and in excess of 20 MHz is definitely not covered by 
this description. ;-)

Of course, I’m only splitting hairs here, so don’t take these as serious 
contradictions.

My major correction, however, relates to the antennas. You specified that the 
telescopic whip antenna provided is used for “FM”, and the Ferrite antenna is 
used for “AM”. Technically, this is a grossly inaccurate phraseology, since the 
differences between the antennas are actually the frequencies at which they are 
resonant, and not the modes of emission which they are designed to best 
receive. Again, I’m only speaking here very much tongue-in-cheek. All the same, 
that last point is perfectly sound.

Seriously though, having a single portable solution capable of general coverage 
from, I would presume, roundabout, presumably, the 100 KHz mark up to 30 MHz 
certainly has its advantages. That much is beyond dispute.

I certainly wouldn’t draw comparisons to an RF scanner, of course, which is an 
entirely different concept. And my final thought on this one for the moment Is 
that, assuming this device covers the amateur bands and even some PMR bands, it 
would be an advantage to have either SSB support, some form of RIT control or, 
preferably, both. This would have a few advantages when listening in the lower 
frequency bands, (100 KHz to 30 MHz in particular).

One thing I’m not quite clear on, however, is where the gaps are. You say that 
the device supports FM. So, presumably, you’re referring to the 88/108 MHz 
broadcast band. This would seem to be the case as you refer to stereo FM in 
your post. Also you say that there’s a telescopic whip for that kind of use. So 
what are the limits on listening in the VHF range?

As we’ve discussed privately of late, Air band and, to a lesser extent, the 
marine bands I find interesting. PMR also has its attractions in some cases.


> On 28 Aug 2019, at 12:11, Dane Trethowan  wrote:
> 
> Hi,
> I now have a Tecsun PL365 radio which is rather unique in several ways.
> Looking at the radio at first glance you could be forgiven for thinking the 
> radio was a cordless phone handset, that’s the type of design we’re looking 
> at with the Tecsun PL365 but just because the radio is small doesn’t limit 
> the radio in capabilities.
> Packed inside this little beauty is a fully fledged communications receiver 
> without some of the functionality admitedly of its bigger Brothers and 
> Cousins but functional, useable and practical nevertheless.
> Performance is good across all bands and tis is amazing given the size of the 
> radio.
> Again not to the standard of the big boys but good enough for most situations.
> The radio has a 40CM long telescopic whip antenna aerial for FM and SW.
> A built-in ferrite rod is used for AM however the radio does come with an 
> extension antenna socket for AM and takes full use of this with the supplied 
> AM plug-in ferrite antenna.
> This arrangement provides some great advantages over conventional ferrite 
> antenna arrangements, the main being that the antenna can be “Homed” into the 
> direction of the station you’re trying to receive.
> The external Ferrite bar is only 3 inches long so don’t expect miracles from 
> this antenna but its pretty good and adds directionality to the radio when 
> receiving AM.
> The external AM antenna jack means of course that bigger antenna units can be 
> used such as a dedicated outdoor AM antenna or Tecsun’s own desktop tuneable 
> loop antenna which plugs straight in.
> Radio listeners will be pleased to know that the PL365 boasts a very nice SSB 
> mode tuneable down to 10HZ which means that SSB reception of voice 
> communications can be tuned to sound incredibly natural
> As we’re talking SSB I think it time to mention the Shortwave coverage of the 
> PL365 which goes all the way up to 30MHZ
> Again performance on Shortwave is surprisingly good given the radio has such 
> a short telescopic whip to work with, here’s to the benefits of DSP and SDR 
> Radio yet again .
> The radio has 500 memories though I’ve not got to the point of using those 
> yet.
> One function I’m looking forward to trying is the “Easy Tune” function.
> The “Easy Tune” function is very similar to those auto scan functions you 
> find on modern-day radio sets but the main difference being that “Easy Tune” 
> puts the strongest signals it finds into a dedicated bank of temporary “Easy 
> Tune” memory locations.
> You can browse through these 

Re: [Techno-Chat]: Wanted: Victor reader stream second generation

[Gordon Smith]

Have you tried going to the manufacturer directly, (HumanWare)? I’m almost sure 
they still have them on their website. Price should obviously be lower than it 
was, as this isn’t a new device.

My own device is in absolutely immaculate condition, and they seem to work well 
if properly used. Although, of course, you could also speak to HumanWare about 
having yours serviced. The rechargeable battery should be easy enough for them 
to change, and you’re in Canada, I believe, so you could send the device 
directly to their HQ.

Just a thought.


> On 16 Aug 2019, at 21:43, Joe Quinn  wrote:
> 
> I’m not sure how many of you would be willing to part with yours, but I am 
> looking for a Victor reader stream second generation to replace my book port 
> plus who’s battery has died and will no longer hold a charge, and which I 
> can’t find a replacement for. APH no longer sells the book port line of 
> products or anything else related to audio apparently.
> 
> If anybody would be willing to part with their Victor reader stream second 
> generation I would appreciate it. Thanks!
> This is my first attempt at asking for an item, so I hope I did it right. :-)
> --
> 
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Re: [Techno-Chat]: Sangean PR-D17 AM/FM Radio for the Visually Impaired

[Gordon Smith]

This puts me in mind of the Pure Digital (as they were known then), PX1 – 
released in the late 1990s. However, that radio used static speech, rather than 
synthetic. So not quite the same.

On a similar topic, the Roberts Concerto 2, (UK version) is also designed for 
the vision impaired. That device has a number of strengths, but a number of 
glaring weaknesses as well. I meant to review it for the group on our Blog, so 
I’ll do that over the weekend. I’ll post a link to the article on the list.


> On 13 Aug 2019, at 21:58, grtd...@internode.on.net wrote:
> 
> Now this radio may be well worthwhile grabbing.
> https://radiojayallen.com/sangean-pr-d7-am-fm-radio-for-the-visually-impaired/
>  
> 


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[Techno-Chat]: Minor Change To List Policy

[Gordon Smith]

Good whatever day it is where you are to you all!

I’m just writing to let you know of a couple of major changes to list policy 
within the Techno-Chat forum.

In the past, largely at Lynne’s insistance, it has been contrary to list policy 
for this group to have members advertise technology-related items with which 
they may wish to part, or items for which they are searching, to this group. 
However, now that Lynne is, I’m sorry to say, no longer around to assist with 
the administration of the group, and after speaking with a couple of members 
off list, I have decided that the advertising of technology-related 
equipment/items for sale or swap is something which wouldn’t do the group any 
harm, and could provide a very worthwhile service.

Therefore, I have decided on the following amendment to group policy:

• Members may post notices of items of technology-related nature which they 
wish to sell for a nominal sum, give away for free in order to find a good home 
for equipment, or swap in the search for other items of equipment.

Important note:

• When selling items, it must be on a strictly non-profit basis. We’re not a 
replacement for a shopping mall and it would be against the spirit of the group 
were members profiting by such transactions.
• Group members may also post notices if they are looking for specific items of 
technology-related equipment.

Once contact is established between two parties regarding a specific item, it 
would probably be better if the transactions took place via private 
communications. This would circumvent the possibility of a member’s 
confidential information being spread around in a public forum.

Distributing such data would be a direct contravention of the General Data 
Protection legislation which, owing to the location of the group’s hub, we are 
subject to. I believe that other countries, such as the US, Canada and 
Australia, also have similar legislation.
We’ll give this a whirl and see how it goes. Should it prove to be in any. Way 
detrimental to the group as a whole, or should members encounter and report 
difficulties in dealing with other group members after responding to such a 
notice being placed in this group, I reserve the right to curtail the 
activities of this group related to the distribution of hardware.

Note:
• Software should not b a part of this service, if it is licensed too, or 
registered to, the current owner. That, again, would contravene legal mandates 
internationally. There are, however, a few exceptions to this. For example, if 
a laptop or notebook machine is involved, the software should really be 
restored to purchase status. That way, the operating system I.E. Windows 10, 
would then be licenced to the owner of the machine.

Change #2:

Until now, it has kind of evolved that this group contains only members who 
have a visual impairment, and/or other sensory impairments. I feel that this 
policy should be relaxed, as one of the list’s functions was originally 
intended to promote the interaction by sensory-impaired people within the main 
stream of technologies.

Now that accessibility is a big part of many main stream solutions, I feel that 
it would spice up the group if we were to open the doors to non-disabled people 
as well as disabled.

Pertainant to the first change, I also intend for this policy to apply on our 
sister group, Mac Access. I shall announce the change there shortly as well.

Thanks for your attention and, of course, if you have any comment regarding the 
above, please do feel free to let us know. Some short term debate or discussion 
amongst members could prove a worthwhile exercise. But I urge everybody not to 
allow any differences of opinion to become a heated discussion. Let’s approach 
this in a mature and constructive manner.

Gordon



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[Techno-Chat]: Re: Recording / presenting whilst on-the-go!

[Gordon Smith]

I've moved this thread over to Techno-Chat, as it is no longer relevant to 
Apple's products. We're now discussing microphones etc.

Not sure why you reckoned I wanted to use a headset microphone. I never said 
that at all. What I said is that, if I do go down that road, it will be done 
properly. I expressed the view that when you do a recording of this nature, 
when the music quality is high and then the presenter's microphone sounds as 
though they're using a telephone, it spoils the entire experience in terms of 
quality. I've never yet heard a headset microphone which has good bandwidth, 
not even those used in the professional world. For instance, in the media you 
sometimes hear reporters using headsets to file reports. The quality in that 
circumstance, where speech is the only medium, isn't important so a headset in 
that kind of situation is perfectly fine. However, and I stand by this view 
absolutely, if a DJ or music presenter tried to get away with using a headset 
when presenting a music show, the poor quality of microphones interently found 
in headsets, even wired headsets and those costing many hundreds of 
Dollars/Pounds, the poor quality of the audio would stick out like a sore thumb.

I'm simply expressing a personal opinion, and I'm saying that, if I were in the 
situation where I wanted to record shows using a portable setup, more about 
this in a moment, there's no way I would even contemplate using a headset 
microphone.

The reason I opted to comment on this thread is quite simple. As somebody who 
broadcasts regularly for hospital radio, it would make the whole experience 
more pleasant for me sometimes to be able to record content on-the-fly, away 
from the studio.

I have not done this as yet, for precisely this reason. I haven't found a way 
until now of matching the quality of the spoken audio to that of the music. 
And, as I said earlier, I did actually try a couple of headsets when I was able 
to use them, and even the high-end ones, for instance, the Senheizer range, 
fell way short of what I would find acceptable.

So what I'm essentially saying is that, if and when I do go down that road, and 
it is quite likely, I would do it properly and buy a high quality portable 
microphone, such as the Sure MB88.


On 21/06/2019, 16:04, "grtd...@internode.on.net"  
wrote:

Again you're assuming too much.
So why this sudden urge to want to use a headset microphone anyway?
I've also tried Backpack Studio with my Audio-Technica dynamic microphone.


-Original Message-
From: Gordon Smith  
Sent: Friday, 21 June 2019 8:33 PM
To: mac-acc...@mac-access.net
Subject: Re: [Mac-Access]: Backpack Studio and further updates

That's pushing things a bit too far I reckon, for what I would need. I just 
think that headset microphones really detract from the quality of a recording. 
It stands out like a sore thumb if the music is of high quality and the 
presenter is not.


On 20/06/2019, 19:06, "Dane Trethowan"  wrote:

Shure is just one company of course.
If you really wanted to you could use something like a Blue Yetti 
through a camera kit.


> On 21 Jun 2019, at 1:30 am, Gordon Smith  
wrote:
> 
> Speaking personally. If I'm going to do this, I want to do it 
properly. Yes, I've looked at the Sure range and will probably go with one of 
those.
> 
> 
> On 18/06/2019, 18:40, "grtd...@internode.on.net" 
 wrote:
> 
>Completely mythical mate
>There are plenty of good high quality solutions that can be used 
with IOS and Backpack Studio including the Shure NV88 or NV51.
>If you don't want to use a microphone then why not use the 
headphone socket of your IOS device or a Bluetooth headset and just use the 
Built-in microphone of your IOS device which - though not the absolute best - 
is very good.
> 
    > 
    >-Original Message-
>From: Gordon Smith  
>Sent: Wednesday, 19 June 2019 1:14 AM
>To: mac-acc...@mac-access.net
>Subject: Re: [Mac-Access]: Backpack Studio and further updates
> 
>I guess I'll have to bite the bullet and look into the possibility 
of an iOS-compatible, high quality , microphone. Headsets, even the 
professional ones, are extremey limited in their frequency responsiveness, and 
make your broadcast sound tacky. So that's not an option for me, I don't want 
to be restricted by substandard voice inputs.
> 
> 
>You mention the advantages of an iPad Pro. Is that because you're 
able to use a smart keyboard with it? If so, it's not unique in that respect. 
Indeed, any iOS device can. Be paired with a Bluetooth® keyboard – I've done 
that on many occasions over 

Re: [Techno-Chat]: Looking for the best Bluetooth hearing aids on the market?

[Gordon Smith]

I see that some of our brands from this part of the world are now up there 
amongst the top players. Interesting indeed, and worth following up on.

 

 

From: Dane Trethowan 
Reply-To: 
Date: Friday, 14 June 2019 at 02:08
To: "Techno-Chat ... Technology Enthusiasm!" 
Subject: [Techno-Chat]: Looking for the best Bluetooth hearing aids on the 
market?

 

This web site presents a stack of information that one can use to their full 
advantage when hunting for that near perfect Bluetooth Hearing Instrument.

I’ve been using Bluetooth Hearing Instruments for around 8 years now and 
they’re well worth the investment.

Significant progress has been made and will continue to be made in the 
development of Hearing Instruments and connectivity, some future development is 
touched upon on this page.

As you will see there are Hearing Instruments “Made for Ios”< “Made For 
Android” and everything inbetween.

https://www.hearingaidknow.com/bluetooth-hearing-aids

 

Re: [Techno-Chat]: A note to Plex TV users

[Gordon Smith]

I’ve had nothing to this effect, at least, not yet. Our TV guides are free for 
all to use, so I can’t see why they’d do this. That said, I believ other 
countries, of which Australia is probably one, also offers this for free.

 

The only proviso I can see regarding our guides is overseas organisations. We 
have a stupid system over here which makes it compulsory that every household 
in which a TV receiver of any kind is present must be covered by a TV licence. 
Blind and, in some cases, vision impaired people receive a 50% discount. 
Over-seventy-fives currently unilaterally receive their licence for free, 
although this is changing as of next year. This change means that only those 
pensioners who receive pension credit benefit will receive their licence for 
free. Everybody else will have to pay the full fee, whether they’re 75 or 175 
years old. But, I digress.

 

Regarding Plex, I wil check their website as I haven’t received anything 
telling me that this is changing over here. However if the guides on Ice TV 
really are so much better, I may just switch. I haven’t had a lot of luck with 
live TV on my Plex Server, although I probably haven’t played with it enough. 
So I guess that’s something I should do. All I’ve done so far is watch live TV 
and, to my shame, I’ve been using the HDHomerun app for that. Although I have 
resisted paying the $35.00 a year to subscribe to their recording service.

 

 

From: 
Reply-To: 
Date: Thursday, 13 June 2019 at 02:20
To: "Techno-Chat ... Technology Enthusiasm!" 
Subject: [Techno-Chat]: A note to Plex TV users

 

Hi,

As other list members may know I use the Plex TV service with a Plex Premium 
pass along with a Silicondust TV tuner to record and time shift/watch Live TV.

I received an eMail from Plex regarding changes to the way that Plex will 
interact with Programme Guides come the end of June 2019.

In Australia for example the current @Freeview@ programme guide will no longer 
be available so users of the Plex PVR will have to subscribe to a third party 
programme guide service such as Ice TV.

Instructions are laid out in the eMail and links are given on where to find 
further instructions on changing the settings in your Plex PVR to make full use 
of the Ice TV programme guide etc.

As a special offer Ice TV is offering Plex Premium Pass subscribers a 3 months 
trial of the Ice TV service.

Plex also mentions that these changes will affect Plex Pass Premium Subscribers 
in other countries and regions though the eMail I received didn’t specify 
exactly where these regions were so if you’re a Plex user then keep an eye on 
your In-Box.

As a footnote I’ve made the necessary changes to my Plex system to make use of 
the Ice TV programme guide and I wish I’d started using Ice TV for programme 
information and scheduling long ago rather than use the @Freeview@ programme 
guide service which I’ve found to be very inaccurate for both programme 
information and programme start/end times.

Ice TV on the other hand is continually adjusted for those times when 
programmes overrun or channels may prefer to pad out a programme with 
commercials to make the programme longer thus keep a good audience for longer, 
advertise new shows and all the other dirty tricks our TV networks get up to 
.



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Description: S/MIME cryptographic signature

[Techno-Chat]: Re: Legal Stuff; [Was Samsung Gear IconX VS Jabra 65T Elite truly wireless earbuds]

[Gordon Smith]

This is an excellent comparative review. Just one comment with which I disagree 
somewhat.

You said that “Apple and Samsung hate each other”.Not absolutely true. Most,if 
not all, of the new Apple devices use Samsung display modules. So the two 
companies do interact at a lower level, although you’re quite right in saying 
that Apple fiercely guards its App Store, and won’t permit companies like 
Samsung to have their apps sold or distributed there, claiming that Samsun has 
not met the developer specifications which are quite rigorous. Need, Apple is 
currently facing law suits on behalf of a number of companies in the US courts. 
The suits allege that Apple’s anticompetatie practises are in breech of trade 
laws. It will be interesting to see what comes of that, although the US legal 
processes do tend to grind quite slowly. So we may not see any change for quite 
some time to come.

Apple is also facing law suits over the very design of the iPhone XS and XS 
Max. I can’t quite remember who is pursuing Apple on that one, but again, we’ll 
have to see what happens.

There was a law suit outstanding until recently, filed by Intel, again, against 
Apple. This one was over Apple’s decision not to use Intel’s modem chips in the 
new iPhones. I’m not sure what happened here, but I know that it was settled 
out of court.


On 2 Jun 2019, at 07:02, Ted  wrote:


The best truly wireless bluetooth earbuds: Samsung Gear IconX vs Jabra 65T 
(Sorry, Airpods)

 

Ok, so you want earbuds with no cable connecting them.  You want the 
convenience and small form factor, and you also love music.  Which ones do you 
buy?

 

I love earbuds.  In addition to these two sets, I also own the Beats Powerbeats 
3.  Thought it might be useful to do a comparison.

 

Firstly, in terms of pure music quality, truly wireless earbuds can't compete 
with wired ones (this means a cable/wire connecting the two earbuds, not 
referring to a wire connecting to the device you're using such as an iPhone).  
The reason is the form factor size.  The Powerbeats ones are larger because 
they do not go completely into the ear.  The bulk of the electronics sits 
outside the ear, and hooks over via a rubberized hook that goes up and over 
each ear.  They can fit more internal electronics and battery, giving a much 
better music quality and battery life.  My Powerbeats get around 11 hours of 
battery life, with amazing bass and sound quality.

 

However, if you want something even more portable and convenient, easier to put 
in/take out, truly wireless earbuds have come a long way.  The generally two 
best reviewed pairs are the Samsung Gear IconX and the Jabra 65T Elite.  Each 
coming in around $300AU (to be fair, the Jabra were about $269).

 

I bought the Samsung ones first.  They feature a touch interface on each 
earbud, so you do gestures to do things like increase/decrease the volume, 
play/pause, skip forward or back a track, etc.  They also feature internal 
memory of 6GB, allowing you to copy music onto the buds themselves, so you 
don't even have to bring your phone and can still listen to music.

 

Other key features include what is called "pass-through", where you can allow 
ambient noise to enter the earbuds so you can hear the outside environment, 
such as traffic or someone talking to you without having to take the earbuds 
out.

 

What makes the Samsung unique is that normally, one earbud is a "master" and 
another a "slave", meaning you can only use one earbud by itself, not either.  
With the Gear IconX, you can use either earbud on it's own as they each have 
microphones in them.  I primarily use these for work, and use one earbud paired 
to my PC so I can hear Jaws, and use a mobile phone on the other side holding 
the phone to my ear.  I can access my laptop fine and still talk on the phone.

 

The earbuds come with a charging case.  The buds get about 5 hours of battery 
life, and the case holds an additional 10 hours, so you can charge them twice 
fully via the case, which is very sturdy and well made.  It has a small button 
at the back to activate pairing mode, which is tactile and easy to use.  If you 
have a little sight, there are lights on the front of the case indicating green 
lights when the buds are fully charged, or dim red ones if they are not, and a 
light on the back indicating whether the case itself is fully charged.

 

The drawback to the Gear IconX if you're an iPhone user is that Apple and 
Samsung hate each other.  As such, Apple doesn't allow Samsung to make the app 
for you to configure the earbuds.  This is essential as this is how you set the 
equalizer for the buds, and also how you activate the "pass-through" that 
allows you to hear the outside world while using your earbuds.  Note that you 
can use any Android device to do this, so if you have a tablet or Android phone 
handy, you can configure these settings and save them to the buds permanently.  
I do wish they made a gesture to 

[Techno-Chat]: Samsung Smart Switch

[Gordon Smith]

Hello everybody

Right, I just thought I’d do some research to clear the muddy waters of 
confusion, probably created by speech synthesis.

Samsung Smart Switch is indeed a proprietary app developed by Samsung. But it’s 
been taken to a different level now as it exists across platforms. It’s 
available for Android 4.0 or later, iOS 5.0 or later, Microsoft Windows 7 or 
later, Mac OS X 10.8 or later and MacOS 10.13 or later.

The Samsung website indicates that it works by means of WiFi or USB 
connectivity, so maybe the Galaxy to Galaxy protocol is different, as per 
Dane’s message.

I have an app on my iPhone and on my Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+ called 
“SmartSwitch”,(al one word), which I don’t seem to be able to locate on the web 
at this time. But I’ve only just scratched the surface, so I will look again 
now more deeply.

The Downloadable files for Windows and Mac are a little more difficult, though 
not impossible, to locate. Therefore, to save others the trouble of doing so, I 
have linked to them on my DropBox below:

MacOS Version:



Windows Version:



I hope that’s helpful to somebody or other. I’ll go and hunt down the other 
version.



smime.p7s
Description: S/MIME cryptographic signature

[Techno-Chat]: Re: Gogle Chrome

[Gordon Smith]

Wouldn’t surprise me in the least. They’re talking about doing something 
similar to support Google Docs apparently. So from that perspective, Chrome 
being the default browser would seem logical.


On 21 Apr 2019, at 16:28, Joshua Gregory  wrote:

interesting thing that you mention all of this, because from what I gather, 
Microsoft edge is going to move to a Google chrome codebase. should supposedly 
make it better, although how, for us screen reader users, I don't know. Should 
probably be the same actually. apparently they're doing this because they're 
edge ml, or whatever the engine that they were using to develop edge, wasn't 
doing as well as  they thought it would, so they just thought it would be best 
to switch to chrome I guess.


On Sun, Apr 21, 2019, 5:50 AM Gordon Smith mailto:gor...@mac-access.net>> wrote:
There’s only one thing I used to dislike about Chrome, and that was the way it 
wrote home, so to speak, regarding where you’ve visited and sometimes your 
personal data. I believe, however, that Google has now changed that behaviour. 
So I might just reinstall it on my PC. I hate Microsoft Edge. It’s slow, and 
very unfriendly to use, I find. So on Windows, I went back to Internet Explorer.

But that’s another area of concern for me, since Internet Explorer isn’t the 
most secure browser these days, so maybe time to retry Chrome on Windows.


On 20 Apr 2019, at 14:48, Dane Trethowan mailto:grtd...@internode.on.net>> wrote:

I have Chrome on all my Windows systems here.
In the early days I used to have a lot of trouble with Chrome just crashing for 
no apparent reason on Windows machines.
This problem for the most part seems to have been addressed by the team at 
Google and I just don’t see the issue now.
Google is lightning fast on the platforms I use it on and it works so that’s 
good enough for me.


> On 20 Apr 2019, at 7:43 pm, Gordon Smith  <mailto:gor...@mac-access.net>> wrote:
> 
> The Windows version didn’t impress me all that much, to be utterly honest. In 
> fact, I removed it after a while. On my BrailleNote Touch, (which runs 
> Android), it does work very well with speech turned off, which is my usual 
> method of working.
> 
> HumanWare also has its own browser, called “KeyWeb”. It’s similar in some 
> respects to Chrome, and I suspect it’s built around similar source code. 
> However, KeyWeb doesn’t show you a real version of most web pages. For a 
> start, it doesn’t seem to indicate the presence of images, although it will 
> display Alt Text and LongDesc elements. On the whole though, I prefer to use 
> Chrome when browsing on that device.
> 
> 
> On 19 Apr 2019, at 17:27, Dane Trethowan  <mailto:grtd...@internode.on.net>> wrote:
> 
> Google Chrome all round is a very nice browser on whatever platform you 
> choose to use it, IOS, OS, Android and Windows.
> 
> 
>> On 20 Apr 2019, at 2:21 am, Gordon Smith > <mailto:gor...@mac-access.net>> wrote:
>> 
>> Your points are well taken. I was going to mention the Windows example 
>> actually, although another one springs to mind as well. For me, for whatever 
>> reason, Safari on MacOS is nowhere near as effective as Google Chrome is on 
>> that platform. I see many, many sites where Safari either just displays half 
>> of the web page, whereas Chrome shows it all and makes it accessible. Often, 
>> Safari fails to show up frames and controls such as video buttons. I don’t 
>> really want to get into a MacOS discussion here, that’s more appropriate for 
>> Mac Access. But the point here is that the differences between the browsers 
>> is amazing.
>> 
>> And yes, I am afraid I couldn’t resist it. To join the Mac Access mailing 
>> list, which is the sister group to this one, run on the same terms on the 
>> same servers, please send a blank. Message to:
>> > <mailto:mac-access-subscr...@mac-access.net>>
>> Respond to the Cookie message you receive backhand you’re good to go.
>> 
>> Now, enough about Mac and Apple. ;-)
>> 
>> 
>> On 19 Apr 2019, at 17:04, Dane Trethowan > <mailto:grtd...@internode.on.net>> wrote:
>> 
>> The answer to your question would very much depend on the user of the device.
>> Some Apps work better with Google Talkback whilst other work better with 
>> Samsung Voice Assist.
>> Samsung Voice Assist is in fact a modified version of Google Talkback and 
>> Google Talkback is an open source project so anyone can make changes or 
>> modifications as they see fit.
>> A further example of modifications being made to Google Talkback is with 
>> Amazon’s VoiceView Screen Reader which is found in many Amazon Tablets and 
>> Echo devices with a screen such as Echo Spot and Show.
>> The situatio

Re: [Techno-Chat]: Re: Gogle Chrome

[Gordon Smith]

Yes, you mentioned this to me a while ago. I’ll check, because I’m sure I’ve 
done this. If so I’ll let you know how when I’ve tried it again.


On 21 Apr 2019, at 14:21, Dane Trethowan  wrote:

Actually there is one thing I don’t like about Google Chrome on the Mac.
Perhaps I’m missing something and I hope I am, I can’t find any way to select 
text in Google Chrome on the Mac using Voiceover.


> On 21 Apr 2019, at 7:49 pm, Gordon Smith  wrote:
> 
> There’s only one thing I used to dislike about Chrome, and that was the way 
> it wrote home, so to speak, regarding where you’ve visited and sometimes your 
> personal data. I believe, however, that Google has now changed that 
> behaviour. So I might just reinstall it on my PC. I hate Microsoft Edge. It’s 
> slow, and very unfriendly to use, I find. So on Windows, I went back to 
> Internet Explorer.
> 
> But that’s another area of concern for me, since Internet Explorer isn’t the 
> most secure browser these days, so maybe time to retry Chrome on Windows.
> 
> 
> On 20 Apr 2019, at 14:48, Dane Trethowan  wrote:
> 
> I have Chrome on all my Windows systems here.
> In the early days I used to have a lot of trouble with Chrome just crashing 
> for no apparent reason on Windows machines.
> This problem for the most part seems to have been addressed by the team at 
> Google and I just don’t see the issue now.
> Google is lightning fast on the platforms I use it on and it works so that’s 
> good enough for me.
> 
> 
>> On 20 Apr 2019, at 7:43 pm, Gordon Smith  wrote:
>> 
>> The Windows version didn’t impress me all that much, to be utterly honest. 
>> In fact, I removed it after a while. On my BrailleNote Touch, (which runs 
>> Android), it does work very well with speech turned off, which is my usual 
>> method of working.
>> 
>> HumanWare also has its own browser, called “KeyWeb”. It’s similar in some 
>> respects to Chrome, and I suspect it’s built around similar source code. 
>> However, KeyWeb doesn’t show you a real version of most web pages. For a 
>> start, it doesn’t seem to indicate the presence of images, although it will 
>> display Alt Text and LongDesc elements. On the whole though, I prefer to use 
>> Chrome when browsing on that device.
>> 
>> 
>> On 19 Apr 2019, at 17:27, Dane Trethowan  wrote:
>> 
>> Google Chrome all round is a very nice browser on whatever platform you 
>> choose to use it, IOS, OS, Android and Windows.
>> 
>> 
>>> On 20 Apr 2019, at 2:21 am, Gordon Smith  wrote:
>>> 
>>> Your points are well taken. I was going to mention the Windows example 
>>> actually, although another one springs to mind as well. For me, for 
>>> whatever reason, Safari on MacOS is nowhere near as effective as Google 
>>> Chrome is on that platform. I see many, many sites where Safari either just 
>>> displays half of the web page, whereas Chrome shows it all and makes it 
>>> accessible. Often, Safari fails to show up frames and controls such as 
>>> video buttons. I don’t really want to get into a MacOS discussion here, 
>>> that’s more appropriate for Mac Access. But the point here is that the 
>>> differences between the browsers is amazing.
>>> 
>>> And yes, I am afraid I couldn’t resist it. To join the Mac Access mailing 
>>> list, which is the sister group to this one, run on the same terms on the 
>>> same servers, please send a blank. Message to:
>>> 
>>> Respond to the Cookie message you receive backhand you’re good to go.
>>> 
>>> Now, enough about Mac and Apple. ;-)
>>> 
>>> 
>>> On 19 Apr 2019, at 17:04, Dane Trethowan  wrote:
>>> 
>>> The answer to your question would very much depend on the user of the 
>>> device.
>>> Some Apps work better with Google Talkback whilst other work better with 
>>> Samsung Voice Assist.
>>> Samsung Voice Assist is in fact a modified version of Google Talkback and 
>>> Google Talkback is an open source project so anyone can make changes or 
>>> modifications as they see fit.
>>> A further example of modifications being made to Google Talkback is with 
>>> Amazon’s VoiceView Screen Reader which is found in many Amazon Tablets and 
>>> Echo devices with a screen such as Echo Spot and Show.
>>> The situation with Google Talkback and Voice Assistant can also be compared 
>>> to that often encountered when using Windows on a PC.
>>> Windows users will be all-too-familiar with the situation of some Windows 
>>> Apps being more accessible when a particular Windows Screen Reader is being 
>

Re: [Techno-Chat]: Re: SmartSwitch App For Android

[Gordon Smith]

In which case, we’re talking about 2 different apps, apparently with similar 
names. The one to which I refer is called “SmartSwitch”, (all one word). I 
believe the other one is called “Smart Switch”, (two words).


On 21 Apr 2019, at 14:20, Dane Trethowan  wrote:

A slight correction here.
Smart Switch uses high frequency sound to communicate between point A and point 
B and the reason for this is simple enough.
By using high frequency for transmission and reception the user can 
transmit/receive data to/from devices without having to know details of local 
Wifi or Bluetooth connection passwords, pairing requests etc thus the data from 
one phone can be transmitted and received by the other seamlessly.
The only thing the user has to do is to allow access to the microphone of the 
device where the data is being transferred too.
The Microphone is required so the device can hear the frequency tones generated 
by the sending device.
You can yourself hear some of these high frequency data tones wit your own ears.
So that’s how Smart Switch works in the installation faze and I suspect it 
works the same way should you wish to use the App again in normal mode - after 
Setup -.


> On 21 Apr 2019, at 7:42 pm, Gordon Smith  wrote:
> 
> SmartSwitch isn’t a Samsung app actually, although I believe they have their 
> own custom version. But if you look in the Google Play Store, you should be 
> able to find it there. You can also get it for iOS. And actually, the purpose 
> of the original app was to allow you to switch your contacts and data between 
> the two OS platforms. I believe that Samsung’s app requires you to either 
> have the two phones on the same WiFi network, or else have a USB connection 
> between the two Android phones.
> 
> And actually, therein lies the difference between the two apps. SmartSwitch, 
> (which I actually have on my iPhone and on my Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+), works 
> very differently to the Samsung app. SmartSwitch makes it much simpler to 
> deal with your data. The way it works is to first backup your data to Google, 
> then simply run the app on the destination and re-download your data, job 
> done! Actually, I believe that later versions of SmartSwitch will allow you 
> to use other cloud services, such as iCloud or DropBox.
> 
> 
> On 20 Apr 2019, at 22:50, Joshua Gregory  wrote:
> 
> Weird, I honestly am not sure. I do believe it is a Samsung app,so
> maybe the problem lies somewhere in that?
> 

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Re: [Techno-Chat]: Re: Gogle Chrome

[Gordon Smith]

Yes, I believe it’s going to be removed from the Windows install sometime soon. 
It was left there, so I’m told, because of accessibility issues with Edge 
which, so they say, have more or less all been squashed now. So possibly in the 
next major update to Windows, due out later this year, Internet Explorer will 
be removed, and consigned to the history books.

It’s been around for a lot of years now, and there are some well-known leaks, 
apparently, making it one of the least secure browsers around.

I’ve never seen a page that I couldn’t read with Chrome, so I’m going to 
reinstall it shortly and set it up as my default Windows browser.

For PDF documents, I am just starting to use the “Recognise With JAWS” 
functionality. That’s extremely useful to have, I must admit.

Sadly, I’m still on JAWS 2018 at this point in time, as I have 3 Professional 
licenses and can’t afford to update this point in time.


On 21 Apr 2019, at 11:16, Roger Firman  wrote:

Dear Gordon,

I believe that Internet Explorer is not going to be, or is not supported.

I've been using Crome a bit of late and don't really like Microsoft Edge but 
sometimes it is useful for reading some pages.

Regards,

Roger Firman.


--

This post, like all posts to the Techno Chat E-Mail group has been scanned by 
our server-side antivirus/malware solution. This should not, however, be viewed 
as a substitution for your own security strategy. We assume no culpability 
whatever, implicit or otherwise, for any compromise to your systems as a result 
of opening any post to this group. Suffice it to say that we remain vigilant 
within the boundaries of reason. We strongly urge you to do likewise! You have 
been warned!!!

You can find an RSS listing of all posts to this group at:

or at:


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[Techno-Chat]: Re: Gogle Chrome

[Gordon Smith]

There’s only one thing I used to dislike about Chrome, and that was the way it 
wrote home, so to speak, regarding where you’ve visited and sometimes your 
personal data. I believe, however, that Google has now changed that behaviour. 
So I might just reinstall it on my PC. I hate Microsoft Edge. It’s slow, and 
very unfriendly to use, I find. So on Windows, I went back to Internet Explorer.

But that’s another area of concern for me, since Internet Explorer isn’t the 
most secure browser these days, so maybe time to retry Chrome on Windows.


On 20 Apr 2019, at 14:48, Dane Trethowan  wrote:

I have Chrome on all my Windows systems here.
In the early days I used to have a lot of trouble with Chrome just crashing for 
no apparent reason on Windows machines.
This problem for the most part seems to have been addressed by the team at 
Google and I just don’t see the issue now.
Google is lightning fast on the platforms I use it on and it works so that’s 
good enough for me.


> On 20 Apr 2019, at 7:43 pm, Gordon Smith  wrote:
> 
> The Windows version didn’t impress me all that much, to be utterly honest. In 
> fact, I removed it after a while. On my BrailleNote Touch, (which runs 
> Android), it does work very well with speech turned off, which is my usual 
> method of working.
> 
> HumanWare also has its own browser, called “KeyWeb”. It’s similar in some 
> respects to Chrome, and I suspect it’s built around similar source code. 
> However, KeyWeb doesn’t show you a real version of most web pages. For a 
> start, it doesn’t seem to indicate the presence of images, although it will 
> display Alt Text and LongDesc elements. On the whole though, I prefer to use 
> Chrome when browsing on that device.
> 
> 
> On 19 Apr 2019, at 17:27, Dane Trethowan  wrote:
> 
> Google Chrome all round is a very nice browser on whatever platform you 
> choose to use it, IOS, OS, Android and Windows.
> 
> 
>> On 20 Apr 2019, at 2:21 am, Gordon Smith  wrote:
>> 
>> Your points are well taken. I was going to mention the Windows example 
>> actually, although another one springs to mind as well. For me, for whatever 
>> reason, Safari on MacOS is nowhere near as effective as Google Chrome is on 
>> that platform. I see many, many sites where Safari either just displays half 
>> of the web page, whereas Chrome shows it all and makes it accessible. Often, 
>> Safari fails to show up frames and controls such as video buttons. I don’t 
>> really want to get into a MacOS discussion here, that’s more appropriate for 
>> Mac Access. But the point here is that the differences between the browsers 
>> is amazing.
>> 
>> And yes, I am afraid I couldn’t resist it. To join the Mac Access mailing 
>> list, which is the sister group to this one, run on the same terms on the 
>> same servers, please send a blank. Message to:
>> 
>> Respond to the Cookie message you receive backhand you’re good to go.
>> 
>> Now, enough about Mac and Apple. ;-)
>> 
>> 
>> On 19 Apr 2019, at 17:04, Dane Trethowan  wrote:
>> 
>> The answer to your question would very much depend on the user of the device.
>> Some Apps work better with Google Talkback whilst other work better with 
>> Samsung Voice Assist.
>> Samsung Voice Assist is in fact a modified version of Google Talkback and 
>> Google Talkback is an open source project so anyone can make changes or 
>> modifications as they see fit.
>> A further example of modifications being made to Google Talkback is with 
>> Amazon’s VoiceView Screen Reader which is found in many Amazon Tablets and 
>> Echo devices with a screen such as Echo Spot and Show.
>> The situation with Google Talkback and Voice Assistant can also be compared 
>> to that often encountered when using Windows on a PC.
>> Windows users will be all-too-familiar with the situation of some Windows 
>> Apps being more accessible when a particular Windows Screen Reader is being 
>> used.
>> 
>> 
>>> On 20 Apr 2019, at 1:44 am,   
>>> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Some I have a question. Do people use voice assistant more than talkback on 
>>> galaxy phones? If so why?
>>> 
>>> Mike
>>> 
>>> -Original Message-
>>> From: Gordon Smith  
>>> Sent: Friday, April 19, 2019 6:18 AM
>>> To: Techno-Chat ... Technology Enthusiasm! 
>>> Subject: Re: [Techno-Chat]: Samsung Galaxy S10 Notes
>>> 
>>> Just one comment for the moment, as I don’t yet have my planned acquisition 
>>> of the S10. On a standard phone, such as the Sony Xperia X Performance and 
>>> Xperia Z2+ phones, how do you change the launcher? Sorry, but I just can’t 

[Techno-Chat]: Re: SmartSwitch App For Android

[Gordon Smith]

SmartSwitch isn’t a Samsung app actually, although I believe they have their 
own custom version. But if you look in the Google Play Store, you should be 
able to find it there. You can also get it for iOS. And actually, the purpose 
of the original app was to allow you to switch your contacts and data between 
the two OS platforms. I believe that Samsung’s app requires you to either have 
the two phones on the same WiFi network, or else have a USB connection between 
the two Android phones.

And actually, therein lies the difference between the two apps. SmartSwitch, 
(which I actually have on my iPhone and on my Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+), works 
very differently to the Samsung app. SmartSwitch makes it much simpler to deal 
with your data. The way it works is to first backup your data to Google, then 
simply run the app on the destination and re-download your data, job done! 
Actually, I believe that later versions of SmartSwitch will allow you to use 
other cloud services, such as iCloud or DropBox.


On 20 Apr 2019, at 22:50, Joshua Gregory  wrote:

Weird, I honestly am not sure. I do believe it is a Samsung app,so
maybe the problem lies somewhere in that?



smime.p7s
Description: S/MIME cryptographic signature

[Techno-Chat]: Re: Resetting Sony X Performance Xperia

[Gordon Smith]

I have it reset now. I need to get that phone configured. I wish I could use a 
portable keyboard at this point, as my Google password is, as all web-based 
passwords should be, very strong. Typing in the password, accurately, is taking 
me forever!


On 19 Apr 2019, at 17:25, Dane Trethowan  wrote:

The reset procedure is found in Language and Inputs if I remember rightly under 
settings.
Just follow the prompts and the procedure should be easy in your case given you 
haven’t set up any passwords or the like so its just a matter of answering 
“Yes” to the prompts.


> On 20 Apr 2019, at 2:09 am, Gordon Smith  wrote:
> 
> Thanks, comprehensive response, that’s what I like to see from list members.
> 
> Can you remember what the reset procedure is? Wouldn’t you require visual 
> assistance for that? I’ll try the keyboard first, never thought about that. 
> The only USB keyboard I have is an. Apple one, and quite an old one at that. 
> But I’m wondering whether the Logitech preprietary system would work if I 
> plugged a USB dongle into the phone via an adapter. Only one way to find out 
> I guess, I’ll go and give it a whir.
> 
> 
> On 19 Apr 2019, at 16:50, Dane Trethowan  wrote:
> 
> Its been a good while since I’ve used a Son Xperia X-Performance phone but I 
> can tell you that I was at the very least always able to get to the Google 
> Play store.
> I’m quite sure that you’ll find the iCon on the home screen somewhere or at 
> the very least you should be able to invoke a Voice Search to open the App.
> The Play Store was the first thing I tackled after completing a setup of the 
> phone given Google is at the heart of Android phones and you need your Apps.
> The other alternative you have is to reset the phone and sign into your 
> Google Play account during the setup process so that when the setup process 
> is complete the phone is already signed in to Google.
> You can from here manipulate your phone from your PC or Mac by going to the 
> Google Play store and selecting the Apps you want to install on your phone.
> In other words don’t give up just keep trying.
> You can also try plugging a USB Keyboard into the phone and navigating around 
> that way to find the Google Play Store iCon.
> It is best you install your Apps from the phone if possible for a number of 
> reasons.
> First being that you can look at the library of Apps you’ve purchased or 
> installed previously on other devices so if you know what you’re looking for 
> you can find the App there.
> Second when you’ve installed an App from the Play store you get the chance to 
> open that App much as you would with the Apps Store under IOS and OS.
> Suppose you installed Nova Launcher through the Play store on your Phone.
> When the App had been installed an “Open” iCon would appear.
> Double-Tapping on that would prompt you as to whether you wish to use the 
> Launcher as a default Launcher.
> At this point several choices would appear depending on how many launchers 
> you have already installed, the Xperia Launcher would be one of the presented 
> choices obviously.
> Double-Tap on the Nova Launcher and select the button “Always” which 
> indicates that the nova Launcher is always to be used and then press Okay.
> If you wish to test the Launcher then you can choose the “Just Once” button.
> 
> I’m sure the default Sony Launcher has changed somewhat since I last looked 
> at it so getting around the phone could be a little difficult before a new 
> launcher has been installed.
> 
> 
>> On 19 Apr 2019, at 8:18 pm, Gordon Smith  wrote:
>> 
>> Just one comment for the moment, as I don’t yet have my planned acquisition 
>> of the S10. On a standard phone, such as the Sony Xperia X Performance and 
>> Xperia Z2+ phones, how do you change the launcher? Sorry, but I just can’t 
>> remember. Actually, on my Xperia, I can’t even get to the Google settings, 
>> so I. Can’t get to the Play Store.
>> 
>> 
>> On 13 Apr 2019, at 04:09, Dane Trethowan  wrote:
>> 
>> Hi,
>> Here are some interesting discoveries I’ve made with regard to the operation 
>> of the Samsung Galaxy S10.
>> Some of these are probably old favourites to  other users out there and if 
>> that’s the case both bare with me and feel free to comment on anything I may 
>> have missed.
>> I have found it necessary with previous phones to change the default 
>> Launcher.
>> Until recently Google would have been my choice of preference however it 
>> seems that Google is no longer developing their Launcher so I switched to 
>> Nova until the S10 came along.
>> It seems that Samsung have been doing some serious thinking with regard to 
>> their default Launcher to the point that the S

Re: [Techno-Chat]: Samsung Galaxy S10 Notes

[Gordon Smith]

The Windows version didn’t impress me all that much, to be utterly honest. In 
fact, I removed it after a while. On my BrailleNote Touch, (which runs 
Android), it does work very well with speech turned off, which is my usual 
method of working.

HumanWare also has its own browser, called “KeyWeb”. It’s similar in some 
respects to Chrome, and I suspect it’s built around similar source code. 
However, KeyWeb doesn’t show you a real version of most web pages. For a start, 
it doesn’t seem to indicate the presence of images, although it will display 
Alt Text and LongDesc elements. On the whole though, I prefer to use Chrome 
when browsing on that device.


On 19 Apr 2019, at 17:27, Dane Trethowan  wrote:

Google Chrome all round is a very nice browser on whatever platform you choose 
to use it, IOS, OS, Android and Windows.


> On 20 Apr 2019, at 2:21 am, Gordon Smith  wrote:
> 
> Your points are well taken. I was going to mention the Windows example 
> actually, although another one springs to mind as well. For me, for whatever 
> reason, Safari on MacOS is nowhere near as effective as Google Chrome is on 
> that platform. I see many, many sites where Safari either just displays half 
> of the web page, whereas Chrome shows it all and makes it accessible. Often, 
> Safari fails to show up frames and controls such as video buttons. I don’t 
> really want to get into a MacOS discussion here, that’s more appropriate for 
> Mac Access. But the point here is that the differences between the browsers 
> is amazing.
> 
> And yes, I am afraid I couldn’t resist it. To join the Mac Access mailing 
> list, which is the sister group to this one, run on the same terms on the 
> same servers, please send a blank. Message to:
> 
> Respond to the Cookie message you receive backhand you’re good to go.
> 
> Now, enough about Mac and Apple. ;-)
> 
> 
> On 19 Apr 2019, at 17:04, Dane Trethowan  wrote:
> 
> The answer to your question would very much depend on the user of the device.
> Some Apps work better with Google Talkback whilst other work better with 
> Samsung Voice Assist.
> Samsung Voice Assist is in fact a modified version of Google Talkback and 
> Google Talkback is an open source project so anyone can make changes or 
> modifications as they see fit.
> A further example of modifications being made to Google Talkback is with 
> Amazon’s VoiceView Screen Reader which is found in many Amazon Tablets and 
> Echo devices with a screen such as Echo Spot and Show.
> The situation with Google Talkback and Voice Assistant can also be compared 
> to that often encountered when using Windows on a PC.
> Windows users will be all-too-familiar with the situation of some Windows 
> Apps being more accessible when a particular Windows Screen Reader is being 
> used.
> 
> 
>> On 20 Apr 2019, at 1:44 am,   
>> wrote:
>> 
>> Some I have a question. Do people use voice assistant more than talkback on 
>> galaxy phones? If so why?
>> 
>> Mike
>> 
>> -Original Message-
>> From: Gordon Smith  
>> Sent: Friday, April 19, 2019 6:18 AM
>> To: Techno-Chat ... Technology Enthusiasm! 
>> Subject: Re: [Techno-Chat]: Samsung Galaxy S10 Notes
>> 
>> Just one comment for the moment, as I don’t yet have my planned acquisition 
>> of the S10. On a standard phone, such as the Sony Xperia X Performance and 
>> Xperia Z2+ phones, how do you change the launcher? Sorry, but I just can’t 
>> remember. Actually, on my Xperia, I can’t even get to the Google settings, 
>> so I. Can’t get to the Play Store.
>> 
>> 
>> On 13 Apr 2019, at 04:09, Dane Trethowan  wrote:
>> 
>> Hi,
>> Here are some interesting discoveries I’ve made with regard to the operation 
>> of the Samsung Galaxy S10.
>> Some of these are probably old favourites to  other users out there and if 
>> that’s the case both bare with me and feel free to comment on anything I may 
>> have missed.
>> I have found it necessary with previous phones to change the default 
>> Launcher.
>> Until recently Google would have been my choice of preference however it 
>> seems that Google is no longer developing their Launcher so I switched to 
>> Nova until the S10 came along.
>> It seems that Samsung have been doing some serious thinking with regard to 
>> their default Launcher to the point that the Samsung Launcher is now 
>> incredibly easy to use it seems.
>> From the home screen swipe up to get to the Apps screen, what could be 
>> easier than that.
>> I haven’t yet worked out how one would move items on the Home Screen from 
>> place to place or even if one can remove or uninstall Apps from the Home or 
>> App pages. Apps aren

Re: [Techno-Chat]: Samsung Galaxy S10 Notes

[Gordon Smith]

Indeed, all opinion is objective. What’s better for one may be worse for 
another. So, I guess, one of my old favourites comes in nicely to my response 
here … whatever floats your boat! ;-)


On 19 Apr 2019, at 17:06, Dane Trethowan  wrote:

Better is a most subjective word here as I detail in another eMail in this 
thread.
Certainly Samsung have added some handy gestures that help users navigate the 
screen
These gestures do have Talkback equivalents.


> On 20 Apr 2019, at 2:03 am, Gordon Smith  wrote:
> 
> Samsung don’t use Google’s screen-reader. Their own takes its place and, in 
> my opinion, it’s better than TalkBack. I’m assuming that the S10 uses the 
> Samsung variant as well.
> 
> 
> On 19 Apr 2019, at 16:44, mmstopk...@gmail.com wrote:
> 
> Some I have a question. Do people use voice assistant more than talkback on 
> galaxy phones? If so why?
> 
> Mike
> 
> -----Original Message-
> From: Gordon Smith  
> Sent: Friday, April 19, 2019 6:18 AM
> To: Techno-Chat ... Technology Enthusiasm! 
> Subject: Re: [Techno-Chat]: Samsung Galaxy S10 Notes
> 
> Just one comment for the moment, as I don’t yet have my planned acquisition 
> of the S10. On a standard phone, such as the Sony Xperia X Performance and 
> Xperia Z2+ phones, how do you change the launcher? Sorry, but I just can’t 
> remember. Actually, on my Xperia, I can’t even get to the Google settings, so 
> I. Can’t get to the Play Store.
> 
> 
> On 13 Apr 2019, at 04:09, Dane Trethowan  wrote:
> 
> Hi,
> Here are some interesting discoveries I’ve made with regard to the operation 
> of the Samsung Galaxy S10.
> Some of these are probably old favourites to  other users out there and if 
> that’s the case both bare with me and feel free to comment on anything I may 
> have missed.
> I have found it necessary with previous phones to change the default Launcher.
> Until recently Google would have been my choice of preference however it 
> seems that Google is no longer developing their Launcher so I switched to 
> Nova until the S10 came along.
> It seems that Samsung have been doing some serious thinking with regard to 
> their default Launcher to the point that the Samsung Launcher is now 
> incredibly easy to use it seems.
> From the home screen swipe up to get to the Apps screen, what could be easier 
> than that.
> I haven’t yet worked out how one would move items on the Home Screen from 
> place to place or even if one can remove or uninstall Apps from the Home or 
> App pages. Apps aren’t so much of a problem to uninstall as that task can be 
> accomplished through the Google Play Store App.
> Another list member mentioned that the user can reorder the navigation 
> buttons at the bottom of the screen.
> By default the “Recents” button is to the left of the “Home” and the “Back” 
> button is to the right. Added to this is the ability to change the behaviour 
> of these buttons.
> Normally one has to double-tap but this can be changed to a single tap, you 
> slide to hold the button and then release your finger or if you know exactly 
> where the navigation buttons at the bottom of the screen are then just place 
> your finger on the button and lift.
> It would appear that some new gestures have been added to Samsung’s Voice 
> Assistant. Double tapping on the screen 3 times reads out a status message 
> and what you hear can be controlled from the settings of Voice Assistant 
> under Screen Reader under Vision in the Accessibility settings.
> The user might only prefer a short status message consisting of time and 
> battery remaining percentage whilst others might prefer more status content 
> such as wi-fi signal and so on.
> Voice Assistant users would be familiar with the 3-finger swipe from left to 
> right to move between such adjustments as dark cursor, voice rate, voice 
> volume and so on. What is shown for adjustments can now be set through Voice 
> Assistant settings.
> I have no need for voice Rate and Pitch as I use the Acapella Voices where 
> Rate and Pitch are adjusted through the Acapella Voice Manager so I’ve 
> removed those from my adjustment choices.
> 
> --
> 
> This post, like all posts to the Techno Chat E-Mail group has been scanned by 
> our server-side antivirus/malware solution. This should not, however, be 
> viewed as a substitution for your own security strategy. We assume no 
> culpability whatever, implicit or otherwise, for any compromise to your 
> systems as a result of opening any post to this group. Suffice it to say that 
> we remain vigilant within the boundaries of reason. We strongly urge you to 
> do likewise! You have been warned!!!
> 
> You can find an RSS listing of all posts to this group at:
> <https://mail.mac-

Re: [Techno-Chat]: Samsung Galaxy S10 Notes

[Gordon Smith]

Samsung don’t use Google’s screen-reader. Their own takes its place and, in my 
opinion, it’s better than TalkBack. I’m assuming that the S10 uses the Samsung 
variant as well.


On 19 Apr 2019, at 16:44, mmstopk...@gmail.com wrote:

Some I have a question. Do people use voice assistant more than talkback on 
galaxy phones? If so why?

Mike

-Original Message-
From: Gordon Smith  
Sent: Friday, April 19, 2019 6:18 AM
To: Techno-Chat ... Technology Enthusiasm! 
Subject: Re: [Techno-Chat]: Samsung Galaxy S10 Notes

Just one comment for the moment, as I don’t yet have my planned acquisition of 
the S10. On a standard phone, such as the Sony Xperia X Performance and Xperia 
Z2+ phones, how do you change the launcher? Sorry, but I just can’t remember. 
Actually, on my Xperia, I can’t even get to the Google settings, so I. Can’t 
get to the Play Store.


On 13 Apr 2019, at 04:09, Dane Trethowan  wrote:

Hi,
Here are some interesting discoveries I’ve made with regard to the operation of 
the Samsung Galaxy S10.
Some of these are probably old favourites to  other users out there and if 
that’s the case both bare with me and feel free to comment on anything I may 
have missed.
I have found it necessary with previous phones to change the default Launcher.
Until recently Google would have been my choice of preference however it seems 
that Google is no longer developing their Launcher so I switched to Nova until 
the S10 came along.
It seems that Samsung have been doing some serious thinking with regard to 
their default Launcher to the point that the Samsung Launcher is now incredibly 
easy to use it seems.
From the home screen swipe up to get to the Apps screen, what could be easier 
than that.
I haven’t yet worked out how one would move items on the Home Screen from place 
to place or even if one can remove or uninstall Apps from the Home or App 
pages. Apps aren’t so much of a problem to uninstall as that task can be 
accomplished through the Google Play Store App.
Another list member mentioned that the user can reorder the navigation buttons 
at the bottom of the screen.
By default the “Recents” button is to the left of the “Home” and the “Back” 
button is to the right. Added to this is the ability to change the behaviour of 
these buttons.
Normally one has to double-tap but this can be changed to a single tap, you 
slide to hold the button and then release your finger or if you know exactly 
where the navigation buttons at the bottom of the screen are then just place 
your finger on the button and lift.
It would appear that some new gestures have been added to Samsung’s Voice 
Assistant. Double tapping on the screen 3 times reads out a status message and 
what you hear can be controlled from the settings of Voice Assistant under 
Screen Reader under Vision in the Accessibility settings.
The user might only prefer a short status message consisting of time and 
battery remaining percentage whilst others might prefer more status content 
such as wi-fi signal and so on.
Voice Assistant users would be familiar with the 3-finger swipe from left to 
right to move between such adjustments as dark cursor, voice rate, voice volume 
and so on. What is shown for adjustments can now be set through Voice Assistant 
settings.
I have no need for voice Rate and Pitch as I use the Acapella Voices where Rate 
and Pitch are adjusted through the Acapella Voice Manager so I’ve removed those 
from my adjustment choices.

--

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our server-side antivirus/malware solution. This should not, however, be viewed 
as a substitution for your own security strategy. We assume no culpability 
whatever, implicit or otherwise, for any compromise to your systems as a result 
of opening any post to this group. Suffice it to say that we remain vigilant 
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You can find an RSS listing of all posts to this group at:
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This post, like all posts to the Techno Chat E-Mail group has been scanned by 
our server-side antivirus/malware solution. This should not, however, be viewed 
as a substitution for your own security strategy. We assume no culpability 
whatever, implicit or otherwise, for any compromise to your systems as a result 
of o

Re: [Techno-Chat]: Samsung Galaxy S10 Notes

[Gordon Smith]

Just one comment for the moment, as I don’t yet have my planned acquisition of 
the S10. On a standard phone, such as the Sony Xperia X Performance and Xperia 
Z2+ phones, how do you change the launcher? Sorry, but I just can’t remember. 
Actually, on my Xperia, I can’t even get to the Google settings, so I. Can’t 
get to the Play Store.


On 13 Apr 2019, at 04:09, Dane Trethowan  wrote:

Hi,
Here are some interesting discoveries I’ve made with regard to the operation of 
the Samsung Galaxy S10.
Some of these are probably old favourites to  other users out there and if 
that’s the case both bare with me and feel free to comment on anything I may 
have missed.
I have found it necessary with previous phones to change the default Launcher.
Until recently Google would have been my choice of preference however it seems 
that Google is no longer developing their Launcher so I switched to Nova until 
the S10 came along.
It seems that Samsung have been doing some serious thinking with regard to 
their default Launcher to the point that the Samsung Launcher is now incredibly 
easy to use it seems.
From the home screen swipe up to get to the Apps screen, what could be easier 
than that.
I haven’t yet worked out how one would move items on the Home Screen from place 
to place or even if one can remove or uninstall Apps from the Home or App 
pages. Apps aren’t so much of a problem to uninstall as that task can be 
accomplished through the Google Play Store App.
Another list member mentioned that the user can reorder the navigation buttons 
at the bottom of the screen.
By default the “Recents” button is to the left of the “Home” and the “Back” 
button is to the right. Added to this is the ability to change the behaviour of 
these buttons.
Normally one has to double-tap but this can be changed to a single tap, you 
slide to hold the button and then release your finger or if you know exactly 
where the navigation buttons at the bottom of the screen are then just place 
your finger on the button and lift.
It would appear that some new gestures have been added to Samsung’s Voice 
Assistant. Double tapping on the screen 3 times reads out a status message and 
what you hear can be controlled from the settings of Voice Assistant under 
Screen Reader under Vision in the Accessibility settings.
The user might only prefer a short status message consisting of time and 
battery remaining percentage whilst others might prefer more status content 
such as wi-fi signal and so on.
Voice Assistant users would be familiar with the 3-finger swipe from left to 
right to move between such adjustments as dark cursor, voice rate, voice volume 
and so on. What is shown for adjustments can now be set through Voice Assistant 
settings.
I have no need for voice Rate and Pitch as I use the Acapella Voices where Rate 
and Pitch are adjusted through the Acapella Voice Manager so I’ve removed those 
from my adjustment choices.

--

This post, like all posts to the Techno Chat E-Mail group has been scanned by 
our server-side antivirus/malware solution. This should not, however, be viewed 
as a substitution for your own security strategy. We assume no culpability 
whatever, implicit or otherwise, for any compromise to your systems as a result 
of opening any post to this group. Suffice it to say that we remain vigilant 
within the boundaries of reason. We strongly urge you to do likewise! You have 
been warned!!!

You can find an RSS listing of all posts to this group at:

or at:


To encourage your friends to join this group, first accept our thanks for 
spreading the word. Then, have them send a message to the list processing 
engine at:

To toggle on/off Digest (batch) mode for this group, please send a blank 
message to:

To leave the group, please send a blank message to:
.

To contact the support address for this group, please write to:
supp...@techno-chat.net>

--




smime.p7s
Description: S/MIME cryptographic signature

Re: [Techno-Chat]: Ring doorbell Video 2 impressions

[Gordon Smith]

Similar, yes, but not identical, obviously. For example, as far as I’m aware, 
you can’t remotely use the standard version and share videos/notifications etc. 
But that said, to be fair, you’d know better than me on this one because I’ve 
never actually used one, whereas you have. I’m only going by what I’ve read.


On 8 Apr 2019, at 08:47, Dane Trethowan  wrote:

The Video Doorbell II is similar in its feature set.


> On 7 Apr 2019, at 2:06 am, Gordon Smith  <mailto:gor...@mac-access.net>> wrote:
> 
> I have to admit that, were I able to do so, I would be. Tempted to buy the 
> Ring Doorbell Pro. It has a lot of things going for it according to what I’ve 
> been reading today.
> 
> 
> 
> On 6 Apr 2019, at 14:04, Dane Trethowan  <mailto:grtd...@internode.on.net>> wrote:
> 
> Horses for courses mate.
> I didn’t have an intercom system before so the expense wasn’t a problem in 
> that regard though the Ring system as I’m finding does have some serious 
> limitations that the Raspberry Pi III doorbell doesn’t.
> The obvious limitations concern the Ring system itself which is closed.
> This will be fine for most people who want easy setup but even then 
> connecting additional Ring devices can prove difficult as I discovered when I 
> tried to connect additional wireless door chimes.
> So back to the drawing board and back to chat with the people who helped me 
> out with the first Raspberry Pi doorbell system I had installed here.
> 
> 
>> On 6 Apr 2019, at 9:40 pm, Gordon Smith > <mailto:gor...@mac-access.net>> wrote:
>> 
>> Seems like an awful lot of expense to go too, just for a doorbell device. I 
>> don’t doubt that there are advantages. But to be honest, I personally still 
>> find that the intercom system I’ve been using since 2016 is perfectly 
>> adequate. It’s loud enough, and the buzzer tone of the bell can be heard 
>> easily all over my house. The intercom works solidly from everywhere, 
>> including my back garden.
>> 
>> I could have installed a camera as well but, to be honest, I didn’t see much 
>> point in going to all that expense. My intercom was professionally 
>> installed, and the guy who did the work certainly didn’t skimp on what he 
>> did. All of the wiring between the power supply and the bell itself is 
>> absolutely invisible. When he drilled through the wall to bring the cable 
>> from the external part of the bell, (the push-button), he made sure that the 
>> hole is sealed so no draft comes through the wall. You can’t even see that 
>> the work has been done. All cables are discretely tacked to the wall. But 
>> I’m getting off the point.
>> 
>> I am sure that there are more advanced systems available now and yes, I may 
>> consider adding one to my side door, as that’s the one I routinely use 
>> anyway. So we’ll have to see.
>> 
>> 
>> On 27 Mar 2019, at 11:00, Dane Trethowan > <mailto:grtd...@internode.on.net>> wrote:
>> 
>> Hi Everyone,
>> I’ve had the Ring Video Doorbell 2 for a week now so thought I’d write down 
>> my impressions of the product.
>> Before that I had a Doorbell which I built around a Raspberry Pi machine 
>> however the machine packed up so I had to get something quickly.
>> I looked for Raspberry Pi Doorbell projects to build and boy has the 
>> landscape changed since I built mine back in 2013, if you go to Youtube and 
>> look for Raspberry Pi Doorbell you’ll soon see what I mean so plenty for me 
>> to choose from and to think about.
>> The Raspberry Pi I was using was of a considerable age and there have been 
>> several generations of Raspberry Pi since, I think we’re now up to the Third 
>> Generation? Anyway the newer Pi machines are far more powerful than the one 
>> I was using and offer far more flexible connectivity options but one thing 
>> at a time and back to the Ring Doorbell Video 2
>> The idea of the Ring Doorbell is to have the unit installed at a location 
>> while you use your Smart Phone to interact with the doorbell. My Ring 
>> Doorbell is installed at the front door.
>> If you have the old trusty electro mechanical type doorbell already 
>> installed then you can choose to have it work in parallel with the Ring 
>> Doorbell.
>> In my case I needed a sparky to come and give me a hand with my installation 
>> but if its just a case of sticking the Ring Doorbell on a wall then you 
>> should be able to perform the whole  installation job yourself.
>> Depending on the type of\The Ring Doorbell has several power options and the 
>> one you choose will depend on your installation requirements. I already have 
>> a 

Re: [Techno-Chat]: Sangean PRD-6 Radio Demo

[Gordon Smith]

Unlike most of their equipment in recent years.


On 6 Apr 2019, at 14:56, Dane Trethowan  wrote:

Subject line says it all and sorry about the microphones of the LS-14, I’ve 
made a note never to use that device for recording ever again.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ewt54y9wptp3ic2/Sangean%20Prd-6.flac?dl=0 



smime.p7s
Description: S/MIME cryptographic signature

Re: [Techno-Chat]: Ring doorbell Video 2 impressions

[Gordon Smith]

I have to admit that, were I able to do so, I would be. Tempted to buy the Ring 
Doorbell Pro. It has a lot of things going for it according to what I’ve been 
reading today.



On 6 Apr 2019, at 14:04, Dane Trethowan  wrote:

Horses for courses mate.
I didn’t have an intercom system before so the expense wasn’t a problem in that 
regard though the Ring system as I’m finding does have some serious limitations 
that the Raspberry Pi III doorbell doesn’t.
The obvious limitations concern the Ring system itself which is closed.
This will be fine for most people who want easy setup but even then connecting 
additional Ring devices can prove difficult as I discovered when I tried to 
connect additional wireless door chimes.
So back to the drawing board and back to chat with the people who helped me out 
with the first Raspberry Pi doorbell system I had installed here.


> On 6 Apr 2019, at 9:40 pm, Gordon Smith  <mailto:gor...@mac-access.net>> wrote:
> 
> Seems like an awful lot of expense to go too, just for a doorbell device. I 
> don’t doubt that there are advantages. But to be honest, I personally still 
> find that the intercom system I’ve been using since 2016 is perfectly 
> adequate. It’s loud enough, and the buzzer tone of the bell can be heard 
> easily all over my house. The intercom works solidly from everywhere, 
> including my back garden.
> 
> I could have installed a camera as well but, to be honest, I didn’t see much 
> point in going to all that expense. My intercom was professionally installed, 
> and the guy who did the work certainly didn’t skimp on what he did. All of 
> the wiring between the power supply and the bell itself is absolutely 
> invisible. When he drilled through the wall to bring the cable from the 
> external part of the bell, (the push-button), he made sure that the hole is 
> sealed so no draft comes through the wall. You can’t even see that the work 
> has been done. All cables are discretely tacked to the wall. But I’m getting 
> off the point.
> 
> I am sure that there are more advanced systems available now and yes, I may 
> consider adding one to my side door, as that’s the one I routinely use 
> anyway. So we’ll have to see.
> 
> 
> On 27 Mar 2019, at 11:00, Dane Trethowan  <mailto:grtd...@internode.on.net>> wrote:
> 
> Hi Everyone,
> I’ve had the Ring Video Doorbell 2 for a week now so thought I’d write down 
> my impressions of the product.
> Before that I had a Doorbell which I built around a Raspberry Pi machine 
> however the machine packed up so I had to get something quickly.
> I looked for Raspberry Pi Doorbell projects to build and boy has the 
> landscape changed since I built mine back in 2013, if you go to Youtube and 
> look for Raspberry Pi Doorbell you’ll soon see what I mean so plenty for me 
> to choose from and to think about.
> The Raspberry Pi I was using was of a considerable age and there have been 
> several generations of Raspberry Pi since, I think we’re now up to the Third 
> Generation? Anyway the newer Pi machines are far more powerful than the one I 
> was using and offer far more flexible connectivity options but one thing at a 
> time and back to the Ring Doorbell Video 2
> The idea of the Ring Doorbell is to have the unit installed at a location 
> while you use your Smart Phone to interact with the doorbell. My Ring 
> Doorbell is installed at the front door.
> If you have the old trusty electro mechanical type doorbell already installed 
> then you can choose to have it work in parallel with the Ring Doorbell.
> In my case I needed a sparky to come and give me a hand with my installation 
> but if its just a case of sticking the Ring Doorbell on a wall then you 
> should be able to perform the whole  installation job yourself.
> Depending on the type of\The Ring Doorbell has several power options and the 
> one you choose will depend on your installation requirements. I already have 
> a mains supply installed for my doorbell requirements so the ring Doorbell 
> can take advantage of that.
> If you’re just going to stick the doorbell on a wall then you can use the 
> supplied rechargeable battery which clips into the bottom of the Doorbell 
> unit.
> Connecting the Ring Doorbell to your network may take a little time and can 
> be a little tricky so be sure to follow the prompts in the Ring App and be 
> sure to create your account at http://www.ring.com <http://www.ring.com/> 
> which I suggest you do before you stat the setup process.
> Its during the setup process that I started encountering disappointments with 
> the Ring product.
> Firstly the Ring Doorbell Video 2 will only connect to 2.4GHZ networks and 
> the unit doesn’t have a LAN port which is odd given the Doorbell will be 
> mounted most likely in

Re: [Techno-Chat]: My new Samsung Galaxy S10 Phone

[Gordon Smith]

On the whole, I prefer Android to iOS but I would totally acknowledge that 
Apple has a few advantages in its OS.

I’m actually now not so sure about the Apple Watch, as I’ve been reading 
reports about swollen batteries causing the screen to become detached from the 
body of the device. Apple is, in some cases, refusing to honour the warranty, 
claiming that the damage was caused by accident or by misuse.


On 6 Apr 2019, at 13:57, Dane Trethowan  wrote:

A few points in reply to your eMail.
Firstly regarding the watch? I wouldn’t buy any Watch right now whether it be 
Samsung, Apple and so on as the big Swiss watch giants are about to flood the 
market with their wares and we know what that means, the bar will be lifted on 
performance, features etc where upon Apple, Samsung and the rest will be left  
to dust themselves off and come up with something new.
I upgraded my Apple iPhone from a 6S to an 8 and I’m very glad I did.
I’m not particularly concerned about the lack of a headphones socket so that 
certainly didn’t enter my thought process when the opportunity presented itself 
for upgrading.
If you have a hearing impairment and sound is all important to you - and you’re 
able to upgrade to say something better than the 6S - then I’d recommend you 
seize the upgrade opportunity as those Apple phones above the 6S take the sound 
of the internal speaker to a new and clear level, something Samsung phone users 
and Sony users have experienced for quite some time.
Whether you upgrade to one of the iPhone X series is entirely your choice. I 
didn’t go that far as I felt an iPhone 8 would serve my needs for quite some 
time to come.
As for Apple having better performance over the Samsung S10 for transmission? 
Well I’m no expert but I do know someone who is, he’s a mobile engineer with 
one of our big phone company’s in Australia so he’ll have a small chuckle I’m 
sure when he reads about Apple transmission qualities .
Since I’ve mentioned the Samsung S10 I should also add to my notes by saying 
that I’m well used to the onscreen fingerprint reader now and I can unlock the 
phone instantly. Its something to really get used to when you touch the screen 
and the phone instantly unlocks.
At the end of the day however Apple and Samsung are premium products and what 
you prefer to use is entirely your thing.


> On 6 Apr 2019, at 9:21 pm, Gordon Smith  wrote:
> 
> I’ve heard a lot of good things about the S10. And it’s interesting how many 
> technology journalists are making direct comparisons between the iPhone XS, 
> iPhone XS Max and the Samsung Galaxy S10.
> 
> According to what I’ve been reading, the S10 wins out on battery performance. 
> But the iPhone XS and XS Max are better in terms of mobile performance. 
> Apparently, the S10 isn’t quite as good in places where the mobile signal is 
> weaker.
> 
> I’m still on the iPhone 6s, and the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+. The iPhone is an 
> old device now and it’s no longer possible to do trade-ins. Same is true of 
> the S6 Edge+. I can’t afford to be buying a new device and, to be honest, if 
> I could, it would probably be a watch of some type. I’m still erring towards 
> the Apple Watch Series 4, if for no other reason than the seamless 
> integration with the iPhone. OK, the 6S is an old device but at least it 
> still runs the current OS. So until things change, it’s a matter of making 
> the best of what I have.
> 
> Oh yes, and I do still have a 2015 Sony Xperia X Performance as well. But to 
> my shame, since I received it, I still haven’t got it properly set up. That’s 
> something I’m going to have to tackle in the coming days I think. May even 
> have a shot at it now.
> 
> On 28 Mar 2019, at 10:45, Dane Trethowan  wrote:
> 
> Okay I’m up and running with the device now.
> I was hoping to be up and running a week ago but I crashed the phone after 
> setup so I had to get a pair of eyeballs to set the phone to factory defaults 
> and start the whole setup process again.
> The first thing I noticed upon exploring the phone was the audio which is far 
> better  than that of the Samsung Galaxy S9, actually the audio from the 
> Samsung Galaxy S10 its the reference for my mobile phone devices now being 
> the best I’ve heard, from a mobile phone even being slightly better than that 
> of the iPhone 8
> There are some things one has to know when using a S10.
> Every company has mysteries to solve and Samsung is no exception.
> Samsung have moved the fingerprint reader again so with the S10 the 
> fingerprint scanner is found near the bottom of the screen above the home 
> button - I think  -.
> Anyway I’m able to use the fingerprint reader to unlock the screen after 
> having some reservations as to whether I could use this method of unlocking.
> The Smart Switch App during initial setup will only import the Wi-Fi network 
&g

Re: [Techno-Chat]: Ring doorbell Video 2 impressions

[Gordon Smith]

Seems like an awful lot of expense to go too, just for a doorbell device. I 
don’t doubt that there are advantages. But to be honest, I personally still 
find that the intercom system I’ve been using since 2016 is perfectly adequate. 
It’s loud enough, and the buzzer tone of the bell can be heard easily all over 
my house. The intercom works solidly from everywhere, including my back garden.

I could have installed a camera as well but, to be honest, I didn’t see much 
point in going to all that expense. My intercom was professionally installed, 
and the guy who did the work certainly didn’t skimp on what he did. All of the 
wiring between the power supply and the bell itself is absolutely invisible. 
When he drilled through the wall to bring the cable from the external part of 
the bell, (the push-button), he made sure that the hole is sealed so no draft 
comes through the wall. You can’t even see that the work has been done. All 
cables are discretely tacked to the wall. But I’m getting off the point.

I am sure that there are more advanced systems available now and yes, I may 
consider adding one to my side door, as that’s the one I routinely use anyway. 
So we’ll have to see.


On 27 Mar 2019, at 11:00, Dane Trethowan  wrote:

Hi Everyone,
I’ve had the Ring Video Doorbell 2 for a week now so thought I’d write down my 
impressions of the product.
Before that I had a Doorbell which I built around a Raspberry Pi machine 
however the machine packed up so I had to get something quickly.
I looked for Raspberry Pi Doorbell projects to build and boy has the landscape 
changed since I built mine back in 2013, if you go to Youtube and look for 
Raspberry Pi Doorbell you’ll soon see what I mean so plenty for me to choose 
from and to think about.
The Raspberry Pi I was using was of a considerable age and there have been 
several generations of Raspberry Pi since, I think we’re now up to the Third 
Generation? Anyway the newer Pi machines are far more powerful than the one I 
was using and offer far more flexible connectivity options but one thing at a 
time and back to the Ring Doorbell Video 2
The idea of the Ring Doorbell is to have the unit installed at a location while 
you use your Smart Phone to interact with the doorbell. My Ring Doorbell is 
installed at the front door.
If you have the old trusty electro mechanical type doorbell already installed 
then you can choose to have it work in parallel with the Ring Doorbell.
In my case I needed a sparky to come and give me a hand with my installation 
but if its just a case of sticking the Ring Doorbell on a wall then you should 
be able to perform the whole  installation job yourself.
Depending on the type of\The Ring Doorbell has several power options and the 
one you choose will depend on your installation requirements. I already have a 
mains supply installed for my doorbell requirements so the ring Doorbell can 
take advantage of that.
If you’re just going to stick the doorbell on a wall then you can use the 
supplied rechargeable battery which clips into the bottom of the Doorbell unit.
Connecting the Ring Doorbell to your network may take a little time and can be 
a little tricky so be sure to follow the prompts in the Ring App and be sure to 
create your account at http://www.ring.com  which I 
suggest you do before you stat the setup process.
Its during the setup process that I started encountering disappointments with 
the Ring product.
Firstly the Ring Doorbell Video 2 will only connect to 2.4GHZ networks and the 
unit doesn’t have a LAN port which is odd given the Doorbell will be mounted 
most likely in most homes in a fixed position.
The Setup procedure in the Ring App was quite easy to follow and I have 
everything connected in around 10 minutes along with having completed tests to 
ensure that the doorbell was functioning as required.
Ring sends you a couple of optional eMails containing tips and so on which are 
worth reading.
The settings panels in the Ring App seem perfectly accessible.
So now to actually trying the Ring Doorbell out with my mobile phones and here 
I started to get annoyed.
When the Ring Doorbell detects motion or the button is pushed to ring the 
Doorbell a notification is sent to your phone.
In order to interact with the person at your door you have to interact with the 
notification on your phone so that means that you not only have to unlock your 
phone - if it is locked - but enter your Fingerprint or facial ID before you 
can even interact then with the Ring Screen.
The Screen contains several buttons including an “Accept” button which you can 
double-tap to start viewing video form your doorbell or speak to the person at 
your front door.
And here’s another thing to be wary of, the orientation of your phone is 
changed to landscape regardless of your orientation preference so you may need 
to change your method when you try to navigate the Ring App screen whilst 
interacting with the Doorbell.
The 

Re: [Techno-Chat]: My new Samsung Galaxy S10 Phone

[Gordon Smith]

I’ve heard a lot of good things about the S10. And it’s interesting how many 
technology journalists are making direct comparisons between the iPhone XS, 
iPhone XS Max and the Samsung Galaxy S10.

According to what I’ve been reading, the S10 wins out on battery performance. 
But the iPhone XS and XS Max are better in terms of mobile performance. 
Apparently, the S10 isn’t quite as good in places where the mobile signal is 
weaker.

I’m still on the iPhone 6s, and the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+. The iPhone is an 
old device now and it’s no longer possible to do trade-ins. Same is true of the 
S6 Edge+. I can’t afford to be buying a new device and, to be honest, if I 
could, it would probably be a watch of some type. I’m still erring towards the 
Apple Watch Series 4, if for no other reason than the seamless integration with 
the iPhone. OK, the 6S is an old device but at least it still runs the current 
OS. So until things change, it’s a matter of making the best of what I have.

Oh yes, and I do still have a 2015 Sony Xperia X Performance as well. But to my 
shame, since I received it, I still haven’t got it properly set up. That’s 
something I’m going to have to tackle in the coming days I think. May even have 
a shot at it now.

On 28 Mar 2019, at 10:45, Dane Trethowan  wrote:

Okay I’m up and running with the device now.
I was hoping to be up and running a week ago but I crashed the phone after 
setup so I had to get a pair of eyeballs to set the phone to factory defaults 
and start the whole setup process again.
The first thing I noticed upon exploring the phone was the audio which is far 
better  than that of the Samsung Galaxy S9, actually the audio from the Samsung 
Galaxy S10 its the reference for my mobile phone devices now being the best 
I’ve heard, from a mobile phone even being slightly better than that of the 
iPhone 8
There are some things one has to know when using a S10.
Every company has mysteries to solve and Samsung is no exception.
Samsung have moved the fingerprint reader again so with the S10 the fingerprint 
scanner is found near the bottom of the screen above the home button - I think 
 -.
Anyway I’m able to use the fingerprint reader to unlock the screen after having 
some reservations as to whether I could use this method of unlocking.
The Smart Switch App during initial setup will only import the Wi-Fi network 
and associated settings from your older phone and that’s fair enough I guess so 
to have Smart Switch complete its job - if that’s what you want - of 
transferring everything from the old to the new phone you need to deal with the 
notification Smart Switch shows on the screen after the setup process has 
completed.
A welcome’s addition to the setup is the ability to select if you want the 
default Samsung Apps installed or not, you can select all, none or customise 
your selection.
Okay off to have a rest now and let the Samsung S10 do its thing and get a full 
recharge.
I will try charging my old Samsung galaxy S9 wirelessly from the S10 later on 
today as well as having another play with the new device.

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[Techno-Chat]: Re: Banks & Accessibility

[Gordon Smith]

Sorry this has taken me so long to get around to responding to this. I am 
always pleased to see banks and other institutions brought to book when it 
comes to discrimination issues. Be they against any group of disabled people, 
it’s wrong in the extreme to deprive either a group or, for that matter, a 
single solitary person of their fundamental right to equality. I only wish 
there were groups over here who had the backbone to stand up for the rights of 
minority indigenous people by making use of the law.

All that seems to happen over here is protests, and even those are a 
one-day-wonder. But I’m getting off topic, our purpose here is to discuss 
technological issues, not legal or moral ones.

But our banks don’t even offer these facilities as far as I’m aware. Indeed, 
there’s no guarantee that a bank’s website is even going to be accessible. My 
own bank, for instance, has made changes to their website which have 
significantly impacted on accessibility. It’s actually quite difficult now to 
view statements etc. And branches are closing down completely because, so say 
the banks, of the growing popularity of online and mobile banking in general.


On 28 Mar 2019, at 10:46, Dane Trethowan  wrote:

Thought other list members may find this of interest.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-01-10/commonwealth-bank-settles-discrimination-claim/10702194
 

 



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[Techno-Chat]: More on the Orbit Reader 20

[Gordon Smith]

Good Sunday to you all

I’d just like to reaffirm what I posted in an earlier message, and add a little 
more information which I hadn’t discovered or neglected to mention last time.

The Orbit Reader 20 isn’t quite like other Braille displays. There are a couple 
of very nice little touches which I haven’t seen on any other model. That isn’t 
to say the functionality isn’t there, it’s just that I personally haven’t seen 
it on any comparable device of its type.

The Orbit Reader 20 uses a modern style of menu keys and menu navigation. In 
the centre of the display, there is the usual circle of buttons, which make up 
the up, down, left and right arrow keys. And, predictably enough, there’s the 
select button in the centre of the circle.

The main menu and associated functions can be called up quickly by pressing the 
up arrow key and the select key at any time. This even works if the device is 
in “Remote”, (often referred too as “Terminal” mode). The advantage being that, 
let’s say you have a file open in the internal editor where you’ve made some 
notes which are pertinent to the task you’re working on on your remote device, 
be it a mobile, notebook, tablet or desktop device. You need to quickly access 
the information in your notes.

With many other devices, the only way to get out of Terminal mode is to turn 
off the device and start over. The notable exception here being the HumanWare 
BrailleNote Tuch. But obviously, in order to access your notes, if using one of 
the devices other than the Orbit or the Touch, you’d have to ensure that you’d 
saved your notes before exiting Terminal mode, or you’d lose them.

Now, I hear you say, why not just keep your notes on the remote device. Yes, 
that’s certainly another approach – I wouldn’t deny that for a moment. And 
obviously, if that works for you then that’s great. I’m not trying to suggest 
one method is better than the other. I’m simply saying that the option is there.

Anyway, I digress. When using the Orbit, all you have to do is press the up 
arrow and select keys simultaneously, and you’re into the device’s main menu 
again. From there, you can simply. Navigate to your open file and press select. 
Then, you have the devices editing and reading functions at your fingertips.

When you’ve finished, simply use the menu to return to “Remote” mode, and you 
have your Braille display back again on your remote device, subject too any 
commands you may need to issue on the remote device to have it re-discover the 
Orbit.

The Orbit can pair with multiple Bluetooth® devices simultaneously, so you 
don’t need to keep re-executing the Bluetooth® pairing routines over and over. 
It simply connects to the last available device which is present at the time.

Now, again, I’m not trying to compare the Orbit with other devices which cost 
in excess of 10 times what the Orbit Reader 20 does. I’m just making the point 
that the device is an extremely versatile and friendly portable companion to, 
for instance, your iPhone or iPad, Android devices or notebook. Oh and, of 
course, USB is supported as well, although it might have been nice had it used 
USB 3.1 or later. But one can’t have everything and the main thing is it works, 
giving you a more than adequate, portable and rugged Braille display for a 
fraction of the price of typical mechanical devices higher in the price range.

I am successfully using one of these devices as a display when I do radio work 
at the studio of our hospital network. I no longer need to carry my Focus 40 
around with me, and as soon as I get to the studio, all I need to do is plug 
the device into the computer, power it on and then execute NVDA. Works like a 
charm every time.

Braille quality is very good indeed. Cells are nice and firm, without being too 
firm. Responsiveness is excellent, and control of NVDA via Braille movement 
keys is first class.

I plan to buy one of these devices for my own use when I’m able. The only UK 
supplier is RNIB, and that suits me fine.

I believe that the Australian supplier is no longer making these things 
available. If that is the case, I’m astounded. Unless, of course, there’s a 
conflict of interests. Maybe they sell other more costly solutions, and see the 
Orbit as a threat to. Their profits, I really don’t know.

Anyway, in my humble opinion, an excellent all-round device, well worth the 
money.



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[Techno-Chat]: The Orbit Reader 20™ – A Hands-On Review

[Gordon Smith]

Good day to you one and all.

On Wednesday afternoon, I finally got my hands on an Orbit Reader 20, and took 
it for a spin. I came away very impressed, and plan to buy one of my own when I 
can.

I will be using this device when I reactivate my hospital radio career within 
the next week or two.

For portable use, (either in stand-alone mode, or remote terminal with Android, 
iOS, MacOS or Windows, it is a joy to use. The first thing I noticed was how 
rugged the case is, although it’s outer skin is plastic. It’s a very tough and 
durable plastic. The keys are just a little clunky, but I’ve seen much worse 
than that. I actually own a. Mini Seika which, as people may remember, is a 
16-cell device, nowhere close to as functional as the Orbit Reader 20™s, and 
certainly nowhere close to as responsive.

The Orbit Reader 20™ does not employ the usual cursor routing buttons above the 
Braille cells. Therefore, in remote (terminal) mode, it relies on the 
screen-reader’s specific command sets governing which options do what.

In stand-alone mode, the Orbit Reader 20™ uses conventional key movement 
commands. For example, a modifier key plus dot 4 will take you to a new line, 
whereas the modifier key plus dot five will move by word, etc.

The lack of routing buttons did,initially at least, cause me a little bit of 
inconvenience. But not over-much. One soon becomes accustomed to using Braille 
commands anyway, so for somebody like myself, having several years of 
experience with Braille displays and readers, it isn’t too difficult to adapt 
to this one.

The menu structure of the device, (which can be accessed in either Stand-Alone 
or remote modes) is navigable by using the usual modern layout which you’d find 
on, for instance, a multimedia device’s remote control. Ergo, you’d have the 
select key as a flat round button in the centre of a circle of horseshoe-shaped 
buttons which are used for up, down, left and right arrow movement.

Panning through text uses the same type of rocker bars as does the Focus Blue 
14, 40 and 80 displays. There are two rocker bars, one at each end of the 
display. There is no mode key to select how these rocker bars respond, as there 
are on the Focus series.

The panning buttons behave in precisely the same way as they do by default on 
the Focus.

One of the things I like most about this display is Braille cells themselves. 
Because the Orbit does not utilise the usual mechanical cells which most other 
devices of its kind use, there is absolutely no sound audible when reading 
Braille on the device. The celluloid electronic cells are not quite as sharp as 
those on a Focus. But they make up for that with their firmness. Reading 
Braille on the Orbit Reader 20™ for prolonged periods of time is a joy. The 
dots are nicely rounded and very clearly displayed. So as long as the device is 
maintained in a clean dry environment, the cells should last a very long time. 
There is no physical movement. Not, at least, in the conventional sense. For 
this reason, when the device is powered off, the Braille dots disappear 
completely.

Perhaps surprisingly, I did not find the 20-cell lines on the display at all 
irritating or irksome. I used the device non-stop for in excess of 2 hours, 
reading and writing Braille, and found it a pleasure.

The device is very compact, so it would easily fit into a coat pocket, for 
instance, or a computer travel bag. The one thing which would have been nice is 
a leather carry-case. Just to give it that little bit more protection when 
you’re on the move.

Using the display with a smart phone is also a joy. Android and iOS just 
recognise the display without the need for drivers etc., as does MacOS. If you 
acquire one of these devices and intend to use it on Windows systems, you’ll 
need to install the virtual serial port driver before you plug the device into 
the PC, then you’ll need to restart Windows for the virtual port to become 
visible.

I tried the device using NVDA, BrailleBack and VoiceOver, with great success on 
every OS. JAWS users will also need to install the appropriate JAWS driver, as 
they haven’t yet got around to including support for this in JAWS 2018, 
although I believe it does have support in JAWS 2019.

Regarding the box package contents, this can vary depending upon local 
dealerships. But it struck me as rather strange that no CD is provided, so you 
need to download the drivers you require from .

Finally, for the moment, I wanted to quickly mention that it has 2 Bluetooth® 
modes – Auto and Manual modes. In auto mode, no pairing code is required. So 
any device can pair with the Orbit Reader 20™ without requiring any input from 
the Orbit.

In “Manual” mode, the two devices must be paired using a randomly generated 
pair code. Usually this is negotiated between the device and the Orbit Reader 
20™ automatically, but the user has the option to reject the pair attempt.

And finally .finally, the 

Re: [Techno-Chat]: Roberts Concerto 2 DAB/FM, CD player, SD/USB Player & Cassette Recorder

[Gordon Smith]

Hi Roger

OK, no worries. I’ll get this written up and, if I put it on our new BLOG, I’ll 
add audio to the mix.


On 25 Dec 2018, at 22:23, Roger Firman  wrote:

Dear Gordon,

Always interested.

Roger.

-Original Message-
From: Gordon Smith [mailto:gor...@mac-access.net] 
Sent: 25 December 2018 21:13
To: Techno-Chat ... Technology Enthusiasm! 
Subject: [Techno-Chat]: Roberts Concerto 2 DAB/FM, CD player, SD/USB Player & 
Cassette Recorder

Good Yuletide to you, one and all. I trust your Christmas celebrations went 
well.

I’ve been playing around with the Roberts Concerto 2 multimedia device for 
quite some time now, and wondered whether anybody else on list would find a 
comprehensive but objective review of the device of value?

If yes, I shall compile one and either upload it to this group, or post it on 
our BLOG.


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Re: [Techno-Chat]: Roberts Concerto 2 DAB/FM, CD player, SD/USB Player & Cassette Recorder

[Gordon Smith]

On that point I have no information. All I can do is go by the UK modell info.

I’ll write up a review of it, and try to do some research to see if, and under 
what badge, the device can be obtained beyond the UK.


On 26 Dec 2018, at 01:24, Dane Trethowan  wrote:

I don’t know of the particular device myself but I would remind everyone that 
Roberts devices these days are marketed around the world as Sangean so others 
may find the same under the Sangean name and a different model number.


> On 26 Dec 2018, at 8:12 am, Gordon Smith  wrote:
> 
> Good Yuletide to you, one and all. I trust your Christmas celebrations went 
> well.
> 
> I’ve been playing around with the Roberts Concerto 2 multimedia device for 
> quite some time now, and wondered whether anybody else on list would find a 
> comprehensive but objective review of the device of value?
> 
> If yes, I shall compile one and either upload it to this group, or post it on 
> our BLOG.
> 

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Re: [Techno-Chat]: Google Home Max

[Gordon Smith]

From the little play I’ve had, comparing the Google Home directly with the 
Alexa Echo Show seem to indicate that the Echo Show handles the comprehension 
of TTS slightly better when music is playing. Although when using the Home in 
non-music mode, the two systems come out about equal in terms of what each will 
recognise as a valid command.

Obviously I haven’t had the opportunity to play with the Home Max as yet. But I 
managed to procure a short loan of an Echo Show just before Christmas. That 
speaker delivers some fine audio at times, and it, too, has acoustic 
adjustment. It worked well in my lounge, but I doubt I’ll ever really be able 
to justify buying one, not, at any rate, at £500.


On 26 Dec 2018, at 05:55, Dane Trethowan  wrote:

Hi,
I’ve had the Google Home Max since last Thursday so plenty of time to explore 
what this device offers.
I think the best way to describe a Google Home Max in size is to compare it to 
a kitchen toaster so its going to take up a little more room the the Home 
itself.
The speaker is a fairly heavy and well built unit which for me adds to the 
excitement.
You can mount the Max either lying down or standing up on its end.
If lying down the speaker is in stereo mode but when standing up is in mono 
mode and the surface controls change.
By surface controls I mean you can slide your finger left to right to adjust 
playback volume or tap once to pause and again to resume.
On the back of the speaker are an aux-in jack, your mains power in connection 
and a USB C port.
I’m told that a dongle can be connected to the port to allow a LAN connection 
though various forums I’ve visited to try and find out more have reported 
problems with this method of connecting the Max to your network.
Setup of the Max is through the Google Home App either on Android or IOS.
So once the Max was all set to go it was time to do som testing with the Max in 
my kitchen on top of my fridge.
My Kitchen echos a little so listening to any music in that area has always 
been an annoyance for me.
I wondered how the auto tuning function of the Max would handle this or even if 
the tuning would take into account the slight echo of the room, the Max 
documentation says the auto tuning is supposed to take the acoustic environment 
in which the Max is placed into account and calibrate thus.
No indication is given as to the calibration made but I can tell you that if 
you have a room with some echo or ambience issues which affect your hearing 
then the Google Home Max does indeed seem to make adjustments accordingly or 
perhaps the Max just sounds good anyway, we’ll never really know for sure given 
the lack of indication as to what the Google Home Max does.
The Max has 4 units, 2 tweeters and 2 woofers all of which put out some 
impressive punch.
The stereo separation isn’t as good as what you’ll find in the B A5 and the 
B A7 but then again those 2 units are both more expensive than the Google 
Home Max.
If you’re looking at purchasing a Voice Assistant then this is the best I’ve 
seen to date without a doubt.
Google have obviously spent a bit of time making sure that volumes aren’t too 
out of balance, by that I mean being able to hear the Google TTS and the 
content you’re listening to at roughly the same volume.
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[Techno-Chat]: Roberts Concerto 2 DAB/FM, CD player, SD/USB Player & Cassette Recorder

[Gordon Smith]

Good Yuletide to you, one and all. I trust your Christmas celebrations went 
well.

I’ve been playing around with the Roberts Concerto 2 multimedia device for 
quite some time now, and wondered whether anybody else on list would find a 
comprehensive but objective review of the device of value?

If yes, I shall compile one and either upload it to this group, or post it on 
our BLOG.



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[Techno-Chat]: At the third stroke, the time will be – Twelve, O'Clock, Precisely! … "Beep", "Beep", "Beeeep"

[Gordon Smith]

DAB over here is in perfect sync with AM. I will check it against FM because 
I’m curious but I think it will be quite accurate. In terms of talkback radio, 
it is often the case that contractual obligation demand that certain things be 
transmitted at certain time, no prevarication.

For example, commercials are broadcast every 15 minutes or so on commercial 
stations. Although with the exception of top-of-the-hour breaks, which take 
place roughly three minutes to the hour, then they often take Sky News live 
feed, which demands that, come what may, the news is broadcast precisely 
starting at the top of the hour.

The BBC’s Greenwich Time Signal is, as I recently discovered, generated by the 
World Atomic Clock, which is accurate to less than 100 Nanoseconds.

It may be that overseas broadcasters don’t have the same strict contractual 
obligations. And it is true to say that I’ve heard one or two digital stations 
which take a pre-recorded Sky News feed, created at the top of every hour, then 
rebroadcast shortly thereafter. This inherently means that they cannot start 
the news broadcast until three minutes past the hour, which is when the Sky 
news feed ends.

Sky News streams this feed via the same satellite that they use for public 
broadcasts. It’s just a separate transponder which isn’t tuneable, as far as I 
know.

On the Sky+HD and Sky Q boxes, it’s possible to rearrange the channel numbers 
if you know how to do it. For example, in my own box, I have a number of local 
radio services which are not local to me, stored on some unused channels. 
Unfortunately, that does not solve my one biggest headache, which is listening 
to my favourite team’s BBC commentary. I can’t find a way to do that. BBC Radio 
seems to be far more encrypted than some commercial services are.

Anyway, I digress. Over here, when the BBC Radio 4 digital feed hits the 
double-length “Beep” which occurs at the top of the hour on the atomic clock, 
then that “Beep” is also broadcast precisely at the top of the hour. I believe 
that, on DAB+, there’s a considerable delay between the analogue and digital 
signals. That is only hearsay, so if I’m wrong about that, please don’t shoot 
the messenger.

Possibly the delay, if there is one, is caused by the superior codecs which 
DAB+ utilises. Or, maybe there’s some other technical reason why it occurs. But 
I’m amazed to hear that talkback radio is allowed to miss the top of the hour 
by seconds or minutes.


On 27 Aug 2018, at 22:19, Dane Trethowan  wrote:

I’ve ever ever taken any notice of a time signal broadcast from an Internet 
Radio stream or DAB stream if it comes to that,, I’m a halfwit I know but not 
quite as bad as all that yet .
Regarding delayed time signals? I agree with you, you either transmit them on 
time at the top of the hour or you don’t transmit them at all.
Having said all that there may be cases where the time signal can’t help but be 
delayed, suppose you’re listening to radio 2GB in Sydney which is a Talkback 
station.
2GB uses a 10 second delay and - though I’ve not done any testing - I’m willing 
to bet that because of the delay used for talkback purposes the time signal 
probably gets delayed too if the delay is still functioning when the time 
signal sounds.
Since we’re talking about time signals its appropriate to mention that you can 
call WWV or WWVH on your telephone.
As Gordon mentioned there will be a delay but if you’re calling from the US 
then that delay shouldn’t be any more then 250 milliseconds if that.
WWV +13034997111
WWVH +18083354363

> On 28 Aug 2018, at 3:40 am, Gordon Smith  <mailto:gor...@mac-access.net>> wrote:
> 
> The atomic clock is used by most commercial and broadcast services over here. 
> One of the frequencies is, as I said earlier, 10.0 MHz, but it does sometimes 
> drift a few HTz for whatever reason. It is, however, reliable in the extreme.
> 
> As I said earlier, there are some extremely accurate methods of time 
> synchronisation these days. They include GPS (where available) and 
> Internet-based time synchronisation using any of a range of NTP services.
> 
> Until recently, I had my own NTP server hardware. But, for whatever reason, 
> it won’t boot any more. I suspect it’s the power supply. I had to mount a GPS 
> receiver module outside on the wall just below my guttering because the 
> stupid little internal USB antenna which came with the system just wouldn’t 
> work indoors, as I would have expected.
> 
> The external box, however, produced a 100% reliable signal, and the server 
> was accurate within 1 Micro-second.
> 
> There are lots of network time server systems available now, and they all 
> synchronise via the atomic clock. That service will *NEVER* go away, as it’s 
> used all over the world by governments and commercial, entities, not to 
> mention scientific organisations, including NASA.
> 
> To be honest, I am qui

Re: [Techno-Chat]: What Will You Do If WWVB Goes Silent? | Hackaday

[Gordon Smith]

When I worked in radio, we, too, used a delay system. But the way they work is 
when the top of the hour approaches, the presenter makes allowance for the 
delay by terminating the last caller about 20 seconds to the top of the hour, 
or there about. Then they just gradually fade the delay as they talk, as the 
delay slides out they then bring in the news jingle or whatever they use to 
align with the exact top of the hour.

When we took the Independent Radio News feed from London, it was transmitted 
via a dedicated line. There was next to no delay between the news reader 
speaking and us receiving and relaying the signal.

I really wouldn’t like to speak for other broadcasters, as their methods will 
no doubt be different. But that, in a nutshell, is 

On 27 Aug 2018, at 22:19, Dane Trethowan  wrote:

I’ve ever ever taken any notice of a time signal broadcast from an Internet 
Radio stream or DAB stream if it comes to that,, I’m a halfwit I know but not 
quite as bad as all that yet .
Regarding delayed time signals? I agree with you, you either transmit them on 
time at the top of the hour or you don’t transmit them at all.
Having said all that there may be cases where the time signal can’t help but be 
delayed, suppose you’re listening to radio 2GB in Sydney which is a Talkback 
station.
2GB uses a 10 second delay and - though I’ve not done any testing - I’m willing 
to bet that because of the delay used for talkback purposes the time signal 
probably gets delayed too if the delay is still functioning when the time 
signal sounds.
Since we’re talking about time signals its appropriate to mention that you can 
call WWV or WWVH on your telephone.
As Gordon mentioned there will be a delay but if you’re calling from the US 
then that delay shouldn’t be any more then 250 milliseconds if that.
WWV +13034997111
WWVH +18083354363

> On 28 Aug 2018, at 3:40 am, Gordon Smith  <mailto:gor...@mac-access.net>> wrote:
> 
> The atomic clock is used by most commercial and broadcast services over here. 
> One of the frequencies is, as I said earlier, 10.0 MHz, but it does sometimes 
> drift a few HTz for whatever reason. It is, however, reliable in the extreme.
> 
> As I said earlier, there are some extremely accurate methods of time 
> synchronisation these days. They include GPS (where available) and 
> Internet-based time synchronisation using any of a range of NTP services.
> 
> Until recently, I had my own NTP server hardware. But, for whatever reason, 
> it won’t boot any more. I suspect it’s the power supply. I had to mount a GPS 
> receiver module outside on the wall just below my guttering because the 
> stupid little internal USB antenna which came with the system just wouldn’t 
> work indoors, as I would have expected.
> 
> The external box, however, produced a 100% reliable signal, and the server 
> was accurate within 1 Micro-second.
> 
> There are lots of network time server systems available now, and they all 
> synchronise via the atomic clock. That service will *NEVER* go away, as it’s 
> used all over the world by governments and commercial, entities, not to 
> mention scientific organisations, including NASA.
> 
> To be honest, I am quite surprised by what you say about time synchronisation 
> being out of sync. What’s the point transmitting a signal which is supposed 
> to provide accurate top-of-the-hour spot if it’s not accurate?
> 
> Oh yes, and just for the record, don’t be deceived by BBC Radio 4 and its 
> time signals. I guess the obvious reason for that is the Internet. If you’re 
> listening online, there’s always going to be a certain amount of time lag. 
> And I’ll tell you something else which I found out today by accident, as this 
> thread got me curious. I tuned to BBC Radio Four on digital satellite. I 
> discovered that there is about a 3 second delay on both FM and DAB signals. 
> So even the terrestrial signals may not be as accurate as we think. The Sky 
> Satellite signal was always ahead of the terrestrial ones by about 2 to 3 
> seconds. The DAB and Analogue FM signals are in perfect sync with each other, 
> whilst the free-to-air digital TV signal corresponds perfectly with the Sky 
> Satellite signal. 
> 
> On 27 Aug 2018, at 09:58, Dane Trethowan  <mailto:grtd...@internode.on.net>> wrote:
> 
> As far as time signal services go in Australia we still have the ABC however 
> this time signal at the top of the hour is not reliable.
> Some stations and transmitters in Australia don’t even broadcast the signal 
> whilst some that do are out of sync due to the fact that the transmitter 
> takes a direct satellite feed.
> In the UK you’re lucky that BBC Radio 4 transmits a time signal at the top of 
> most hours.
> In Australia we have had time signal services on the Shortwave band, the VNG 
> Standard frequency

Re: [Techno-Chat]: Amazon Alexa and messages

[Gordon Smith]

I can give you a little tip here. Instead of holding the remote 3 inches away 
from your mouth, (which is a mistake most people make), try holding it at 
either a 45 or 90º angle to your mouth, about 6 inches distant. I think you’ll 
find you get even better performance from the remote.


On 29 Aug 2018, at 05:49, Dane Trethowan  wrote:

Sorry if I’m going over old ground here as I know many of you use Amazon Alexa.
I tried sending and receiving messages today, “Alexa Send A Message” and so on.
I like the prompting Alexa gives by voice so all you need to do is follow along 
and respond appropriately.
The microphone of the Amazon Echo I used in my tests is incredibly sensitive, I 
sat 20 feet away from my Echo device on the other side of the room yet my voice 
was perfectly clear and the Echo had no problem adjusting the level, obviously 
there was a little background noise created by the air conditioner, traffic 
noise coming through the open window etc.
So how do I know what my voice sounded like? I sent a message to myself.
I then used the Alexa Remote to perform the same task.
The microphone on the remote is quite good and obviously I didn’t sound as 
distant given I held the remote around 3 inches away from my mouth.
So if anyone has an Amazon Alexa then perhaps you can try and “Send A Message 
To Dane Trethowan”, add my contact to Alexa
Dane Trethowan
+61 400 494 862

**
Those of a positive and enquiring frame of mind will leave the rest of the 
halfwits in this world behind.






My compliments and kindest regards
Gordon Smith:

Accessibility & Information Technology Support Specialist..

This Message Was Created Using 100% Recycled Electrons. If you can avoid 
printing it, please do so. Think of the environment, save a tree!

  Contact:

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• UK Free Phone:
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• UK Geographic / Global:
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• UK Mobile/SMS:
+44 (0) 7804 983849
• Vic. Australia:
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• US/Canada:
+1 646 9151493







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Re: [Techno-Chat]: LattePanda 2G/32GB Windows 10 PC Mini PC

[Gordon Smith]

I bought an ultra-compact Minicom PC for a lot less than would be $280.00¢ and 
it’s at least as powerful as this machine is. In fact, come to think of it, my 
Gigabyte machine is more powerful than this thing is by a long way, and it only 
cost me about 2 thirds of the price you quoted. That machine had a 500gB SSD 
drive in it, (although I’ve just upgraded it to a 1TB drive). Granted, it came 
minus the OS, but that’s hardly a big issue these days.


On 29 Aug 2018, at 18:48, Dane Trethowan  wrote:

Just going through my eMail and I see that one chap I know is going to use one 
of these devices with a couple of USB Sticks - radio receivers - thus he’ll 
have a very good and incredibly versatile Radio that he’ll be able to use to 
cover much of the spectrum in pretty much any receiving mode you can think of.


> On 30 Aug 2018, at 1:05 am, Dane Trethowan  <mailto:grtd...@internode.on.net>> wrote:
> 
> I think you’re looking at things from the wrong angle b because in many ways 
> the machine is ground breaking given it has a dual processor arrangement and 
> I’ve not heard of that in a mini computer before.
> No, not startling specs when it comes to speed but for $280 all ready to go? 
> Would make a nice media player say or something like that which didn’t 
> require too much power.
> 
> 
>> On 29 Aug 2018, at 8:51 pm, Gordon Smith > <mailto:gor...@mac-access.net>> wrote:
>> 
>> To be utterly honest, looking at the specifications of this device, I 
>> wouldn’t call it a ground-breaking one. For example, it only has a 1.8GHZ 
>> Quad Core processor, (it doesn’t seem clear which generation of CPU that 
>> is). Only 1 USB 3.0 ports, and 2 USB 2.0 ports. No USB 3.1C port as far as I 
>> can see.
>> 
>> On the spec sheet there’s no definition of which standards of WiFi it. 
>> supports. Neither does it tell you which version of Windows 10 it comes 
>> with. It just says a “Full” version.
>> 
>> There are plenty of machines out there in the Mini market whose specs by far 
>> exceed this machines’. Even the MiniCom machines would give it a run for its 
>> money. I actually own 2 of those beasts, so I can speak from experience. 
>> They’re nothing special, but they do work well in most situations.
>> 
>> As far as I can determine, (and I could have missed it, to be fair), there 
>> wasn’t any indication of what kind of display output it supports. For 
>> example, what HDMI standard, (if any), does it support? Is it a full-size 
>> HDMI port, a Mini, and does that port carry audio as well as video? Not all 
>> of them do.
>> 
>> Seems a bit old-hat to me, unless I’ve missed something spectacular.
>> 
>> 
>> On 27 Aug 2018, at 22:53, Dane Trethowan > <mailto:grtd...@internode.on.net>> wrote:
>> 
>> Another incredibly versatile mini computer has hit the shelves.
>> As you can see this one comes to you with an activated copy of Windows 10 
>> preinstalled for your convenience.
>> 
>> 
>>> http://auseparts.com.au/index.php?route=product/product_id=335 
>>> <http://auseparts.com.au/index.php?route=product/product_id=335>
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> My compliments and kindest regards
>> Gordon Smith:
>> mailto:gor...@mac-access.net>>
>> Accessibility & Information Technology Support Specialist..
>> 
>> This Message Was Created Using 100% Recycled Electrons. If you can avoid 
>> printing it, please do so. Think of the environment, save a tree!
>> 
>>   Contact:
>> 
>> Twitter: @maciosaccess
>> 
>> • UK Free Phone:
>> 0800 8620538
>> • UK Geographic / Global:
>> +44(0) 1642 688095
>> • UK Mobile/SMS:
>> +44 (0) 7804 983849
>> • Vic. Australia:
>> +61 38 82059300
>> • US/Canada:
>> +1 646 9151493
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
> 

**
Those of a positive and enquiring frame of mind will leave the rest of the 
halfwits in this world behind.






My compliments and kindest regards
Gordon Smith:

Accessibility & Information Technology Support Specialist..

This Message Was Created Using 100% Recycled Electrons. If you can avoid 
printing it, please do so. Think of the environment, save a tree!

  Contact:

Twitter: @maciosaccess

• UK Free Phone:
0800 8620538
• UK Geographic / Global:
+44(0) 1642 688095
• UK Mobile/SMS:
+44 (0) 7804 983849
• Vic. Australia:
+61 38 82059300
• US/Canada:
+1 646 9151493







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Description: S/MIME cryptographic signature

Re: [Techno-Chat]: There's finally a microwave you can control with Alexa, and it just got its first discount

[Gordon Smith]

Shame it doesn’t come with an oven / Microwave combo model. But yes, a logical 
development I guess for the smart kitchen.

Not arrived here in the UK yet, but it’s only a matter of time.


On 29 Aug 2018, at 20:28, Dane Trethowan  wrote:

Wow! I hope this comes to Australia.
https://bgr.com/2018/08/02/smart-microwave-with-alexa-voice-commands/ 
<https://bgr.com/2018/08/02/smart-microwave-with-alexa-voice-commands/>


My compliments and kindest regards
Gordon Smith:

Accessibility & Information Technology Support Specialist..

This Message Was Created Using 100% Recycled Electrons. If you can avoid 
printing it, please do so. Think of the environment, save a tree!

  Contact:

Twitter: @maciosaccess

• UK Free Phone:
0800 8620538
• UK Geographic / Global:
+44(0) 1642 688095
• UK Mobile/SMS:
+44 (0) 7804 983849
• Vic. Australia:
+61 38 82059300
• US/Canada:
+1 646 9151493







smime.p7s
Description: S/MIME cryptographic signature

Re: [Techno-Chat]: What Will You Do If WWVB Goes Silent? | Hackaday

[Gordon Smith]

The atomic clock is used by most commercial and broadcast services over here. 
One of the frequencies is, as I said earlier, 10.0 MHz, but it does sometimes 
drift a few HTz for whatever reason. It is, however, reliable in the extreme.

As I said earlier, there are some extremely accurate methods of time 
synchronisation these days. They include GPS (where available) and 
Internet-based time synchronisation using any of a range of NTP services.

Until recently, I had my own NTP server hardware. But, for whatever reason, it 
won’t boot any more. I suspect it’s the power supply. I had to mount a GPS 
receiver module outside on the wall just below my guttering because the stupid 
little internal USB antenna which came with the system just wouldn’t work 
indoors, as I would have expected.

The external box, however, produced a 100% reliable signal, and the server was 
accurate within 1 Micro-second.

There are lots of network time server systems available now, and they all 
synchronise via the atomic clock. That service will *NEVER* go away, as it’s 
used all over the world by governments and commercial, entities, not to mention 
scientific organisations, including NASA.

To be honest, I am quite surprised by what you say about time synchronisation 
being out of sync. What’s the point transmitting a signal which is supposed to 
provide accurate top-of-the-hour spot if it’s not accurate?

Oh yes, and just for the record, don’t be deceived by BBC Radio 4 and its time 
signals. I guess the obvious reason for that is the Internet. If you’re 
listening online, there’s always going to be a certain amount of time lag. And 
I’ll tell you something else which I found out today by accident, as this 
thread got me curious. I tuned to BBC Radio Four on digital satellite. I 
discovered that there is about a 3 second delay on both FM and DAB signals. So 
even the terrestrial signals may not be as accurate as we think. The Sky 
Satellite signal was always ahead of the terrestrial ones by about 2 to 3 
seconds. The DAB and Analogue FM signals are in perfect sync with each other, 
whilst the free-to-air digital TV signal corresponds perfectly with the Sky 
Satellite signal. 

On 27 Aug 2018, at 09:58, Dane Trethowan  wrote:

As far as time signal services go in Australia we still have the ABC however 
this time signal at the top of the hour is not reliable.
Some stations and transmitters in Australia don’t even broadcast the signal 
whilst some that do are out of sync due to the fact that the transmitter takes 
a direct satellite feed.
In the UK you’re lucky that BBC Radio 4 transmits a time signal at the top of 
most hours.
In Australia we have had time signal services on the Shortwave band, the VNG 
Standard frequency and time signal service provided by the Australian 
Telecommunications Commission on 4.5, 7.5 and 12MHZ was a regular feature up 
until 1990 or so.
The service used to broadcast from Linhurst in Victoria.
In 1990 the service was moved to Longana NSW and given a range of new 
broadcasting frequencies, 5, 8.638, 9.14 and 16MHZ.
The interesting thing about the reincarnation of VNG was that some of the 
frequencies listed above broadcast a voice synthesised talking clock at the top 
of each minute whilst others broadcast the current time in morse.


> On 27 Aug 2018, at 5:41 pm, Gordon Smith  <mailto:gor...@mac-access.net>> wrote:
> 
> In the UK, we’re fortunate to have several of these synchronisation stations, 
> based on the Atomic Clock at Greenwich. One of the most widely used in terms 
> of analogue signals is the beacon which broadcasts on 10.0 MHz using Carrier 
> Wave, (CW) and which has been broadcasting for I don’t know how many years.
> 
> There are several digital signals as well but they’re all broadcast at UHF as 
> far as I know.
> 
> But I guess the thinking behind this change is that an ever-increasing number 
> of appliances and services now synchronise directly via the atomic clocks, or 
> via GPS. In the latter case, they must rely on the Internet being available.
> 
> I’m not saying I agree with the change. There should have been a much longer 
> time frame on this, in order to allow manufacturers to develop products which 
> synchronise using different methods.
> 
> GPS is only really reliable outdoors, which out of necessity precludes a lot 
> of consumer items from the list of possibilities. The Internet, on the other 
> hand, would necessitate the presence of broadband or similar. That in itself 
> is fraud with difficulties.
> 
> However, I can see why the government is trying to do this. It’s obviously 
> going to be quite a money saver and that, I am sorry to say, is a governing 
> factor the world over.
> 
> I am sure this will happen to us at some point as well. I can only hope it’s 
> a few years off.
> 
> 
> On 25 Aug 2018, at 17:38, Dane Trethowan  <mailto:grtd...@internod

Re: [Techno-Chat]: A Technical Look at Digital Radio in Australia - What Is DAB+ and How Does It Work?

[Gordon Smith]

Over here, I guess the problem is quite simple. TakeUp. Our DAB system 
broadcasts using 2 distinct bands. From memory, I think that the main audio 
frequencies are around 170MHZ, whilst the text-based services are broadcast up 
in EHF somewhere.

There is no doubt whatsoever that DAB is older technology than DAB+. Possibly 
the authorities over here might start to actually roll out those trial licenses 
sooner rather than later. In terms of community radio, the problem is quite 
simply one of cost. It’s often beyond the means of community organisations 
wishing to broadcast using terrestrial networks. Even good old-fashioned FM is 
incredibly expensive. It’s high time radio over here was opened up to the 
masses, as it is in other countries, possibly, including Australia. It’s also 
high time, in my opinion, that stations such as BBC national stations desisted 
from simulcasting. AM is hardly used any more for anything other than talk 
radio and oldies stations. Many of them wouldn’t be missed if they closed down 
the AM transmitters. Even FM is becoming less popular amongst listeners over 
here because, quite honestly, the cost of digital equipment has fallen through 
the floor. That has to be a good thing.

As I understand it, the plan for the longer term over here is to remove all BBC 
and commercial stations from FM. FM will then be opened up to community 
stations, who can apply for much cheaper licenses than is currently the case.

As an after-thought, it’s interesting to note that in the larger cities, 
London, Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool, for example, there are still a 
number of one-man pirate stations on the air. So long as they cause no 
interference to commercial and government/BBC transmissions, they are usually 
tolerated because it’s just too expensive to go after them all.

If one knows where to look, there are perfectly legal outlets where you can buy 
high quality transmitters, ranging from about 5MW to 1KW. Although it’s 
necessary to prove legality before the outlets are permitted to sell one of the 
higher powered transmitters.

But I know of one person who has bought a 10Watt transmitter, which can use any 
frequency between 88 and 108 MHz. He says he’s been transmitting at the top of 
the broadcast band for some time now. Although I suspect he won’t be allowed to 
continue much longer as commercial stations are now utilising that part of the 
band as the band in larger cities in particular become more and more congested.


On 25 Aug 2018, at 17:32, Dane Trethowan  wrote:

Hi!
One of the most discussed topics on this list is Radio and the variants thereof 
which include Digital Audio Broadcasting - DAB and DAB+ amongst other methods -.
The following article details how the Australian system of DAB+ works and gives 
details about other DAB/DAB+ systems in Europe etc.
Thanks to Ian for passing this on, I found it a damn good read which furthered 
my knowledge of DAB/dAB+.

> https://mediarealm.com.au/articles/digital-radio-australia-dabplustechnical-overview/
>  
> <https://mediarealm.com.au/articles/digital-radio-australia-dabplustechnical-overview/>



My compliments and kindest regards
Gordon Smith:

Accessibility & Information Technology Support Specialist..

This Message Was Created Using 100% Recycled Electrons. If you can avoid 
printing it, please do so. Think of the environment, save a tree!

  Contact:

Twitter: @maciosaccess

• UK Free Phone:
0800 8620538
• UK Geographic / Global:
+44(0) 1642 688095
• UK Mobile/SMS:
+44 (0) 7804 983849
• Vic. Australia:
+61 38 82059300
• US/Canada:
+1 646 9151493







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Description: S/MIME cryptographic signature

Re: [Techno-Chat]: What Will You Do If WWVB Goes Silent? | Hackaday

[Gordon Smith]

In the UK, we’re fortunate to have several of these synchronisation stations, 
based on the Atomic Clock at Greenwich. One of the most widely used in terms of 
analogue signals is the beacon which broadcasts on 10.0 MHz using Carrier Wave, 
(CW) and which has been broadcasting for I don’t know how many years.

There are several digital signals as well but they’re all broadcast at UHF as 
far as I know.

But I guess the thinking behind this change is that an ever-increasing number 
of appliances and services now synchronise directly via the atomic clocks, or 
via GPS. In the latter case, they must rely on the Internet being available.

I’m not saying I agree with the change. There should have been a much longer 
time frame on this, in order to allow manufacturers to develop products which 
synchronise using different methods.

GPS is only really reliable outdoors, which out of necessity precludes a lot of 
consumer items from the list of possibilities. The Internet, on the other hand, 
would necessitate the presence of broadband or similar. That in itself is fraud 
with difficulties.

However, I can see why the government is trying to do this. It’s obviously 
going to be quite a money saver and that, I am sorry to say, is a governing 
factor the world over.

I am sure this will happen to us at some point as well. I can only hope it’s a 
few years off.


On 25 Aug 2018, at 17:38, Dane Trethowan  wrote:

So what will you do?
I wonder just how many list members have time pieces that rely on this time 
synchronisation service?
I don’t think the good folks in Europe or Australia rely on WWVB but certainly 
its big in the US, the digital signal is broadcast on 60KHZ.
If WWV and WWVH fall silent as well then this will bring some difficulties to 
me too as I have quite a few time pieces here that rely on manual 
synchronisation with a time signal and the only accurate time signal we have 
left now as far as I know is WWV/WWVH on the Shortwave bands - 2.5, 5, 10, 15, 
20 and 25MHZ -.


> https://hackaday.com/2018/08/20/what-will-you-do-if-wwvb-goes-silent/ 
> <https://hackaday.com/2018/08/20/what-will-you-do-if-wwvb-goes-silent/>



My compliments and kindest regards
Gordon Smith:

Accessibility & Information Technology Support Specialist..

This Message Was Created Using 100% Recycled Electrons. If you can avoid 
printing it, please do so. Think of the environment, save a tree!

  Contact:

Twitter: @maciosaccess

• UK Free Phone:
0800 8620538
• UK Geographic / Global:
+44(0) 1642 688095
• UK Mobile/SMS:
+44 (0) 7804 983849
• Vic. Australia:
+61 38 82059300
• US/Canada:
+1 646 9151493







smime.p7s
Description: S/MIME cryptographic signature

Re: [Techno-Chat]: Data Backups

[Gordon Smith]

My problem with RollBack RX Professional is the way that it interacts, or 
doesn’t, as the case may be, with disk optimisation technologies.

For example,I believe Dane and I both use DisKeeper 18 Professional for 
Windows. That app is excellent for eliminating millions of unnecessary I/O 
operations per session. And again, the nice bit is that it requires no 
configuration whatsoever from the user. So you install it and forget it. Just 
let it get on with its job.

Regarding RollBack, I am honestly not sure how it would behave. I may try it, 
after making a backup, of course!

Regarding Time machine on the Mac, I do’t rate it at all as a backup solution. 
There’s certainly justification for the software, but not, in my opinion, as a 
complete backup solution. Yes, you can install the operating system itself from 
scratch. Sure, Disc Utility when invoked as the recovery partition is used, or 
else as part of an operating system reinstall, but it isn’t what I would call 
an efficient means of backup for your MacOS boot disk.

For me, the mantle of top backup solutions on the Apple platform are Super 
Duper! And Carbon Copy Cloner.

The latter has more power than does Super Duper!. It’s perfectly accessible, 
and not too difficult to use.

There is, however, another way of making backups of your hard drive on the Mac. 
I shall write about that on the sister group to Techno-Chat shortly as it’s a 
very valuable piece of information.


On 22 Aug 2018, at 20:29, Dane Trethowan  wrote:

I wouldn’t have computer systems without backups here.
The Mac OS has had automatic Time Machine backup capabilities for quite some 
time now.
With Windows it’s a slightly different story.
Windows 10 has a built-in backup client though I don’t think its accessible 
thus users who are blind and wanted to make backups of their data still have to 
rely on third party backup and restoration software similar to the software 
we’ve been discussing.
Thankfully making a backup on the whole has become a lot easier, a lot les time 
consuming and a lot cheaper, you can buy an external portable hard drive with a 
very high capacity for your backups for less than a hundred dollars now or you 
can take out a Cloud subscription very cheaply.
People are still under the impression that creating a backup is a day long or 
longer process and they say that they just don’t have the time.
Backups can be created automatically at scheduled times without the user having 
to do anything.
I use backups here when trying to troubleshoot problems, for example I may 
backup a Windows machine and then install software piece by piece to see if I 
can track down a particular issue in the full knowledge that all data 
pertaining to the computer I’m working on is safe and secure so once I find the 
problem I can restore what’s needed to be restored and have that machine up and 
working within minutes or no more than a couple of hours.
As Gordon says, Roolback is a most helpful tool when doing this sort of thing 
as well.
 
 
From: Gordon Smith mailto:gor...@mac-access.net>> 
Sent: Thursday, 23 August 2018 5:09 AM
To: techno-chat@techno-chat.net <mailto:techno-chat@techno-chat.net>
Subject: Re: [Techno-Chat]: Terabyte Drive Backup & Restore Suite
 
Hello Roger
 
That’s what this group is all about, helping one another. It would appear to be 
prudent, I think, to maintain a working backup of any computer system. In 
actual fact, backups are a very large percentage of my working week. As I’m 
responsible for some mission-critical projects, and also for the smooth-running 
of my own servers, I simply couldn’t sleep at night were it not for the ability 
to perform centralised backups and, if need be, recover from a disaster 
situation using them.
 
Primarily, my mission-critical systems are not Windows-based. Much though 
Microsoft has improved windows 10 in terms of resource-management and also 
stability, I don’t take system integrity for granted. Therefore, all of my own 
servers are MacOS-based. Each one has a working and licensed copy of Carbon 
Copy Cloner installed on it. I am, of course, aware of the very excellent Super 
Duper! For MacOS, However, Carbon Copy Cloner or, as it’s often referred to, 
“CCC”, has some additional functionality. For instance, there is the “Safety 
Net” which captures your essential files as they change. Therefore, if the 
worst were to happen, you simply restore the contents of the “Safety Net” as 
well as the system files etc.. That way, your backups are current right up to 
the second wen problems occur.
 
Sort of like “RollBack" on the PC, I guess.
 
 
On 20 Aug 2018, at 14:13, Roger Firman mailto:ro...@golden-chord.com>> wrote:
 
Dear Gordon,
 
Very many thanks for your really helpful response.
 
I’ll certainly take a look around.
 
Best wishes,
 
Roger.
 
From: Gordon Smith [mailto:gor...@mac-access.net 
<mailto:gor...@mac-access.net>] 
Sent: 20 August 2018 14:09
To: techno-chat@techno-ch

Re: [Techno-Chat]: Terabyte Drive Backup & Restore Suite

[Gordon Smith]

You could, but only if your system was configured to handle USB drive boot and, 
of course, only if that USB drive were of sufficient capacity to run Windows 
10, no matter how rudimentary that installation may be.

Then again, I’ve never actually tried it. So possibly that may not work. But I 
can’t see any reason why not.


On 22 Aug 2018, at 20:30, Dane Trethowan  wrote:

Ah Damn! I was hoping you might be able to boot it somehow say from a USB drive.
 
 
From: Gordon Smith mailto:gor...@mac-access.net>> 
Sent: Thursday, 23 August 2018 4:54 AM
To: techno-chat@techno-chat.net <mailto:techno-chat@techno-chat.net>
Subject: Re: [Techno-Chat]: Terabyte Drive Backup & Restore Suite
 
No, because you need to be in a Windows environment for that to run.
 
 
On 21 Aug 2018, at 14:25, Dane Trethowan mailto:grtd...@internode.on.net>> wrote:
 
Wonder if there’s a way of using Take Command?
 
 
From: Gordon Smith mailto:gor...@mac-access.net>> 
Sent: Monday, 20 August 2018 11:11 PM
To: techno-chat@techno-chat.net <mailto:techno-chat@techno-chat.net>
Subject: Re: [Techno-Chat]: Terabyte Drive Backup & Restore Suite
 
It’s a real shame that 4DOS no longer exists. At least, as far as I’m aware it 
doesn’t. Were that interface up-to-date, so much more would be possible from a 
scripting file.
 
 
On 20 Aug 2018, at 02:27, Dane Trethowan mailto:grtd...@internode.on.net>> wrote:
 
That’s why I use command line switches, you can always write a batch file of 
course.
 



> On 20 Aug 2018, at 10:20 am, Gordon Smith  <mailto:gor...@mac-access.net>> wrote:
>  
> Yes, I did make this point during my post. I fully intend to check out the 
> text-only version. If, that is, I can get access to DOS. I don’t think I even 
> possess a screen-reader for that environment now.
>  
>  
> On 20 Aug 2018, at 01:12, Dane Trethowan  <mailto:grtd...@internode.on.net>> wrote:
>  
> Hi!
> I've not installed this on my system for a good while but I certainly intend 
> to.
> Last time I used the software - about a year ago - I found that the main 
> Backup App had been simplified out of sight and was as accessible as ever.
> Regarding restore? I was able to make a bootable DOS CD-ROM and use command 
> lines and switches to do the restore without a problem, that ability exists 
> still today if you believe the web site, 2 versions of the DOS restore 
> utility are available, one is a Graphics restore and the other a Text restore 
> utility.
> 
> 
> -Original Message-
> From: Gordon Smith mailto:gor...@mac-access.net>> 
> Sent: Monday, 20 August 2018 10:05 AM
> To: techno-chat@techno-chat.net <mailto:techno-chat@techno-chat.net>
> Subject: [Techno-Chat]: Terabyte Drive Backup & Restore Suite
> 
> Good morning everybody, or whatever it happens to be in your timeline as you 
> read this post.
> 
> I just wanted to open a brief discussion about a product which, in all 
> honesty, I haven’t used for quite a few years, but really must get back too.
> 
> It’s called: “TeraByte Drive Backup And Restore Suite”, these days. When I 
> first used it, it was simply called: “Image For Windows”. For the convenience 
> of anybody who would like to check this out, it can be found at the below 
> secure website:
> <https://www.terabyteunlimited.com/image-for-windows.htm 
> <https://www.terabyteunlimited.com/image-for-windows.htm>>
> 
> Now, it would appear, that product has changed out of sight since I last 
> looked at it! There is now an integrated suite of applications, of which 
> Image For Windows is an integral part.
> 
> You have the ability to backup to network devices, even whilst Windows is in 
> everyday use. You can burn images of your backup to CD/DVD/Blu-Ray, as well 
> as to USB devices such as external storage media.
> 
> Naturally, as with any other professional disaster recovery suite, you can 
> create DOS, Linux and Efi recovery disks, and I think those can be tailored 
> to your requirements.
> 
> The one thing I’m unsure about just at this moment is how, exactly, one is 
> supposed to boot into an environment whereby one can perform a complete 
> restore, given the need, (at least here), for accessibility during the 
> restore process. If there is anybody on list who uses this product who can 
> advise me on this point, I’d be grateful in the extreme.
> 
> But that aside for a moment, it certainly looks as though this product has a 
> lot to recommend it if you’re serious about full-system disaster recovery 
> backups. Something which I think everybody who values their personal data and 
> their working operating system environment would concur with. I for one know 
> from experience just how troublesome those occasions where something gos 
> disastrousl

Re: [Techno-Chat]: Terabyte Drive Backup & Restore Suite

[Gordon Smith]

Hello Roger

That’s what this group is all about, helping one another. It would appear to be 
prudent, I think, to maintain a working backup of any computer system. In 
actual fact, backups are a very large percentage of my working week. As I’m 
responsible for some mission-critical projects, and also for the smooth-running 
of my own servers, I simply couldn’t sleep at night were it not for the ability 
to perform centralised backups and, if need be, recover from a disaster 
situation using them.

Primarily, my mission-critical systems are not Windows-based. Much though 
Microsoft has improved windows 10 in terms of resource-management and also 
stability, I don’t take system integrity for granted. Therefore, all of my own 
servers are MacOS-based. Each one has a working and licensed copy of Carbon 
Copy Cloner installed on it. I am, of course, aware of the very excellent Super 
Duper! For MacOS, However, Carbon Copy Cloner or, as it’s often referred to, 
“CCC”, has some additional functionality. For instance, there is the “Safety 
Net” which captures your essential files as they change. Therefore, if the 
worst were to happen, you simply restore the contents of the “Safety Net” as 
well as the system files etc.. That way, your backups are current right up to 
the second wen problems occur.

Sort of like “RollBack" on the PC, I guess.


On 20 Aug 2018, at 14:13, Roger Firman  wrote:

Dear Gordon,
 
Very many thanks for your really helpful response.
 
I’ll certainly take a look around.
 
Best wishes,
 
Roger.
 
From: Gordon Smith [mailto:gor...@mac-access.net 
<mailto:gor...@mac-access.net>] 
Sent: 20 August 2018 14:09
To: techno-chat@techno-chat.net <mailto:techno-chat@techno-chat.net>
Subject: Re: [Techno-Chat]: Terabyte Drive Backup & Restore Suite
 
Hello Roger
 
Yes, there are ways to migrate Windows from one PC to another. There are quite 
a few applications out there whose function is to “Clone” either the contents 
of a hard drive, or else clone the drive’s layout on a sector-by-sector basis. 
The only proviso being that the “Target” drive must be at least the same 
capacity of the “Source” drive.
 
There are a variety of ways you can accomplish the task. Obviously, the easiest 
would be to use an application such as the Terabyte suite. All you’d then do is 
use an external USB drive for your “Backup” of the original system. Then, use 
the same external drive to “Restore” on the destination system. Obviously this 
would involve booting from an external third drive, but TeraByte and other 
utilities can help you create the boot media.
 
Actually, it occurs to me as I write that the Paragon software suite may be 
more appropriate for this purpose. It would probably make the job simpler to 
accomplish.
 
But in essence, Roger, the answer to your question is, quite definitely, 
“Yes!”. You can indeed do this with Windows 10. Older versions of Windows were 
much more fussy about this kind of thing, due to the activation processes which 
Microsoft used on those versions. Much has changed, however. And the tight 
compliance requirements have been substantially relaxed.
 
But anyway, you should be able to find the information you need on one of the 
search engines. I urge you to research this issue if you’re planning such a 
move. What’s best for my circumstances may not be best for yours, and visa 
versa.
 
Before I close, may I just remind the group that there is a dedicated Windows 
list, running alongside the Techno-Chat group. It’s name is, predictably:
windows-acc...@windows-access.net <mailto:windows-acc...@windows-access.net>.
 
You may join this group in the same way that you joined the current one. Send a 
blank message to:
windows-access-j...@windows-access.net 
<mailto:windows-access-j...@windows-access.net>
And then follow the instructions in the auto-cookie message the server sends 
back. Please be assured that there is no data collection or other function in 
the Cookie, other than that of fulfilling your Join request to the server.
 
 
On 20 Aug 2018, at 05:20, Roger Firman mailto:ro...@golden-chord.com>> wrote:
 
Dear Gordon,

Many thanks for your postings and related responses.

While my posting doesn't answer your point, it does, however, prompt a question 
I've had in my mind for ages but never understood what is going on behind the 
scenes as it were.

If I want to upgrade  my PC and decide to buy a totally new computer with a 
different version of Windows, is there a way to avoid having to go back and 
reinstall software from scratch, or is there a way with a utility such as the 
onew you are describing, or another product, which would avoid this?

I can totally understand why avoiding the process of starting again, in the 
circumstances mentioned in your post, is best avoided.

Regards,

Roger Firman.


-Original Message-
From: Gordon Smith [mailto:gor...@mac-access.net 
<mailto:gor...@mac-access.net>] 
Sent: 20 Augu

Re: [Techno-Chat]: Terabyte Drive Backup & Restore Suite

[Gordon Smith]

No, because you need to be in a Windows environment for that to run.


On 21 Aug 2018, at 14:25, Dane Trethowan  wrote:

Wonder if there’s a way of using Take Command?
 
 
From: Gordon Smith mailto:gor...@mac-access.net>> 
Sent: Monday, 20 August 2018 11:11 PM
To: techno-chat@techno-chat.net <mailto:techno-chat@techno-chat.net>
Subject: Re: [Techno-Chat]: Terabyte Drive Backup & Restore Suite
 
It’s a real shame that 4DOS no longer exists. At least, as far as I’m aware it 
doesn’t. Were that interface up-to-date, so much more would be possible from a 
scripting file.
 
 
On 20 Aug 2018, at 02:27, Dane Trethowan mailto:grtd...@internode.on.net>> wrote:
 
That’s why I use command line switches, you can always write a batch file of 
course.
 


> On 20 Aug 2018, at 10:20 am, Gordon Smith  <mailto:gor...@mac-access.net>> wrote:
>  
> Yes, I did make this point during my post. I fully intend to check out the 
> text-only version. If, that is, I can get access to DOS. I don’t think I even 
> possess a screen-reader for that environment now.
>  
>  
> On 20 Aug 2018, at 01:12, Dane Trethowan  <mailto:grtd...@internode.on.net>> wrote:
>  
> Hi!
> I've not installed this on my system for a good while but I certainly intend 
> to.
> Last time I used the software - about a year ago - I found that the main 
> Backup App had been simplified out of sight and was as accessible as ever.
> Regarding restore? I was able to make a bootable DOS CD-ROM and use command 
> lines and switches to do the restore without a problem, that ability exists 
> still today if you believe the web site, 2 versions of the DOS restore 
> utility are available, one is a Graphics restore and the other a Text restore 
> utility.
> 
> 
> -Original Message-
> From: Gordon Smith mailto:gor...@mac-access.net>> 
> Sent: Monday, 20 August 2018 10:05 AM
> To: techno-chat@techno-chat.net <mailto:techno-chat@techno-chat.net>
> Subject: [Techno-Chat]: Terabyte Drive Backup & Restore Suite
> 
> Good morning everybody, or whatever it happens to be in your timeline as you 
> read this post.
> 
> I just wanted to open a brief discussion about a product which, in all 
> honesty, I haven’t used for quite a few years, but really must get back too.
> 
> It’s called: “TeraByte Drive Backup And Restore Suite”, these days. When I 
> first used it, it was simply called: “Image For Windows”. For the convenience 
> of anybody who would like to check this out, it can be found at the below 
> secure website:
> <https://www.terabyteunlimited.com/image-for-windows.htm 
> <https://www.terabyteunlimited.com/image-for-windows.htm>>
> 
> Now, it would appear, that product has changed out of sight since I last 
> looked at it! There is now an integrated suite of applications, of which 
> Image For Windows is an integral part.
> 
> You have the ability to backup to network devices, even whilst Windows is in 
> everyday use. You can burn images of your backup to CD/DVD/Blu-Ray, as well 
> as to USB devices such as external storage media.
> 
> Naturally, as with any other professional disaster recovery suite, you can 
> create DOS, Linux and Efi recovery disks, and I think those can be tailored 
> to your requirements.
> 
> The one thing I’m unsure about just at this moment is how, exactly, one is 
> supposed to boot into an environment whereby one can perform a complete 
> restore, given the need, (at least here), for accessibility during the 
> restore process. If there is anybody on list who uses this product who can 
> advise me on this point, I’d be grateful in the extreme.
> 
> But that aside for a moment, it certainly looks as though this product has a 
> lot to recommend it if you’re serious about full-system disaster recovery 
> backups. Something which I think everybody who values their personal data and 
> their working operating system environment would concur with. I for one know 
> from experience just how troublesome those occasions where something gos 
> disastrously wrong and your computer is left US as a consequence. If I can 
> avoid it, despite the fact that Windows now has an accessible restore 
> process, I have every intention of preserving my working system now, whilst 
> it’s good to go. I have invested significantly in terms of both the operating 
> system and associated software, plus the man-hours it has taken to build the 
> system up to its current working status. I can assure you, I have absolutely 
> no intention of repeating the laborious and intensely frustrating task of 
> building this thing up again from scratch!
> 
> If only, if only, it were possible to do things as simply as it is in MacOS. 
> Although I do not wish to create a debate about which sy

[Techno-Chat]: Re: DropBox

[Gordon Smith]

When I first realised the potential of the Pro account, that was why I 
mentioned it to you. I, too, have DropBox Pro and wonder how I managed without 
it! My entire music collection, in FLAC format, along with all of the movies 
I’ve bought over the years in iTunes, are all safely up there now.  Don’t have 
them on a local drive any longer. Backups using Terabyte would be a logical 
extension of DropBox Pro. But in my case, at this time, I’m using two 4TB WD 
MyCloud drives as the target. Seems to be perfectly happy to work that way. I 
wonder though whether in fact a synchronous backup would work properly if there 
were no local files stored. The software might get very confused if it only 
sees an index of the files, and not the actual files. An interesting experiment 
though.


On 21 Aug 2018, at 14:44, Dane Trethowan  wrote:

Hi!
On the same subject but taking a different path.
It occurred to me that using Tarabyte backup you could really make your backups 
useful by making them available to you wherever you were anywhere in the world 
if you were needing them.
Tarabyte Backup makes the backup to files so why not upload your backup files 
to a dedicated folder on Dropbox or similar?
The backups could be downloaded at a later time if you needed them but even 
better, the backups could show on your linked Dropbox device and not take up 
any room on that device when the device was synced to Dropbox – if you’re using 
Dropbox Pro then you can determine what’s on your hard drive and what’s not but 
the file listing is still on your computer so files are available at the touch 
of a button -.
I have Dropbox Pro here now and its made a huge difference particularly on 
those machines I have with limited storage such as my Macbook Air.
I have quite a few files on Dropbox that I may require in an emergency such as 
installation files and so on.
With Dropbox Pro these files aren’t actually taking up space on the Macbook air 
but they’re available if and when I need them.
Dropbox Pro comes with 2TB storage so that should be plenty of space for most 
people along with the ability to recover files from unlimited history.
 
 
From: Gordon Smith mailto:gor...@mac-access.net>> 
Sent: Monday, 20 August 2018 11:11 PM
To: techno-chat@techno-chat.net <mailto:techno-chat@techno-chat.net>
Subject: Re: [Techno-Chat]: Terabyte Drive Backup & Restore Suite
 
It’s a real shame that 4DOS no longer exists. At least, as far as I’m aware it 
doesn’t. Were that interface up-to-date, so much more would be possible from a 
scripting file.
 
 
On 20 Aug 2018, at 02:27, Dane Trethowan mailto:grtd...@internode.on.net>> wrote:
 
That’s why I use command line switches, you can always write a batch file of 
course.
 


> On 20 Aug 2018, at 10:20 am, Gordon Smith  <mailto:gor...@mac-access.net>> wrote:
>  
> Yes, I did make this point during my post. I fully intend to check out the 
> text-only version. If, that is, I can get access to DOS. I don’t think I even 
> possess a screen-reader for that environment now.
>  
>  
> On 20 Aug 2018, at 01:12, Dane Trethowan  <mailto:grtd...@internode.on.net>> wrote:
>  
> Hi!
> I've not installed this on my system for a good while but I certainly intend 
> to.
> Last time I used the software - about a year ago - I found that the main 
> Backup App had been simplified out of sight and was as accessible as ever.
> Regarding restore? I was able to make a bootable DOS CD-ROM and use command 
> lines and switches to do the restore without a problem, that ability exists 
> still today if you believe the web site, 2 versions of the DOS restore 
> utility are available, one is a Graphics restore and the other a Text restore 
> utility.
> 
> 
> -Original Message-
> From: Gordon Smith mailto:gor...@mac-access.net>> 
> Sent: Monday, 20 August 2018 10:05 AM
> To: techno-chat@techno-chat.net <mailto:techno-chat@techno-chat.net>
> Subject: [Techno-Chat]: Terabyte Drive Backup & Restore Suite
> 
> Good morning everybody, or whatever it happens to be in your timeline as you 
> read this post.
> 
> I just wanted to open a brief discussion about a product which, in all 
> honesty, I haven’t used for quite a few years, but really must get back too.
> 
> It’s called: “TeraByte Drive Backup And Restore Suite”, these days. When I 
> first used it, it was simply called: “Image For Windows”. For the convenience 
> of anybody who would like to check this out, it can be found at the below 
> secure website:
> <https://www.terabyteunlimited.com/image-for-windows.htm 
> <https://www.terabyteunlimited.com/image-for-windows.htm>>
> 
> Now, it would appear, that product has changed out of sight since I last 
> looked at it! There is now an integrated suite of applications, of which 
> Image For Windows is an integral part.
&

Re: [Techno-Chat]: Terabyte Drive Backup & Restore Suite

[Gordon Smith]

It’s a real shame that 4DOS no longer exists. At least, as far as I’m aware it 
doesn’t. Were that interface up-to-date, so much more would be possible from a 
scripting file.


On 20 Aug 2018, at 02:27, Dane Trethowan  wrote:

That’s why I use command line switches, you can always write a batch file of 
course.


> On 20 Aug 2018, at 10:20 am, Gordon Smith  <mailto:gor...@mac-access.net>> wrote:
> 
> Yes, I did make this point during my post. I fully intend to check out the 
> text-only version. If, that is, I can get access to DOS. I don’t think I even 
> possess a screen-reader for that environment now.
> 
> 
> On 20 Aug 2018, at 01:12, Dane Trethowan  <mailto:grtd...@internode.on.net>> wrote:
> 
> Hi!
> I've not installed this on my system for a good while but I certainly intend 
> to.
> Last time I used the software - about a year ago - I found that the main 
> Backup App had been simplified out of sight and was as accessible as ever.
> Regarding restore? I was able to make a bootable DOS CD-ROM and use command 
> lines and switches to do the restore without a problem, that ability exists 
> still today if you believe the web site, 2 versions of the DOS restore 
> utility are available, one is a Graphics restore and the other a Text restore 
> utility.
> 
> 
> -Original Message-
> From: Gordon Smith mailto:gor...@mac-access.net>> 
> Sent: Monday, 20 August 2018 10:05 AM
> To: techno-chat@techno-chat.net <mailto:techno-chat@techno-chat.net>
> Subject: [Techno-Chat]: Terabyte Drive Backup & Restore Suite
> 
> Good morning everybody, or whatever it happens to be in your timeline as you 
> read this post.
> 
> I just wanted to open a brief discussion about a product which, in all 
> honesty, I haven’t used for quite a few years, but really must get back too.
> 
> It’s called: “TeraByte Drive Backup And Restore Suite”, these days. When I 
> first used it, it was simply called: “Image For Windows”. For the convenience 
> of anybody who would like to check this out, it can be found at the below 
> secure website:
> <https://www.terabyteunlimited.com/image-for-windows.htm 
> <https://www.terabyteunlimited.com/image-for-windows.htm>>
> 
> Now, it would appear, that product has changed out of sight since I last 
> looked at it! There is now an integrated suite of applications, of which 
> Image For Windows is an integral part.
> 
> You have the ability to backup to network devices, even whilst Windows is in 
> everyday use. You can burn images of your backup to CD/DVD/Blu-Ray, as well 
> as to USB devices such as external storage media.
> 
> Naturally, as with any other professional disaster recovery suite, you can 
> create DOS, Linux and Efi recovery disks, and I think those can be tailored 
> to your requirements.
> 
> The one thing I’m unsure about just at this moment is how, exactly, one is 
> supposed to boot into an environment whereby one can perform a complete 
> restore, given the need, (at least here), for accessibility during the 
> restore process. If there is anybody on list who uses this product who can 
> advise me on this point, I’d be grateful in the extreme.
> 
> But that aside for a moment, it certainly looks as though this product has a 
> lot to recommend it if you’re serious about full-system disaster recovery 
> backups. Something which I think everybody who values their personal data and 
> their working operating system environment would concur with. I for one know 
> from experience just how troublesome those occasions where something gos 
> disastrously wrong and your computer is left US as a consequence. If I can 
> avoid it, despite the fact that Windows now has an accessible restore 
> process, I have every intention of preserving my working system now, whilst 
> it’s good to go. I have invested significantly in terms of both the operating 
> system and associated software, plus the man-hours it has taken to build the 
> system up to its current working status. I can assure you, I have absolutely 
> no intention of repeating the laborious and intensely frustrating task of 
> building this thing up again from scratch!
> 
> If only, if only, it were possible to do things as simply as it is in MacOS. 
> Although I do not wish to create a debate about which system is superior. 
> That is entirely down to the individual or entity responsible for the device. 
> But, I digress.
> 
> Having had only the opportunity to play briefly with the software since I 
> installed it on Sunday, it would appear that much has changed since I 
> originally bought a license for the product. Since that time, there has been 
> an upgrade charge for access to the current version. However, I don’t 
> begrudge t

Re: [Techno-Chat]: Terabyte Drive Backup & Restore Suite

[Gordon Smith]

Hello Roger

Yes, there are ways to migrate Windows from one PC to another. There are quite 
a few applications out there whose function is to “Clone” either the contents 
of a hard drive, or else clone the drive’s layout on a sector-by-sector basis. 
The only proviso being that the “Target” drive must be at least the same 
capacity of the “Source” drive.

There are a variety of ways you can accomplish the task. Obviously, the easiest 
would be to use an application such as the Terabyte suite. All you’d then do is 
use an external USB drive for your “Backup” of the original system. Then, use 
the same external drive to “Restore” on the destination system. Obviously this 
would involve booting from an external third drive, but TeraByte and other 
utilities can help you create the boot media.

Actually, it occurs to me as I write that the Paragon software suite may be 
more appropriate for this purpose. It would probably make the job simpler to 
accomplish.

But in essence, Roger, the answer to your question is, quite definitely, 
“Yes!”. You can indeed do this with Windows 10. Older versions of Windows were 
much more fussy about this kind of thing, due to the activation processes which 
Microsoft used on those versions. Much has changed, however. And the tight 
compliance requirements have been substantially relaxed.

But anyway, you should be able to find the information you need on one of the 
search engines. I urge you to research this issue if you’re planning such a 
move. What’s best for my circumstances may not be best for yours, and visa 
versa.

Before I close, may I just remind the group that there is a dedicated Windows 
list, running alongside the Techno-Chat group. It’s name is, predictably:
windows-acc...@windows-access.net.

You may join this group in the same way that you joined the current one. Send a 
blank message to:
windows-access-j...@windows-access.net
And then follow the instructions in the auto-cookie message the server sends 
back. Please be assured that there is no data collection or other function in 
the Cookie, other than that of fulfilling your Join request to the server.


On 20 Aug 2018, at 05:20, Roger Firman  wrote:

Dear Gordon,

Many thanks for your postings and related responses.

While my posting doesn't answer your point, it does, however, prompt a question 
I've had in my mind for ages but never understood what is going on behind the 
scenes as it were.

If I want to upgrade  my PC and decide to buy a totally new computer with a 
different version of Windows, is there a way to avoid having to go back and 
reinstall software from scratch, or is there a way with a utility such as the 
onew you are describing, or another product, which would avoid this?

I can totally understand why avoiding the process of starting again, in the 
circumstances mentioned in your post, is best avoided.

Regards,

Roger Firman.


-Original Message-
From: Gordon Smith [mailto:gor...@mac-access.net] 
Sent: 20 August 2018 01:05
To: techno-chat@techno-chat.net
Subject: [Techno-Chat]: Terabyte Drive Backup & Restore Suite

Good morning everybody, or whatever it happens to be in your timeline as you 
read this post.

I just wanted to open a brief discussion about a product which, in all honesty, 
I haven’t used for quite a few years, but really must get back too.

It’s called: “TeraByte Drive Backup And Restore Suite”, these days. When I 
first used it, it was simply called: “Image For Windows”. For the convenience 
of anybody who would like to check this out, it can be found at the below 
secure website:
<https://www.terabyteunlimited.com/image-for-windows.htm>

Now, it would appear, that product has changed out of sight since I last looked 
at it! There is now an integrated suite of applications, of which Image For 
Windows is an integral part.

You have the ability to backup to network devices, even whilst Windows is in 
everyday use. You can burn images of your backup to CD/DVD/Blu-Ray, as well as 
to USB devices such as external storage media.

Naturally, as with any other professional disaster recovery suite, you can 
create DOS, Linux and Efi recovery disks, and I think those can be tailored to 
your requirements.

The one thing I’m unsure about just at this moment is how, exactly, one is 
supposed to boot into an environment whereby one can perform a complete 
restore, given the need, (at least here), for accessibility during the restore 
process. If there is anybody on list who uses this product who can advise me on 
this point, I’d be grateful in the extreme.

But that aside for a moment, it certainly looks as though this product has a 
lot to recommend it if you’re serious about full-system disaster recovery 
backups. Something which I think everybody who values their personal data and 
their working operating system environment would concur with. I for one know 
from experience just how troublesome those occasions where something gos 
disastrously wrong and you

[Techno-Chat]: Terabyte Drive Backup & Restore Suite

[Gordon Smith]

Good morning everybody, or whatever it happens to be in your timeline as you 
read this post.

I just wanted to open a brief discussion about a product which, in all honesty, 
I haven’t used for quite a few years, but really must get back too.

It’s called: “TeraByte Drive Backup And Restore Suite”, these days. When I 
first used it, it was simply called: “Image For Windows”. For the convenience 
of anybody who would like to check this out, it can be found at the below 
secure website:
<https://www.terabyteunlimited.com/image-for-windows.htm>

Now, it would appear, that product has changed out of sight since I last looked 
at it! There is now an integrated suite of applications, of which Image For 
Windows is an integral part.

You have the ability to backup to network devices, even whilst Windows is in 
everyday use. You can burn images of your backup to CD/DVD/Blu-Ray, as well as 
to USB devices such as external storage media.

Naturally, as with any other professional disaster recovery suite, you can 
create DOS, Linux and Efi recovery disks, and I think those can be tailored to 
your requirements.

The one thing I’m unsure about just at this moment is how, exactly, one is 
supposed to boot into an environment whereby one can perform a complete 
restore, given the need, (at least here), for accessibility during the restore 
process. If there is anybody on list who uses this product who can advise me on 
this point, I’d be grateful in the extreme.

But that aside for a moment, it certainly looks as though this product has a 
lot to recommend it if you’re serious about full-system disaster recovery 
backups. Something which I think everybody who values their personal data and 
their working operating system environment would concur with. I for one know 
from experience just how troublesome those occasions where something gos 
disastrously wrong and your computer is left US as a consequence. If I can 
avoid it, despite the fact that Windows now has an accessible restore process, 
I have every intention of preserving my working system now, whilst it’s good to 
go. I have invested significantly in terms of both the operating system and 
associated software, plus the man-hours it has taken to build the system up to 
its current working status. I can assure you, I have absolutely no intention of 
repeating the laborious and intensely frustrating task of building this thing 
up again from scratch!

If only, if only, it were possible to do things as simply as it is in MacOS. 
Although I do not wish to create a debate about which system is superior. That 
is entirely down to the individual or entity responsible for the device. But, I 
digress.

Having had only the opportunity to play briefly with the software since I 
installed it on Sunday, it would appear that much has changed since I 
originally bought a license for the product. Since that time, there has been an 
upgrade charge for access to the current version. However, I don’t begrudge 
that in the slightest, given how much more powerful this product now is. The 
cost of the upgrade was minimal, so I opted to pay it without question, and I 
regard it as an investment. Believe me, if it saves me the countless hours of 
work, and all the frustrations of a total reinstall, then I consider the 
upgrade fee to be a most worthwhile investment.

Getting back to the product itself. The options presented even in the Windows 
shell context menus appear to put lots of control at your fingertips. Although 
it is true to say that, if you’re prepared to spend the time required to learn 
the interface, the command-line version is, as the developer states on their 
website, more powerful than the GUI interface. However, one thing at a time. 
Possibly though, the command-line, (text-only) version is the way to go for a 
full system restore.

I do like the fact that, if you configure it as such, your every change to the 
hard drive is shadowed in a contiguous backup. It sort of puts me in mind of 
Data Horizon Systems RollBack RX Professional, but this seems to be a much more 
flexible system.

Another product which I intend to reevaluate shortly is NTI Corporation’s NTI 
Drive Shadow. That, too, has undoubtedly evolved since I last tried it.

Thoughts, anybody?



My compliments and kindest regards
Gordon Smith:

Accessibility & Information Technology Support Specialist..

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 Contact:

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[Techno-Chat]: Server Issue

[Gordon Smith]

Hello everybody

Just a quick notification for the benefit of anybody who may have tried to post 
to this group over the last few hours.

As a result of a particularly aggressive system update on the primary server 
machines here. Neither of them was allowing the Mail Service API to communicate 
with any other machines when the update was completed. Thus, outbound mail 
wasn’t possible, and inbound connections were being refused.

I have worked hard for most of today trawling through numerous logs to find out 
where the blockage was. After a great deal of. Effort, much swearing and 
cursing, and an even bigger dollop of bad-mouthing certain software engineers, 
I am pleased to be able to report that, finally, my efforts paid off. The 
services are now all back up and running.

Therefore, please accept my apologies for any inconvenience caused. I can 
assure you that my patience with automated update processes was wearing 
extremely thin by the time I came across the log entry which told me where the 
issue was hiding.

I then had to log into the machines as “Root”, and initiate a couple of quite 
complex Terminal commands to overcome the new default settings which a certain 
software producer has decided are appropriate.

Put simply, they are in the process of removing all of their open source 
components from the Server applications which they are rolling out for a not 
too distant update. Whilst that in itself does not worry me, as I don’t use 
their apps anyway, They decided to block some third-party apps from accessing 
the TCP/IP stack. Therefore, the service was not visible as far as the mail 
server we use was concerned. And this prevented it from communicating with the 
outside world, or even with the other machines on the local network.

Anyway, I’m delighted to be able to report that this issue has been squashed. I 
have also submitted system reports to the software engineers because you can 
bet your life I won’t be the only one affected by this change.

OK, by all means destroy your own server application. But really, there’s no 
need to make it impossible for other third-party developers to access the 
services.

OK, rant over. We’re now up and running and I’m about to go and get my 
much-needed brunch/afternoon Tea.

Seriously though, my sincere apologies for any inconvenience caused. This 
wasn’t in any way an error on my part, but at least we’re fixed now.

Gordon



My compliments and kindest regards
Gordon Smith:

Accessibility & Information Technology Support Specialist..

This Message Was Created Using 100% Recycled Electrons. If you can avoid 
printing it, please do so. Think of the environment, save a tree!

  Contact:

Twitter: @maciosaccess

• UK Free Phone:
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[Techno-Chat]: Smart roads

[Gordon Smith]

> A very interesting read I think you’ll agree. And something like this is long 
> overdue in the UK particularly.

> Smart roads >
> 
> 
> 
> Bluetooth monitoring
> 
> Monitoring the Bluetooth signals emitted by drivers' phones enables city 
> planners to track and analyse traffic flows - technology that was first used 
> in the UK in Portsmouth. Bluetooth monitoring doesn't enable the tracking of 
> individual cars, so it's completely anonymous as the data is just a 
> collection of moving blips.
> 
> Yet it provides city planners with important insights into how traffic moves 
> through different routes at different times of day. And it shows how vehicle 
> flows respond to road works or new traffic light phasing - which means 
> traffic management teams can make informed decisions about when, where and 
> how to implement changes.
> 
> 
> Auto-dimming street lights
> 
> As councils around Britain have been hit by budget restrictions, many have 
> viewed street lighting as a potential quick win. And it's been reported that 
> over 100 regional councils have resorted to dimming or switching off street 
> lights to save cash. But what if lights could sense the approach of a car, 
> cyclist or pedestrian, and light up only when required?
> 
> That's precisely what's been trialled in Norway on a 5-mile stretch of 
> motorway outside of Oslo. When darkness falls, the default setting for the 
> streetlights is just 20% of full illumination. But the freshly-installed 
> traffic sensors "talk" to the streetlights to tell them when a car is coming, 
> and the lights power up to 100%. Then when the vehicle has passed, the lights 
> power down.
> 
> 
> The benefits
> 
> These are just two of the most obvious ways that new technology can make our 
> road infrastructure more intelligent and more responsive to users' needs, yet 
> the possibilities for further smart innovations are limitless.
> 
> In the future, smart roads will intelligently manage traffic signals and 
> speed limits, and divert traffic to alternative routes to ease congestion. 
> Which is great news for drivers everywhere, because in addition to faster 
> journeys, it should also help cut harmful emissions, save energy, and reduce 
> the risk of accidents.
> 
> 




My compliments and kindest regards
Gordon Smith:

Accessibility & Information Technology Support Specialist..

This Message Was Created Using 100% Recycled Electrons. If you can avoid 
printing it, please do so. Think of the environment, save a tree!

  Contact:

Twitter: @maciosaccess

• UK Free Phone:
0800 8620538
• UK Geographic / Global:
+44(0) 1642 688095
• UK Mobile/SMS:
+44 (0) 7804 983849
• Vic. Australia:
+61 38 82059300
• US/Canada:
+1 646 9151493





smime.p7s
Description: S/MIME cryptographic signature

Re: [Techno-Chat]: GPS Navigation Software

[Gordon Smith]

Hello Roger

Apologies for the delayed response. I’ll go check on the Google Play store.


On 4 Jun 2018, at 18:16, Roger Firman  wrote:

Dear Gordon,

Is the one about which you were thinking RNIB Navigator? I think this is 
available via Itunes and don't think it works on Android but someone else may 
well know for sure.

Best wishes,

Roger Firman.


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My compliments and kindest regards
Gordon Smith:

Accessibility & Information Technology Support Specialist..

This Message Was Created Using 100% Recycled Electrons. If you can avoid 
printing it, please do so. Think of the environment, save a tree!

  Contact:

Twitter: @maciosaccess

• UK Free Phone:
0800 8620538
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[Techno-Chat]: GPS Navigation Software

[Gordon Smith]

Hello everybody

Does anybody happen to have any recommendations for a GPS navigation app for 
Android? My parameters must be that it’s accessible. I believe that RNIB, the 
Canadian equivalent and also Seeing Eye in the US did develop an app but I 
can’t remember its name for the life of me.

But I’d certainly consider that one because the device I plan to use, (my 
BrailleNote Touch) relies on accessible content.

Any comment welcome, and recommendations/suggestions appreciated.



My compliments and kindest regards
Gordon Smith:

Accessibility & Information Technology Support Specialist..

This Message Was Created Using 100% Recycled Electrons. If you can avoid 
printing it, please do so. Think of the environment, save a tree!

  Contact:

Twitter: @maciosaccess

• UK Free Phone:
0800 8620538
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+1 646 9151493







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[Techno-Chat]: Re: Inaccessible Images

[Gordon Smith]

Yes, that’s another solution I have already mentioned to them. Sadly, however, 
it turns out that they are using a Google API within their software. This 
particular API is quite an old one, and there is no hope of implementing any 
other solution in the foreseeable future owing to the amount of additional 
programming work that this would entail.

I am continuing to stress the point that the current policy could be considered 
as discriminatory. All I’m currently getting back from them is that they’re 
sorry, but it’s beyond their control and it is how it is.



My compliments and kindest regards
Gordon Smith:

Accessibility & Information Technology Support Specialist..

This Message Was Created Using 100% Recycled Electrons. If you can avoid 
printing it, please do so. Think of the environment, save a tree!

  Contact:

Twitter: @maciosaccess

• UK Free Phone:
0800 8620538
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+44(0) 1642 688095
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• US/Canada:
+1 646 9151493





On 30 May 2018, at 18:10, Roger Firman  wrote:

Dear Gordon,
 
Many thanks for your reply.
 
I expect you have come across alternative approaches where the user has to fill 
something in as an answer to a question which gets rid of the audio challenge, 
many of which can be very hard to hear.
 
I hope you find a workable alternative solution.
 
Kind regards,
 
Roger.
 
From: Gordon Smith [mailto:gor...@mac-access.net 
<mailto:gor...@mac-access.net>] 
Sent: 30 May 2018 17:42
To: techno-chat@techno-chat.net <mailto:techno-chat@techno-chat.net>
Subject: Re: [Techno-Chat]: How To Reset Windows Local Account Password
 
Hello Roger
 
To be honest, I don’t think most people realise just how much work does get 
done to try and stay ahead of the game, or, at the very least, keep pace with 
it! Yes, Spam, Ham and other junk are the curse of my life. I spend a lot of 
time every day amending filters, blacklisting sites and IP addresses, and so it 
goes on. It’s actually become so bad that I have had to configure a “Friends” 
system. In theory, it should mean that unless I either initiate an E-Mail to an 
external third party, or unless I, or one of those for whom I provide mail 
accounts, initiates an entry into their white list, an external sender who is 
unknown is supposed to receive a “Friends” challenge. Unfortunately, that means 
interacting visually with one of those images which cause us so many issues. 
However, I have worked around that to a degree by adding a few sentences to the 
outgoing message which unknown senders receive. Basically I invite them to 
write to my iCloud address and alert me to the fact that they are blind. 
Although I haven’t said exactly that in my message. All it says is “If you 
can’t deal with the images”, but that’s what it means. Yes, I realise that is a 
very clunky way of doing things. But, unfortunately, I really didn’t have 
another workable alternative.
 
I am in discussions with the server developers to see if we can’t do as so many 
sites do these days, offer an audio alternative. That would permit me to 
tighten things up considerably, and would make the Friends system far more 
reliable.
 


My compliments and kindest regards
Gordon Smith:
mailto:gor...@mac-access.net>>
Accessibility & Information Technology Support Specialist..
 
This Message Was Created Using 100% Recycled Electrons. If you can avoid 
printing it, please do so. Think of the environment, save a tree!

  Contact:
 
Twitter: @maciosaccess

• UK Free Phone:
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+44(0) 1642 688095
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• US/Canada:
+1 646 9151493
 

 
 
 
On 29 May 2018, at 05:55, Roger Firman mailto:ro...@golden-chord.com>> wrote:
 
Hello Gordon,
 
Obviously much hidden work goes on behind the scenes. Spam is a real curse 
isn’t it.
 
Kind regards,
 
Roger.



smime.p7s
Description: S/MIME cryptographic signature

Re: [Techno-Chat]: How To Reset Windows Local Account Password

[Gordon Smith]

Hello Roger

To be honest, I don’t think most people realise just how much work does get 
done to try and stay ahead of the game, or, at the very least, keep pace with 
it! Yes, Spam, Ham and other junk are the curse of my life. I spend a lot of 
time every day amending filters, blacklisting sites and IP addresses, and so it 
goes on. It’s actually become so bad that I have had to configure a “Friends” 
system. In theory, it should mean that unless I either initiate an E-Mail to an 
external third party, or unless I, or one of those for whom I provide mail 
accounts, initiates an entry into their white list, an external sender who is 
unknown is supposed to receive a “Friends” challenge. Unfortunately, that means 
interacting visually with one of those images which cause us so many issues. 
However, I have worked around that to a degree by adding a few sentences to the 
outgoing message which unknown senders receive. Basically I invite them to 
write to my iCloud address and alert me to the fact that they are blind. 
Although I haven’t said exactly that in my message. All it says is “If you 
can’t deal with the images”, but that’s what it means. Yes, I realise that is a 
very clunky way of doing things. But, unfortunately, I really didn’t have 
another workable alternative.

I am in discussions with the server developers to see if we can’t do as so many 
sites do these days, offer an audio alternative. That would permit me to 
tighten things up considerably, and would make the Friends system far more 
reliable.



My compliments and kindest regards
Gordon Smith:

Accessibility & Information Technology Support Specialist..

This Message Was Created Using 100% Recycled Electrons. If you can avoid 
printing it, please do so. Think of the environment, save a tree!

  Contact:

Twitter: @maciosaccess

• UK Free Phone:
0800 8620538
• UK Geographic / Global:
+44(0) 1642 688095
• UK Mobile/SMS:
+44 (0) 7804 983849
• Vic. Australia:
+61 38 82059300
• US/Canada:
+1 646 9151493





On 29 May 2018, at 05:55, Roger Firman  wrote:

Hello Gordon,
 
Obviously much hidden work goes on behind the scenes. Spam is a real curse 
isn’t it.
 
Kind regards,
 
Roger.



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Re: [Techno-Chat]: GDPR; Who Would Have Thought It!

[Gordon Smith]

Hello Roger

You know what? That really wouldn’t surprise me, knowing my luck! All I can say 
is, if they shut the damned things down tomorrow when I go, then they can 
forget about payment, I’ll just walk out of the store with a basket full of 
groceries. That’ll teach them a lesson they won’t forget in a hurry!\ ;-)



My compliments and kindest regards
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On 25 May 2018, at 12:41, Roger Firman  wrote:

Dear Gordon,

I think the answer is straightforward.

Everyone knew you would be making your twice-weekly shop so deliberately shut 
down their payment machines for you! (smile).

Best wishes,

Roger.

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Re: [Techno-Chat]: How To Reset Windows Local Account Password

[Gordon Smith]

Hello Roger

No, messages should arrive almost instantly when you click the send button. But 
that said, there have been a number of unexplained glitches with E-Mail 
generally, not just that which hits my front-end server. But what I can tell 
you is that currently, my server is processing upwards of 4 messages in a 
24-hour cycle. 99% of which are, of course, spam or junk.

Happily, my clients, those who directly use my servers that is, don’t see the 
vast majority of the trash that is taking up so much bandwidth these days on 
all public mail servers. Every day is a constant battle for those of us trying 
to stay ahead of the game. On average, and I know most people won’t be aware of 
this, but I spend a minimum of 3 hours a day tweaking our blacklists to squash 
persistent spam senders’ messages. It’s a massive job, but it’s a commitment 
which I take very seriously and I think it’s a very worthwhile one.

Without wishing to blow my own trumpet, without that commitment, there would be 
no Techno-Chat at all.



My compliments and kindest regards
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On 13 May 2018, at 17:13, Roger Firman  wrote:

Dear Gordon,
 
I don’t know to be honest.
 
While writing, my message to the list took quite a few hours to be processed, 
is that what should have happened or not?
 
Kind regards,
 
Roger.
 
From: Gordon Smith [mailto:gor...@mac-access.net 
<mailto:gor...@mac-access.net>] 
Sent: 13 May 2018 16:46
To: Techno-Chat ... Technology Enthusiasm! mailto:techno-chat@techno-chat.net>>
Subject: Re: [Techno-Chat]: How To Reset Windows Local Account Password
 
Hello Roger
 
Sorry for the delayed response. My worry here is accessibility. How would you 
interface with the bootable media? I’d imagine that Narrator isn’t considered a 
necessary part of the boot media.
 


My compliments and kindest regards
Gordon Smith:
mailto:gor...@mac-access.net>>
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On 10 May 2018, at 08:09, Roger Firman mailto:ro...@golden-chord.com>> wrote:
 
Dear Gordon,

I'm wondering if you could create a password reset disk with a USB or CD disk 
on a different machine. This may give you an option to reboot using either the 
USB or CD disk and use a reset password option which you leave blank.

Regards,

Roger.


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[Techno-Chat]: GDPR; Who Would Have Thought It!

[Gordon Smith]

Good Friday to you all, and Saturday where times dictate.

I’ve just come back from doing my twice-weakly grocery shop. As you’ll probably 
be aware if you’re affected, the US and European Union have their respective 
data protection updates come into effect as of today. In the UK in particular, 
the old 1998 Data Protection act is now null & void, replaced by the GDPR, 
(General Data Protection Regulations).

For reasons which I don’t think I will ever comprehend, all of the shops are 
experiencing downtime of their card machines. Thus, the only way one can pay 
for shopping at this point in time is to pay cash. If you’re able to use a cash 
machine, no problem. But can anybody explain to me why it should be that all of 
the in-store card machines are out of commission?

It’s surely a total disgrace that these things were not ready to cope with the 
new regulations. But, given that you don’t put your name into the card 
machines, and nobody knows who you are anyway as they don’t see your card, I 
honestly don’t get the point!

Comment welcome.



My compliments and kindest regards
Gordon Smith:
<gor...@mac-access.net>
Accessibility & Information Technology Support Specialist..

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[Techno-Chat]: A Blast From The Past!

[Gordon Smith]

Good Monday to you, or perhaps it’s Tuesday where you are!

Whilst searching for something completely unrelated in my store cupboard this 
morning, I came across two devices which I haven’t used in a very long time. 
So, I got them both out and charged up their internal batteries.

The first of these devices is a Microsoft Signature tablet which I bought in 
January of 2015. It runs Windows and came pre-installed with Windows 8.1. 
However, having put it on line this morning, it installed a lot of major 
updates, as I haven’t used this thing since the end of 2015.

When the system restarted, I updated the copy of JAWS 18 to JAWS 2018. I 
configured it to use the premium Vocalizer synthesiser which is my preferred 
speech engine these days. Next thing, it came up with an update option to 
Windows 10.

To start out with, I decided to give that a go, despite the fact that I wasn’t 
convinced it would actually run Windows 10. I was very much mistaken on that 
assumption. It proceeded to download and install the update without a hitch, 
and I was able to install Windows 10 with full accessibility from start to 
finish.

Now, it’s running all the latest updates, JAWS updates, DropBox, Microsoft 
Office 2016, all without a problem.

But this just goes to show me that, if one puts aside one’s preconceptions 
about a device being slow, only 32-bit and not particularly powerful, one 
really can’t tell when running relatively resource-friendly tasks such as word 
processing, web browsing and even OCR work, one can still get an awful lot of 
value out of these devices. No, I wouldn’t use it for resource-hungry high 
processor intensive applications. But you know, this will do just fine as 
another portable solution.

I have a small portable keyboard which is packed with all the usual keys you’d 
fine on a desktop, just a little smaller. That works fine with this device, and 
it brings another bonus. When I’m in close proximity to a charger, I have a 
lead that came with the keyboard which allows me to connect the Minix keyboard 
receiver and an external charging device both at the same time via the USB 
Micro connector on the tablet.

Since it also has Bluetooth® 4.0 support, I can also hook up my Focus 40 Blue 
Braille display, and use the Braille keyboard as I like to do with JAWS these 
days.

Another device I located, and I admit I’d totally forgotten about, is the 
Amazon Fire HDX tablet. That device has excellent accessibility inbuilt, and 
now that I’ve updated to the latest firmware and software suite, it also allows 
me to play movies and music from Amazon Music, plus Spotify via the Android app 
which, to my very great surprise, runs just fine on it. So there’s another 
device that I must remember not to hide away.

Just shows you though, sometimes, it isn’t necessary to make a fuss about 
having the latest and greatest. To their credit, Microsoft has really got its 
act together with Windows 10. Gone are the days when everything had to be high 
spec in order to run. Now, virtually anything will run Windows 10 without a 
hitch.

For me, this will be a huge bonus when I start running around the North-East of 
England doing training work for RNIB.



My compliments and kindest regards
Gordon Smith:
<gor...@mac-access.net>
Accessibility & Information Technology Support Specialist..

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Re: [Techno-Chat]: How To Reset Windows Local Account Password

[Gordon Smith]

Hello Roger

Sorry for the delayed response. My worry here is accessibility. How would you 
interface with the bootable media? I’d imagine that Narrator isn’t considered a 
necessary part of the boot media.



My compliments and kindest regards
Gordon Smith:
<gor...@mac-access.net>
Accessibility & Information Technology Support Specialist..

This Message Was Created Using 100% Recycled Electrons. If you can avoid 
printing it, please do so. Think of the environment, save a tree!

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On 10 May 2018, at 08:09, Roger Firman <ro...@golden-chord.com> wrote:

Dear Gordon,

I'm wondering if you could create a password reset disk with a USB or CD disk 
on a different machine. This may give you an option to reboot using either the 
USB or CD disk and use a reset password option which you leave blank.

Regards,

Roger.


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Re: [Techno-Chat]: Easy Voice Recorder Pro For Android

[Gordon Smith]

I’ve actually had this software installed on my Touch, my Samsung mobile and 
tablets for a good while now. I’ve used it most successfully when in meetings 
etc.



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On 11 Apr 2018, at 09:45, Dane Trethowan <grtd...@internode.on.net> wrote:

Bought this App for $4.99 and it looks quite accessible but more importantly I 
believe I can get quite good results from it as these 2 files I hope will 
demonstrate.
The first one is how Easy Voice Recorder sounded by default when recording on 
my Sony xPeria X-Performance phone.
With I did some tweaking with the settings of Voice Recorder Pro in this next 
recording.
Firstly I set the recording quality to high and used the sample rate of 44.1KH~ 
16 bit.
I turned on stereo mode though I’m not sure whether the Sony xPeria actually 
supports stereo mode but no harm done I guess.
I then turned noise suppression and echo cancelation off.
Having done that I changed the recording profile to Raw Music sound, there are 
several you can choose from including Voice Notes, Meetings and lectures.
I set things up so the recording would be uploaded to Dropbox once the stop 
button was activated and the recording would be uploaded in Wave uncompressed 
format, you can change settings for this including configurations that allow 
for the uploading of wave files to your cloud service of choice whilst files 
shared via eMail etc are compressed to MP3, AAC and so on.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ccnf7kymdonpxms/My%20recording%20%232.wav?dl=0 
<https://www.dropbox.com/s/ccnf7kymdonpxms/My%20recording%20#2.wav?dl=0>

Re: [Techno-Chat]: Olympus Audio Recorders

[Gordon Smith]

Actually, I was reading here a couple of days ago, and I can’t remember where 
it was, that there’s a new format now being rolled out that’s superior to FLAC 
in both file size and quality. Apparently, one can save 24-bit audio at very 
high sample rates, without losing quality, in smaller files than even 
uncompressed FLAC. I’ll try and dig that article out again, as it’s an 
interesting read.



My compliments and kindest regards
Gordon Smith:
<gor...@mac-access.net>
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On 27 Mar 2018, at 14:02, Dane Trethowan <grtd...@internode.on.net> wrote:

Hi!

I was planning to buy an Olympus LS-14 recorder however these devices are no 
longer available it seems so I'm offered the Olympus LS-P4 as a replacement 
recorder.

I don't know much about the unit so I'll be most interested to see the recorder 
when it arrives after Easter having accepted the offer of the swap for for the 
LS-14 in my order.

I do know a couple of things which are worth noting and the first is that the 
P4 has Bluetooth capabilities.

What these capabilities actually offer the recorder remains to be seen, can the 
recorder be controlled from an iPhone or perhaps the recorder can output the 
audio to Bluetooth speakers or perhaps both if I'm lucky.

The P4 can also use the FLAC audio format when recording and this is the first 
I've heard of FLAC being accommodated in a portable device.

I was speaking to an audio engineer earlier today and he said that usually FLAC 
was left to a computer or similar given that quite a bit of processing power is 
involved creating and recording FLAC so perhaps Olympus are using a new more 
powerful chip.

Anyway having FLAC on a portable recorder means that we now have the facilities 
to record in a compressed mode to save file space on a SD card without losing 
any audio quality, that's something that MP3 wouldn't allow.

The LS-P4 has the voice guideance feature as did the LS-14.

I already use a couple of Olympus recorders here including the widely regarded 
LS-100 and the classinc DM4.


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[Techno-Chat]: Google Home Hands-Free Calling Comes To The UK

[Gordon Smith]

Hello everybody

Those in the US have had this for several months. But, as of today, calling 
contacts, or even general phone numbers, using Google Home or Google Home Mini 
is now supported in the official release.


I’ve been playing with this for a few weeks, as I’m part of the Google beta 
team. It works very well indeed and it’s at least as good, if not better than, 
Amazon’s Alexa calling.

As far as I know, for example, it isn’t possible to dial an unknown number 
using Alexa. It isn’t possible to call the emergency services using Alexa. It 
isn’t possible to temporarily put callers on hold, use your voice assistant, 
then resume the call, on Amazon Alexa.

When, on Google Home, you want to query something with Google, you just prepend 
your query with the usual “Hey Google”, or OK Google”. When you do this your 
remote person doesn’t hear what you’re saying, nor do they hear what Google 
Assistant comes back with.

Regarding recording phone calls, that isn’t possible. The reason for this is 
the legal situation here in the UK. It’s only legal, for instance, to record a 
phone call if you pre-advise the caller that you’re doing so, and if your 
recording system emits a short beep every 15 seconds whilst the recording is 
being made.

So, the only things which get recorded are your interactions with the Google 
Assistant, plus the start call and end call commands.

The down side is that calling using Google isn’t free. As things stand, I’m not 
totally sure what the rates are. But your Google account is automatically 
charged each billing cycle for calls you’ve made. To the best of my knowledge, 
it isn’t possible to “Receive” calls from other users on Google Assistant. That 
is one more area where Alexa winds the battle at the moment.

As I understand it, this functionality is scheduled to hit the rest of Europe, 
Australia and New Zealand in the second half of 2018. Although that is subject 
to change at this time.



My compliments and kindest regards
Gordon Smith:
<gor...@mac-access.net>
Accessibility & Information Technology Support Specialist..

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[Techno-Chat]: Logitech Q80 Wireless Keyboard [Revisited]

[Gordon Smith]

Helo everybody

I wrote to the group some time ago about this, but I wanted to expound a little 
more because of something I’ve only just discovered.

In the Logitech brochures and documentation, it states that the keyboard comes 
supplied with a Logitech Unified Receiver, just as the older keyboards did, but 
also can be paired with up to 3 Bluetooth® 4.0+ devices, switchable between the 
four devices in total.

Well, The Box” with the keyboard. Since I did not see the receiver in the box 
with my keyboard, I presumed that it was missing. It didn’t really worry me all 
that much, although it would have been nice to have.

This keyboard is powered by 2 AA batteries, housed in the bottom of the device. 
You access the device by sliding a small rectangular lid away from the 
integrated tablet stand, then it just comes away from the keyboard.

I just had occasion to replace the batteries, as the default pair died on me. I 
always keep a small stock of batteries of various common types, so I had the 
replacement batteries available.

OK, so I removed the battery lid, then removed the old batteries, and discarded 
them. However, as I went to insert the replacement, what do I find? Plugged 
into the keyboard’s battery compartment, just next to the batteries, I 
discovered the Unified Receiver I had presumed was missing.

OK, great! This will help me no end. I can now use the same keyboard on 4 
devices, including my iMac. Although not ideal for Apple’s products, the user 
documentation explicitly says that they are supported. So now, I can use my 
current Apple Bluetooth® keyboard upstairs, and just have the one keyboard down 
here. Wonderful, that gives me a numeric keypad as well!



My compliments and kindest regards
Gordon Smith:
<gor...@mac-access.net>
Accessibility & Information Technology Support Specialist..

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Re: [Techno-Chat]: Remote Phone App for Android and Callcenter Client for Windows

[Gordon Smith]

Most interesting. I’ve just installed. It’s almost exactly what I’ve been 
looking for for my ElBraille and mobile.

Speaking of mobiles., I see that the Samsung Galaxy S9 launches over here in 
the UK on 15 March. Some carriers are already taking pre-orderes, with delivery 
in some cases on 9 March. Time to explore I think.



My compliments and kindest regards
Gordon Smith:
<gor...@mac-access.net>
Accessibility & Information Technology Support Specialist..

This Message Was Created Using 100% Recycled Electrons. If you can avoid 
printing it, please do so. Think of the environment, save a tree!

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On 26 Feb 2018, at 03:15, Dane Trethowan <grtd...@internode.on.net> wrote:

Together the 2 Apps make it possible to make and receive calls from your 
Windows computer to and from your Android phone, you can also send/receive SMS 
Messages.

Remote Phone and Callcenter Apps seem very accessible though I'm going to have 
to label a couple of buttons in the Callcenter App when I find out what 
they are 

Callcenter App for Windows and Remote Phone App for Android are extremely easy 
to set up.

Install the Android Remote Phone App from Google Play, launch the App and 
follow the prompts.

You can even download the Callcenter Windows App from the Remote Phone App, the 
App will provide instructions.

If you prefer you can do the whole box and dice manually from the Remote Phone 
home page, just follow the links and instructions.

Remote Phone and Callcenter Apps use either a Bluetooth or a Wi-Fi connection 
to establish communication between your Phone and your PC.

As far as I'm aware Remote Phone and Callcenter Apps work only one way meaning 
that if you make or receive a call you have to have your mobile phone handy to 
converse with the caller, you cannot sent the audio to your PC's speaker or 
microphone, I'm going to write to the developer about this to see if the 
functionality could be added at a later time but for now? Well its all thumbs 
up for the 2 Apps, Remote Phone for Android and Callcenter for your Windows PC.

https://www.justremotephone.com/



-- 

**
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[Techno-Chat]: HumanWare BrailleNote® Touch – The Way It Was Meant To Be!

[Gordon Smith]

Hello everybody

Earlier this week, I decided to bite the bullet and buy myself one of the 
Deluxe leather cases for my BrailleNote® Touch. I became tired of taking the 
thing out with me and having the case pop open every five minutes, putting the 
touch screen and keyboard is serious jeopardy.

I received the case, a rather expensive offering, (more about that shortly), on 
Tuesday morning. It was a really difficult task to insert the Touch into the 
case, as it’s very very tight fitting. Out of necessity I guess, but it’s a 
good job I have strong hands.

Anyway, the new case doesn’t accommodate the Braille keyboard, so I dispensed 
with that a little reluctantly as, until this week, I’ve had no joy with the 
Braille virtual keyboard.

However, for whatever reason, that “No Joy” situation changed radically on 
Tuesday. Suddenly, I found I was able to use the virtual keyboard as though it 
were second nature, and I’ve very much enjoyed using it since that time.

The whole device looks, and feel, so much more elegant and slick with the new 
case. It’s also far more secure when being carried on my shoulder. This case 
doesn’t pop open at all, and it has a lot of padding and protection which gives 
the whole device a real facelift.

The case is constructed from hard, premium quality leather. It’s very well made 
actually, and all seams are double-stitched. All ports and control elements are 
exposed, so it’s not necessary, for example, to remove the case to use the 
camera with the KNFB Reader which is now bundled with the Touch as a free 
product. All you do is unlock it, and it’s automatically registered with your 
device.

The rear of the case has a thick rubber pad, which makes it really comfortable 
to carry for prolonged periods of time.

This is the way I believe the device should be sold. The unfortunate thing, as 
I’ve already mentioned, is the fact that the case costs a staggering £125.00, 
which would be around $140.00 US. But now that I’ve parted with my money, I 
have a device which, to be honest, is a joy to use. Being Android-based, it 
offers many application which are available in the Google Play Store, many of 
which are accessible. The Touch’s two modes, (Explore By Braile, and Explore By 
Touch” are intuitive when put together in the one package. To start using 
standard Android gestures, all you need to do is press two thumb keys 
simultaneously, and to toggle back to the default Explore By Braille mode, you 
simply toggle it on in. The same way.


I personally very rarely use speech on the device, as Braille has always been 
my preference. The same is true of my ElBraille under Windows 10, and I’m even 
finding that I am starting to prefer using the Braille keyboard when I use a 
standard computer as it means I can control everything without taking my hands 
away from the Braille display.

Already though, I’m wondering how I ever worked with the Touch with its 
physical keyboard. And I can’t see me using it again for quite some time. Using 
the Touch as a true tablet is really the way this device was meant to be used 
and I reckon that it would be better for HumanWare’s customers if they were to 
ditch the keyboard, and just sell the device in its leather case.

There’s a pocket in the lid of the leather case, just as their is on the 
standard Nylon cover, but this one is far more secure. You can, if you really 
want to do so, store a small portable keyboard in there so you could use it as 
a standard QWERT device. I personally keep a couple of spare SD-XC cards in 
that pocket, as they contain copies of my work files which I would prefer not 
to lose.

I guess there are advantages and disadvantages with every device of this 
nature. I am very fortunate in as much as I have a variety of devices which I 
can call on in different situations. I still use my ElBraille an awful lot, as 
it gives me access to functionality not available on Android. But for the Touch 
user, if you can do so, I would thoroughly recommend the purchase of one of 
these leather cases for your device. It has certainly changed the way I use the 
tablet, and given me piece of mind as far as security is concerned.

This, without a doubt, is the way the BrailleNote® Touch was meant to be!



My compliments and kindest regards
Gordon Smith:
<gor...@mac-access.net>
Accessibility & Information Technology Support Specialist..

This Message Was Created Using 100% Recycled Electrons. If you can avoid 
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  Contact:

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[Techno-Chat]: Posting Provlwmas Now Resolved

[Gordon Smith]

Hello everybody

My apologies to those who have tried to post to the groups, and been unable so 
to do. The root of the problem was a local service crash. It is now resolved, 
on a temporary basis. I shall resolve it, to squash these crashes, once and for 
all this week, I hope, today.

Meanwhile, feel free to resume posting.



My compliments and kindest regards
Gordon Smith:
<gor...@mac-access.net>
Accessibility & Information Technology Support Specialist..

This Message Was Created Using 100% Recycled Electrons. If you can avoid 
printing it, please do so. Think of the environment, save a tree!

  Contact:

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• UK Free Phone:
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smime.p7s
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Re: [Techno-Chat]: Reminder: Posting Articles

[Gordon Smith]

That’s precisely why Lynne first came up with that list rule. It means that 
those on capped throughput don’t have to download articles which sometimes 
contain images as well.

But there is another reason which is important as well, and that is copyright. 
I want the reputation of this group to be squeaky clean. And staying on the 
right side of the law helps us to maintain that.

But it’s also a matter of common courtesy. And that dictates that somebody has 
the right to give their consent, or otherwise, before their work is forwarded 
all over the place.



My compliments and kindest regards
Gordon Smith:
<gor...@mac-access.net>
Accessibility & Information Technology Support Specialist..

This Message Was Created Using 100% Recycled Electrons. If you can avoid 
printing it, please do so. Think of the environment, save a tree!

  Contact:

Twitter: @maciosaccess

• UK Free Phone:
0800 8620538
• UK Geographic / Global:
+44(0) 1642 688095
• UK Mobile/SMS:
+44 (0)7804 983849
• Vic. Australia:
+61 38 82059300
• US/Canada:
+1 646 9151493











On 2 Feb 2018, at 02:13, Dane Trethowan <grtd...@internode.on.net> wrote:

Its so much easier too if direct links to articles are shared rather than a 
forwarded Email as we can get directly to the article without having to wade 
through heaps of junk text as I call it to get to the article itself.
In my view by all means comment on the article you’ve read and tell the list 
what you think of the article, review or whatever it is as this starts 
discussion and debate.
If anyone is unsure on how to send links in an Email message then I’m sure 
there are plenty here who can offer practical advice and tips on how its done 
and believe me, once you start sending direct links to articles you’ll wonder 
why you didn’t consider doing it before as it will save so much time sending a 
link rather than having to forward an Email.


> On 2 Feb 2018, at 12:56 pm, Gordon Smith <gor...@mac-access.net> wrote:
> 
> Hello everybody
> 
> A list member apparently tried to forward a message they received to the 
> group yesterday. For your reference, the reason it bounced was because your 
> message was too large for the list. I think the mail server software also 
> didn’t like the links at the bottom of the message.
> 
> As a general note, I would ask people again to please forward links to 
> articles where possible, rather than just copying the full article to the 
> group. It became a problem a while back when a member started forwarding huge 
> articles to the group. That’s why it became necessary for me to cap the size 
> of messages.
> 
> For your reference, all, messages larger than 40K won’t make it to the list. 
> That may sound like more than your post. However, with all the header 
> information exchanged between you and the list, it soon mounts up. The reason 
> this limit is in place, as I said, is to prevent over large posts. Some 
> members are on capped throughput with their provider and it’s not really fair 
> to enforce the download of huge messages which don’t interest them.
> 
> I will forward the text of your post in a moment, as it’s a very interesting 
> one. But again, please all try to link to articles where possible. Another 
> reason for this is copyright. Sometimes people post their articles on 
> copyrighted sites. We could end up in hot water if somebody were to insist on 
> their copyrights.
> 
> Finally, just another gentle request. If you have a query regarding list 
> traffic, could you please send to supp...@mac-access.net, for the moment, as 
> that’s the most appropriate way for me to deal with things more quickly.
> Cooperation would be appreciated.
>   
> 
> 
> My compliments and kindest regards
> Gordon Smith:
> <gor...@mac-access.net>
> Accessibility & Information Technology Support Specialist..
> 
> This Message Was Created Using 100% Recycled Electrons. If you can avoid 
> printing it, please do so. Think of the environment, save a tree!
> 
> Contact:
> 
> Twitter: @maciosaccess
> 
> • UK Free Phone:
> 0800 8620538
> • UK Geographic / Global:
> +44(0) 1642 688095
> • UK Mobile/SMS:
> +44 (0)7804 983849
> • Vic. Australia:
> +61 38 82059300
> • US/Canada:
> +1 646 9151493
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 

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[Techno-Chat]: Installing Windows On Apple Hardware

[Gordon Smith]

Hello everybody

OK, I just thought I’d try this, as an experiment. When I set up a BootCamp 
partition on my system, and clicked “Install”, the system duly booted into the 
installer, as it should. I waited a while, no TTS. So I tried the manual 
shortcut, no speech.

Purely by chance, a friend of mine happened to pop in while I was doing this. 
As I pressed the Narrator shortcut, it seems, I was toggling Narrator on and 
off, on and off, although there was no audio. Had Tracy not been here, I’d 
never have known.

Discussing it with her, she just happened to ask me “Have you tried this with 
an external sound device that Windows would definitely recognise, just to be 
sure?”

I just gaped at her, and said “No, I haven’t, I’m not smart enough to bloody 
well think of things like that! Come on Tracy, I’m only a dumb bloke!”

She just laughed at me, but I felt like crying, it was such an obvious 
oversight. So, off I trotted to sort out an external device. When I cam 
downstairs with it, we plugged it into the Mac, the Windows installer was 
already loaded. Soon as I connected the USB lead to the device, up pops TTS!

So, a word of advice to anybody thinking of doing what I want to do; don’t 
assume that GootCamp will do it all for you, because it doesn’t.



My compliments and kindest regards
Gordon Smith:
<gor...@mac-access.net>
Accessibility & Information Technology Support Specialist..

This Message Was Created Using 100% Recycled Electrons. If you can avoid 
printing it, please do so. Think of the environment, save a tree!

  Contact:

Twitter: @maciosaccess

• UK Free Phone:
0800 8620538
• UK Geographic / Global:
+44(0) 1642 688095
• UK Mobile/SMS:
+44 (0)7804 983849
• Vic. Australia:
+61 38 82059300
• US/Canada:
+1 646 9151493













smime.p7s
Description: S/MIME cryptographic signature

[Techno-Chat]: TTS Installation In Windows 10

[Gordon Smith]

Hello everybody

We’ve been discussing this recently, so that’s why I made an exception. The 
original message contained a lot of HTML code, and the list is set to only 
permit plain text. The original message which was forwarded to me was, believe 
it or not, almost 400K because of the HTML coding and remote server headers.

Anyway, here we go.



TTS on the installer for windows 10
 
We have a new idea for Windows 10 installation.
It is now possible to start the Narrator automatically when starting windows 10 
installation. When starting Windows setup, you do not need to press Windows + 
Ctrl + Enter. After system boot, the narrator automatically boots when the 
Windows setup screen is opened.
If you do not like the voice, it is possible to start the narrator with 3 
separate synthesizers.
For example: If you use the file containing the English samantha voice, the 
Windows installation will be opened with Narrator Samantha voice at the 
beginning.
include the You can use:
1. Continue the installation of Windows 10 with automatic start narrator.
2. Continue the Windows installation in conjunction with the narrator opening 
with English Samantha voice.
3. Continue the Windows installation with Russian Katya voice-over narrator.
4. Continue the Windows installation with the narrator opened with Turkish 
Yelda voice.

Follow these steps:
• Create Bootable Installation media for Windows 10 1703 and later 
(Recommended 1709). note: original installation image downloaded with Media 
Creation Tool should be used.
Click on the links above and select the file containing the bid Download.
• Extract the downloaded archive file.
Folders that match the x86 or x64 architecture are extracted from the archive 
file. Copy the files in the folder for you.
• Paste these files into the main directory of the Windows installation 
media.




My compliments and kindest regards
Gordon Smith:
<gor...@mac-access.net>
Accessibility & Information Technology Support Specialist..

This Message Was Created Using 100% Recycled Electrons. If you can avoid 
printing it, please do so. Think of the environment, save a tree!

  Contact:

Twitter: @maciosaccess

• UK Free Phone:
0800 8620538
• UK Geographic / Global:
+44(0) 1642 688095
• UK Mobile/SMS:
+44 (0)7804 983849
• Vic. Australia:
+61 38 82059300
• US/Canada:
+1 646 9151493













smime.p7s
Description: S/MIME cryptographic signature

[Techno-Chat]: Reminder: Posting Articles

[Gordon Smith]

Hello everybody

A list member apparently tried to forward a message they received to the group 
yesterday. For your reference, the reason it bounced was because your message 
was too large for the list. I think the mail server software also didn’t like 
the links at the bottom of the message.

As a general note, I would ask people again to please forward links to articles 
where possible, rather than just copying the full article to the group. It 
became a problem a while back when a member started forwarding huge articles to 
the group. That’s why it became necessary for me to cap the size of messages.

For your reference, all, messages larger than 40K won’t make it to the list. 
That may sound like more than your post. However, with all the header 
information exchanged between you and the list, it soon mounts up. The reason 
this limit is in place, as I said, is to prevent over large posts. Some members 
are on capped throughput with their provider and it’s not really fair to 
enforce the download of huge messages which don’t interest them.

I will forward the text of your post in a moment, as it’s a very interesting 
one. But again, please all try to link to articles where possible. Another 
reason for this is copyright. Sometimes people post their articles on 
copyrighted sites. We could end up in hot water if somebody were to insist on 
their copyrights.

Finally, just another gentle request. If you have a query regarding list 
traffic, could you please send to supp...@mac-access.net, for the moment, as 
that’s the most appropriate way for me to deal with things more quickly.
Cooperation would be appreciated.



My compliments and kindest regards
Gordon Smith:
<gor...@mac-access.net>
Accessibility & Information Technology Support Specialist..

This Message Was Created Using 100% Recycled Electrons. If you can avoid 
printing it, please do so. Think of the environment, save a tree!

  Contact:

Twitter: @maciosaccess

• UK Free Phone:
0800 8620538
• UK Geographic / Global:
+44(0) 1642 688095
• UK Mobile/SMS:
+44 (0)7804 983849
• Vic. Australia:
+61 38 82059300
• US/Canada:
+1 646 9151493













smime.p7s
Description: S/MIME cryptographic signature

Re: [Techno-Chat]: Installing Windows From The Ground Up

[Gordon Smith]

I have a couple of notebooks which are probably nowhere close to the current 
updates. So will need to start the process over again.



My compliments and kindest regards
Gordon Smith:
<gor...@mac-access.net>
Accessibility & Information Technology Support Specialist..

This Message Was Created Using 100% Recycled Electrons. If you can avoid 
printing it, please do so. Think of the environment, save a tree!

  Contact:

Twitter: @maciosaccess

• UK Free Phone:
0800 8620538
• UK Geographic / Global:
+44(0) 1642 688095
• UK Mobile/SMS:
+44 (0)7804 983849
• Vic. Australia:
+61 38 82059300
• US/Canada:
+1 646 9151493











On 31 Jan 2018, at 19:15, Joshua Gregory <joshtg...@gmail.com> wrote:

LOL sorry meant booting from a device only works with 1709, but
booting into recovery on your hard drive works in 1703 as well.

On 1/31/18, Joshua Gregory <joshtg...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Just a note/thought, you might be able to do it with the use a device
> option in recovery mode, which works with the initial creator's
> update. As for booting from recovery working, I think it is indeed the
> Fall one.
> 
> On 1/31/18, Gordon Smith <gor...@mac-access.net> wrote:
>> Hello everybody
>> 
>> For quite a while, I’ve been looking around for information as to how to
>> install Windows 10 from the ground up. The support people at Site & Sound
>> here in the UK gave me a hint as to how this is accomplished. However,
>> the
>> reason I couldn’t get it to work was because they made one glaring
>> mistake,
>> and I must credit Mr. Trethowan for giving me the heads-up as to their
>> error. So, for the benefit of anybody who may be able to use this
>> information, here’s how you do it.
>> 
>> • As a prerequisite for this process to work with accessibility enabled,
>> you
>> must have Windows 10 Fall Creator’s Update, (Build 1709) at the earliest.
>> • You must create a bootable Windows 10 media device from which to start
>> the
>> process
>> • Your computer’s BIOS or EFI BIOS must be configured to allow boot from
>> USB
>> or DVD as a primary device. The method you use to accomplish this depends
>> upon your machine. From memory, if you have an American MegaTrends Inc.
>> BIOS, you can find the setting for this on the main screen once you
>> sercomvent any BIOS passwords which are configured. If you have a
>> Gigabyte
>> BIOS, you need to go into the Advanced Functions screen and scroll down
>> to
>> Boot Sequence. Naturally, there’s no method of accomplishing either of
>> these
>> tasks with accessibility
>> • Another way you might get your machine to boot, if you have somebody
>> with
>> sight close at hand, is by activating the boot menu which appears on many
>> systems just before the hard disk boot begins. If you can do this, you
>> can
>> then scroll down to your desired boot media and just hit enter. But we’ll
>> assume you don’t have eyes at hand, and proceed
>> • Once you have these preconditions satisfied, place your boot media into
>> the drive, and power-cycle the machine
>> • When you’ve done this, go make yourself a coffee, cup of tea or
>> whatever
>> tickles your fancy, and leave your computer to its own devices, (pardon
>> the
>> pun), for a few minutes
>> • When you return to the machine, press Windows+Control+Enter and
>> assuming
>> your sound device is a fairly modern standardised one, you should be able
>> t
>> use Narrator from that point onwards.
>> 
>> Actually, since its dark days of Windows 98/Vista/2000, Narrator has
>> evolved
>> out of sight. Indeed, even since Windows 10’s initial roll-out, it has
>> improved markedly. Although a little tedious in some ways, Narrator is now
>> a
>> perfectly acceptable tool, at least until you can get something more
>> substantial installed.
>> 
>> HTH.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> My compliments and kindest regards
>> Gordon Smith:
>> <gor...@mac-access.net>
>> Accessibility & Information Technology Support Specialist..
>> 
>> This Message Was Created Using 100% Recycled Electrons. If you can avoid
>> printing it, please do so. Think of the environment, save a tree!
>> 
>>  Contact:
>> 
>> Twitter: @maciosaccess
>> 
>> • UK Free Phone:
>> 0800 8620538
>> • UK Geographic / Global:
>> +44(0) 1642 688095
>> • UK Mobile/SMS:
>> +44 (0)7804 983849
>> • Vic. Australia:
>> +61 38 82059300
>> • US/Canada:
>> 

Re: [Techno-Chat]: The mysteries Of Microsoft's Skype

[Gordon Smith]

Business users are consumers as well, you know. ;-)

But no, it’s across the board. The whole Skype situation has now changed, 
predictably, since it’s all now under the Microsoft banner.



My compliments and kindest regards
Gordon Smith:
<gor...@mac-access.net>
Accessibility & Information Technology Support Specialist..

This Message Was Created Using 100% Recycled Electrons. If you can avoid 
printing it, please do so. Think of the environment, save a tree!

  Contact:

Twitter: @maciosaccess

• UK Free Phone:
0800 8620538
• UK Geographic / Global:
+44(0) 1642 688095
• UK Mobile/SMS:
+44 (0)7804 983849
• Vic. Australia:
+61 38 82059300
• US/Canada:
+1 646 9151493











On 31 Jan 2018, at 23:21, Joshua Gregory <joshtg...@gmail.com> wrote:

That's for consumers too? I thought it was just for business, interesting.

On 1/31/18, Dane Trethowan <grtd...@internode.on.net> wrote:
> Yes they do have a free account on the site for personal use I believe.
> 
> 
> 
> On 1/02/2018 5:29 AM, The wolf wrote:
>> they have a free account on that site?
>> I thought you had to pay with zoom.us?
>> thanks
>> Hank
>> 
>> On 1/31/2018 3:26 AM, Dane Trethowan wrote:
>>> I know a lot of people who are talking about a new site offering
>>> audio and video conference facilities http://www.zoom.us and that’s
>>> only one site so I’m sure there are dozens of others.
>>> According to those I’ve spoken to the audio and video attributes are
>>> entirely customisable or you can have the site do that work for you
>>> depending on your needs and that customisation is exactly what Skype
>>> lacks and everything else has, even my VOIP phone allows full
>>> customisation of audio depending on what sort of Network connection
>>> you have and the sort of phone system you’re running.
>>> 
>>> 
>>>> On 31 Jan 2018, at 8:44 pm, Gordon Smith <gor...@mac-access.net
>>>> <mailto:gor...@mac-access.net>> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> Absolutely not. Microsoft faces stiff competition from several
>>>> providers now and that, it has to be said, is no bad thing.
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> My compliments and kindest regards
>>>> Gordon Smith:
>>>> <gor...@mac-access.net <mailto:gor...@mac-access.net>>
>>>> Accessibility & Information Technology Support Specialist..
>>>> 
>>>> This Message Was Created Using 100% Recycled Electrons. If you can
>>>> avoid printing it, please do so. Think of the environment, save a tree!
>>>> 
>>>>   Contact:
>>>> 
>>>> Twitter: @maciosaccess
>>>> 
>>>> • UK Free Phone:
>>>> 0800 8620538
>>>> • UK Geographic / Global:
>>>> +44(0) 1642 688095
>>>> • UK Mobile/SMS:
>>>> +44 (0)7804 983849
>>>> • Vic. Australia:
>>>> +61 38 82059300
>>>> • US/Canada:
>>>> +1 646 9151493
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> On 31 Jan 2018, at 09:34, Dane Trethowan <grtd...@internode.on.net
>>>> <mailto:grtd...@internode.on.net>> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> So we watch to see how this all plays out.
>>>> 
>>>> One thing is for certain, Skype no longer have the marketplace to
>>>> themselves as they once did not all that long ago.
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> On 31/01/2018 8:16 PM, Gordon Smith wrote:
>>>>> On my two new Minix machines, I logged into Windows using my
>>>>> Microsoft account and, before I know it, Skype is being installed
>>>>> and there’s no way to remove it. So yes, it’s now an integral part
>>>>> of Windows 10 it would appear. I have been anticipating that move
>>>>> ever since Microsoft acquired the Skype business. It makes sense, I
>>>>> guess, from their perspective to do that. Although I’m not sure
>>>>> it’s a very positive move from the consumer’s point of view.
>>>>> 
>>>>> After all, I know lots of people who use Windows, but have no
>>>>> inclination whatsoever to use Skype. They use Windows 10 Enterprise
>>>>> at work, a lot of them, and as I say, they can neither remove it,
>>>

Re: [Techno-Chat]: The mysteries Of Microsoft's Skype

[Gordon Smith]

On my two new Minix machines, I logged into Windows using my Microsoft account 
and, before I know it, Skype is being installed and there’s no way to remove 
it. So yes, it’s now an integral part of Windows 10 it would appear. I have 
been anticipating that move ever since Microsoft acquired the Skype business. 
It makes sense, I guess, from their perspective to do that. Although I’m not 
sure it’s a very positive move from the consumer’s point of view.

After all, I know lots of people who use Windows, but have no inclination 
whatsoever to use Skype. They use Windows 10 Enterprise at work, a lot of them, 
and as I say, they can neither remove it, nor prevent it from activating when 
they power up their machines in the morning to begin their daily work.



My compliments and kindest regards
Gordon Smith:
<gor...@mac-access.net>
Accessibility & Information Technology Support Specialist..

This Message Was Created Using 100% Recycled Electrons. If you can avoid 
printing it, please do so. Think of the environment, save a tree!

  Contact:

Twitter: @maciosaccess

• UK Free Phone:
0800 8620538
• UK Geographic / Global:
+44(0) 1642 688095
• UK Mobile/SMS:
+44 (0)7804 983849
• Vic. Australia:
+61 38 82059300
• US/Canada:
+1 646 9151493











On 30 Jan 2018, at 20:38, Dane Trethowan <grtd...@internode.on.net> wrote:

Thanks and sorry as I didn’t pick up your point.


> On 31 Jan 2018, at 7:13 am, Gordon Smith <gor...@mac-access.net 
> <mailto:gor...@mac-access.net>> wrote:
> 
> That’s what I was saying the other day.
> 
> ====
> 
> My compliments and kindest regards
> Gordon Smith:
> <gor...@mac-access.net <mailto:gor...@mac-access.net>>
> Accessibility & Information Technology Support Specialist..
> 
> This Message Was Created Using 100% Recycled Electrons. If you can avoid 
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> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On 30 Jan 2018, at 19:29, Dane Trethowan <grtd...@internode.on.net 
> <mailto:grtd...@internode.on.net>> wrote:
> 
> Okay I’ve written on Skype before and as I delve the more I’m finding out.
> For example if you have Microsoft Office 365 and its installed on a machine 
> where you wish to use Skype then you cannot use the Classic Desktop version 
> of Skype and as far as I know there’s no workaround to bypass this.
> 
> --
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Re: [Techno-Chat]: The mysteries Of Microsoft's Skype

[Gordon Smith]

That’s what I was saying the other day.



My compliments and kindest regards
Gordon Smith:
<gor...@mac-access.net>
Accessibility & Information Technology Support Specialist..

This Message Was Created Using 100% Recycled Electrons. If you can avoid 
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On 30 Jan 2018, at 19:29, Dane Trethowan <grtd...@internode.on.net> wrote:

Okay I’ve written on Skype before and as I delve the more I’m finding out.
For example if you have Microsoft Office 365 and its installed on a machine 
where you wish to use Skype then you cannot use the Classic Desktop version of 
Skype and as far as I know there’s no workaround to bypass this.

--

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[Techno-Chat]: Logitech Q780 Wireless Keyboard

[Gordon Smith]

Hello everybody

This may be old hat to some, but thought I would share my views anyway.

Recently, I opted to treat myself to a new wireless keyboard, as I am radically 
updating my PC hardware, in favour of finless ultra-compact PC’s, (for the most 
part anyway)). More about that later. Anyway, to the point. A couple of days 
ago, I received the first 2 of 3 keyboards which I’ve bought to replace the old 
ones I have here which are now a little long in the tooth. I opted for a 
combination of 3 devices, as I get sick of carrying keyboards around the house.

One of which is an ultra-portable Minix keyboard, designed primarily for use 
with their ultra-compact range of PC’s. Although they do work with anything, of 
course. One can use this device either as a USB keyboard, or via Bluetooth. It 
comes supplied with a dual-compatibility lead which includes a through port so 
that, if one only has 1 USB port available, one can double-book devices, which 
is a nice touch. As a portable keyboard, it’s pretty good, although not 
something I’d like to spend all day using. The keys are small, have a very low 
profile, and are extremely close together. For somebody who is either not a 
touch typist, or who has difficulty seeing the keys, this is definitely not the 
device of choice. But as long as those two conditions are not appropriate, this 
device may suit your portable needs.

The other two keyboards I’ve bought are both more main-stream. The Logitech 
Q480 and Q780. I have not yet received the Q480, but hope that situation will 
be remedied early this week. I’m not particularly thrilled about this, since I 
was promised, and paid for, express delivery. I shall be contacting the seller 
later today about this, as I was initially informed that it would arrive on 27 
January. Now, the estimate is 30 January/3 February. Apparently, it’s coming 
from Germany, a fact which is not made clear on the purchase page, nor is it in 
the seller’s profile.

I did, however, receive the Logitech Q780 on time, as I bought that from a 
different retailer altogether. I haven’t had the opportunity to connect the 
device to any machine yet, as I’ve been really busy these last few days. I 
unpacked it yesterday, to discover that the unified receiver, (Logitech’s own 
wireless device) was absent from the box. I wouldn’t care – I checked 
thoroughly for all items. And, before I’d ascertained for sure that it was 
supposed to be present, another family member had disposed of the carton for 
me, which means that I can no longer return the device to base. So I’m going to 
either have to see if Logitech will sell me one as stand-alone, or else just 
forget about that, and use it exclusively via Bluetooth®. We’ll see.

Although I haven’t as yet got it paired with any of the 3 supported Bluetooth® 
devices, I have to say that I am very impressed with the build quality and 
comfort of typing on this device. So much so, in fact, that I’m contemplating 
using it as a direct replacement, not only for those PC keyboards upstairs in 
the office, but also for my mini-PC down here and even for my Apple iMac, both 
of which it supports natively.

The advantage being that this keyboard is a full-size desktop device, whereas 
my little Magic Keyboard 2 is not. So we’ll see. Anyway, I’ll hopefully find 
out how it works in the real world later today. I’m just having a few problems 
deciding where the 4 White “connection” keys are. That’s going to take a bit of 
experimentation.

Just thought I’d share my initial thoughts.



My compliments and kindest regards
Gordon Smith:
<gor...@mac-access.net>
Accessibility & Information Technology Support Specialist..

This Message Was Created Using 100% Recycled Electrons. If you can avoid 
printing it, please do so. Think of the environment, save a tree!

  Contact:

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• US/Canada:
+1 646 9151493











--

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Re: [Techno-Chat]: I've Abandoned Skype

[Gordon Smith]

Interesting. When I try to execute it on the Mac, I get a totally blank window. 
Using the menu bar, all the functions are greyed out. Ah well, time for a 
little exercise for “TrashMe”. Great little app that is, if you remove an app 
from your /applications folder, it takes with it all the preferences for that 
app, unless you override it.




My compliments and kindest regards
Gordon Smith:
<gor...@mac-access.net>
Accessibility & Information Technology Support Specialist..

This Message Was Created Using 100% Recycled Electrons. If you can avoid 
printing it, please do so. Think of the environment, save a tree!

  Contact:

Twitter: @maciosaccess

• UK Free Phone:
0800 8620538
• UK Geographic / Global:
+44(0) 1642 688095
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+44 (0)7804 983849
• Vic. Australia:
+61 38 82059300
• US/Canada:
+1 646 9151493











On 25 Jan 2018, at 18:23, Dane Trethowan <grtd...@internode.on.net> wrote:

Perhaps I'd best explain things a little better.

Skype for Mac and Windows is accessible it seems on the whole accept for 
critical and very basic fuctions such as the answering of calls and I've found 
no way to actually perform this function with a screen reader.

With the Mac it seems that one can still click on the Answer button from within 
Skype but with the Windows version there doesn't even seem to be an answer 
button anywhere within Skype.

With the older Skype Desktop client one could set up a global hotkey to answer 
calls, with the latest Skype for Windows 10 that function has been removed it 
seems.



On 26/01/2018 4:53 AM, The wolf wrote:
> is the mac skype still accessible? or did they break that as well?
> 
> On 1/25/2018 3:08 AM, Dane Trethowan wrote:
>> Indeed but having said thaqt I never rule anything in or out so its very 
>> possible that Microsoft may add some accessibility to the product in the 
>> future.
>> 
>> The Mac version of Skype has also changed.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> On 25/01/2018 9:02 PM, Gordon Smith wrote:
>>> That is correct. The Windows 10 version, (as of the Fall Creator’s Update) 
>>> is now a very different animal.
>>> 
>>> I too have dumped it. I don’t see it as a viable option any longer.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> My compliments and kindest regards
>>> Gordon Smith:
>>> <gor...@mac-access.net <mailto:gor...@mac-access.net>>
>>> Accessibility & Information Technology Support Specialist..
>>> 
>>> This Message Was Created Using 100% Recycled Electrons. If you can avoid 
>>> printing it, please do so. Think of the environment, save a tree!
>>> 
>>>   Contact:
>>> 
>>> Twitter: @maciosaccess
>>> 
>>> • UK Free Phone:
>>> 0800 8620538
>>> • UK Geographic / Global:
>>> +44(0) 1642 688095
>>> • UK Mobile/SMS:
>>> +44 (0)7804 983849
>>> • Vic. Australia:
>>> +61 38 82059300
>>> • US/Canada:
>>> +1 646 9151493
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> On 23 Jan 2018, at 17:56, Dane Trethowan <grtd...@internode.on.net 
>>> <mailto:grtd...@internode.on.net>> wrote:
>>> 
>>> You cannot use Skype For Desktop under Windows 10 any longer as far as I 
>>> know, I was using Skype For Desktop but the software was updated overnight 
>>> to Skype For Windows 10.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> On 24/01/2018 2:54 AM, Rick Alfaro wrote:
>>>> Which Skype are you using under Windows, the modern windows app or the 
>>>> desktop version? The desktop version has a ton of hotkeys and they are all 
>>>> redefinable under tools>options. It sounds like you are using the modern 
>>>> app which is a nightmare to use.
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> -Original Message-
>>>> From: Dane Trethowan [mailto:grtd...@internode.on.net 
>>>> <mailto:grtd...@internode.on.net>]
>>>> Sent: Monday, January 22, 2018 10:46 PM
>>>> To: techno-chat@techno-chat.net <mailto:techno-chat@techno-chat.net>
>>>> Subject: [Techno-Chat]: I've Abandoned Skype
>>>> 
>>>> After 10 years of continuous use I've been forced to abandon Skype as the 
>>>> operation of the Windows 10 and Mac versions have become incredibly 
>>>> complex in my view to the point that the very basics seem to have been 
>>>> fo

Re: [Techno-Chat]: I've Abandoned Skype

[Gordon Smith]

Yes, it would appear so. Just popped up and checked it and the thing seems to 
have totally changed. So I feel justified in what I personally have done.



My compliments and kindest regards
Gordon Smith:
<gor...@mac-access.net>
Accessibility & Information Technology Support Specialist..

This Message Was Created Using 100% Recycled Electrons. If you can avoid 
printing it, please do so. Think of the environment, save a tree!

  Contact:

Twitter: @maciosaccess

• UK Free Phone:
0800 8620538
• UK Geographic / Global:
+44(0) 1642 688095
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+44 (0)7804 983849
• Vic. Australia:
+61 38 82059300
• US/Canada:
+1 646 9151493











On 25 Jan 2018, at 17:53, The wolf <hank.smith...@gmail.com> wrote:

is the mac skype still accessible? or did they break that as well?

On 1/25/2018 3:08 AM, Dane Trethowan wrote:
> Indeed but having said thaqt I never rule anything in or out so its 
> very possible that Microsoft may add some accessibility to the 
> product in the future.
> 
> The Mac version of Skype has also changed.
> 
> 
> 
> On 25/01/2018 9:02 PM, Gordon Smith wrote:
>> That is correct. The Windows 10 version, (as of the Fall Creator’s Update) 
>> is now a very different animal.
>> 
>> I too have dumped it. I don’t see it as a viable option any longer.
>> 
>> ========
>> 
>> My compliments and kindest regards
>> Gordon Smith:
>> <gor...@mac-access.net <mailto:gor...@mac-access.net>>
>> Accessibility & Information Technology Support Specialist..
>> 
>> This Message Was Created Using 100% Recycled Electrons. If you can avoid 
>> printing it, please do so. Think of the environment, save a tree!
>> 
>>   Contact:
>> 
>> Twitter: @maciosaccess
>> 
>> • UK Free Phone:
>> 0800 8620538
>> • UK Geographic / Global:
>> +44(0) 1642 688095
>> • UK Mobile/SMS:
>> +44 (0)7804 983849
>> • Vic. Australia:
>> +61 38 82059300
>> • US/Canada:
>> +1 646 9151493
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> On 23 Jan 2018, at 17:56, Dane Trethowan <grtd...@internode.on.net 
>> <mailto:grtd...@internode.on.net>> wrote:
>> 
>> You cannot use Skype For Desktop under Windows 10 any longer as far as I 
>> know, I was using Skype For Desktop but the software was updated overnight 
>> to Skype For Windows 10.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> On 24/01/2018 2:54 AM, Rick Alfaro wrote:
>>> Which Skype are you using under Windows, the modern windows app or the 
>>> desktop version? The desktop version has a ton of hotkeys and they are all 
>>> redefinable under tools>options. It sounds like you are using the modern 
>>> app which is a nightmare to use.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> -Original Message-
>>> From: Dane Trethowan [mailto:grtd...@internode.on.net 
>>> <mailto:grtd...@internode.on.net>]
>>> Sent: Monday, January 22, 2018 10:46 PM
>>> To: techno-chat@techno-chat.net <mailto:techno-chat@techno-chat.net>
>>> Subject: [Techno-Chat]: I've Abandoned Skype
>>> 
>>> After 10 years of continuous use I've been forced to abandon Skype as the 
>>> operation of the Windows 10 and Mac versions have become incredibly complex 
>>> in my view to the point that the very basics seem to have been forgotten by 
>>> Microsoft, this point is driven home when you discover that there seems to 
>>> be no keyboard shortcut or global hotkey anywhere to answer incoming calls.
>>> 
>>> I've looked at the keyboard shorcut/hotkey chart on the Microsoft Skype 
>>> Support site but no joy there.
>>> 
>>> Now the decision I made is only from a personal point of view and I would 
>>> like to be proven wrong on my assessment so if anyone knows what I don't 
>>> then please speak up.
>>> 
>>> I'm looking at alternatives to Skype to suit my audio and video needs, one 
>>> of those alternatives is Facetime which a whole swag of people probably 
>>> have but don't realise it.
>>> 
>>> If you're on a Mac computer then you'll find Facetime as part of Mac OSX.
>>> 
>>> If you're on an iPhone or iPad then you've probably seen Facetime on the 
>>> first page of Apps.
>>> 
>>> The Facetime App on the Mac is very easy to use with only a few options 
>>> appearing on the screen, likewise with Face

[Techno-Chat]: The Sky Q Experience Just Got Better!

[Gordon Smith]

Hello everybody

Currently I’m working on a review of the UK’s premier TV experience, Sky Q. I 
just improved my experience by upgrading to Multiscreen. Now, not only do I 
have a Sky Q Mini box upstairs, but I can watch live, on-demand and recorded 
programmes on my associated tablets or phones. In the case of recorded and 
on-demand content, I can even download it to my tablet and watch it later 
without being online.

Because I have an Android TV with Google TalkBack installed, I can programme my 
recordings via the Sky Q app, use the TV as a remote using the Sky TV app, or 
watch content directly from the box.

The Sky Q Mini box mimics the contents and configuration of your main box, and 
visa versa. So, if you change something on either box, such as make a 
recording, the main box acts as a server, from which the Mini box can take 
content.

From the accessibility perspective, there really is no limit. Since Sky has 
gone to great lengths to ensure that its apps and its website are all 100% 
accessible, what you cannot do directly with the remote, you can do with the 
apps. In my case, since my bedroom TV is Android, and since the Mini box is 
directly connected to it, I get the full experience with no additional hardware 
required.

Another little bonus I got with this system, which some are not aware of, is 
that the Sky Q boxes are AirPlay compatible. And the engineer I spoke too on 
Saturday said he thought that possibly they were Play-Fi compatible devices as 
well, although I doubt that. I’ll check it later. But I have tried the device 
with AirPlay and it works very well indeed. I haven’t tried the Mini box, but 
I’m sure that will also work.

Both boxes also have a type A USB 2.0 interface. You can use this to play 
movies and audio content on-the-fly. I doubt you can, but somebody suggested to 
me recently that you could save your recordings to these devices as well. I 
very much doubt that, as it would contravene Sky’s user contract.

As for my Android TV. It’s a Cello Electronics, British-made TV and, purely by 
chance, the manufacturer of this device is based less than 20 miles from where 
I live. They’ve invited me to take a ride up there and have a guided tour of 
their manufacturing and design facilities, meet the engineers and talk to them 
about accessibility. They seem to be very keen to include accessibility as part 
of their products. They produce all sizes of TV, from 14-Inch portable 12-Volt 
driven to 75-Inch multi-speaker Smart TV. They also produce premium portable 
DVD and Blu-Ray players with in-built screen and LED technologies.

The audio quality from the TV I have isn’t great in terms of hi-fi equipment. 
But for bedroom use, it’s more than acceptable. Nice and clear, even at full 
volume, which is the primary concern.

Anyway, for those who are interested, more about Sky Q when I’ve finished the 
review.



My compliments and kindest regards
Gordon Smith:
<gor...@mac-access.net>
Accessibility & Information Technology Support Specialist..

This Message Was Created Using 100% Recycled Electrons. If you can avoid 
printing it, please do so. Think of the environment, save a tree!

  Contact:

Twitter: @maciosaccess

• UK Free Phone:
0800 8620538
• UK Geographic / Global:
+44(0) 1642 688095
• UK Mobile/SMS:
+44 (0)7804 983849
• Vic. Australia:
+61 38 82059300
• US/Canada:
+1 646 9151493













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