hello humanware staff, development team and all of the list,
I agree with Tom and Rose, there are issues that need to be
fixed, and it seems as if the last few years, Humanware has
listened to some, and not to others.
Yes, it is very nice, that the newest version of keysoft has the
ability to play games, create databases, and play fm radio
stations, of these items, there are some that I like and others
that I could care less about such as the games.
Again, let me say that I really appreciate what Humanware has
done with the braillenote, but I think that so much more can be
done and I would like to take the time to say a few things that I
would like to see worked on.
1. As Tom mentioned, there are still versions of microsoft word
that the braillenote can not open. Case in point, the other day,
my wife sent me a forwarded attachment, that was a microsoft word
file so I could print it for her, and when I tried to do so, it
gave me the exception command violation this is not a valid
microsoft word file, so, I was not able to print it for her.
2. The keyplan menu still has not been fixed, and I have been
asking for Humanware to look into this for about three versions
now, and nothing has been done. What the problem is, is that
when I do a reset, and yes, I still have to do about two or three
resets a day, do to lockups, even with ks 7, my appointments that
have been scheduled will not alert me if there is an alarm set
and then when I do a reset again, when the braillenote comes up
it says I have missed one or more alarms, review or clear. Why
am I so frustrated with this, well, one of the reasons I
purchased my braillenote in the first place, was to be able to
schedule appointments, have alarsks so I would be reminded of
them, as well as schedule appointments for my wife and remind her
when necessary.
If the alarms are not going to sound, then how can I tell her
when she has an appointment if I am not being reminded of it.
3. Now, some may think I am asking for too much, but I have been
asking for a spreadsheet program for a couple of versions now,
and each time the new version comes out I see that it is not
included, and then I mention it again, and some think I am making
too much out of it since the new vertion had just come out and I
am bringing it up again, well, I think that there is no reason
why we cannot have some type of spreadsheet. Why, well, the
simple fact is that some of us work with spreadsheets everyday,
and others of us work with them sometimes, but we use them for
banking purposes, and many many other things. Yes, the databases
are nice to have, but the transaction database will not let you
add and subtract figures which would really be nice. As well as,
that fact is that the databases are not the same as a
spreadsheet, they are merely a database to keep information in
and not to crunch numbers
4. Lastly, I have come across a problem with the databases and I
hope that Humanware will take a look at this, the problem is that
when I create a database that has a time field, and I insert the
time into the field when adding information, it automatically
inserts the am or pm when I type a a or p, when it does this, it
inserts the period between the two letters. But when I do a
search later in this field, it cannot find the time, and I
recently found, that if I go and erase the periods, then resave
it, I can go and search for a time and it will find it. So I
hope that this will be fixed.
So, I hope that Humanware staff will take a look at these items
and will work towards fixing them and make the braillenote a
better tool.
Please don't get me wrong, I do love the braillenote, I just feel
that it can be even better then it is and we should all expect it
to be.
Thanks for listening,
Robert
----- Original Message -----
From: "Rose Combs" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: "'Braillenote List'" <[email protected]
Date: Sat, 4 Feb 2006 09:08:35 -0700
Subject: RE: [Braillenote] A Call for Better Keyword Support and
other things
Yes, I have to ask that my office newsletter be sent to me in
text form
because if I get the original parts of it are totally missing,
and the hyper
links are always blank lines when I transfer it to the BN.
If I happen to have the BN attached to the computer I can send
them through
Active Sync, and that sometimes preserves the links but not
always.
The newsletter is always published in columns with tables.
Rose Combs
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Tom
Lange
Sent: Friday, February 03, 2006 1:58 PM
To: Braillenote List
Subject: [Braillenote] A Call for Better Keyword Support and
other things
Hi list and Humanware support staff,
There are times when I have to vent and get something off my
chest, and this
is one of them.
Today I encountered two problems with a Word document that I
downloaded from
the Project Assist web site in connection with a course that I'm
taking.
First, after downloading the document to my PC and transferring
it to a BN
Classic running Keysoft 6.11 build 26, I attempted to open the
file in
Keyword, at which time I got the "review options?" prompt. So
far, so good,
but when I pressed Enter on that prompt I was told that the file
was not a
recognized Word document. I re-saved the file on the PC as a
Word 97 file,
transferred that one, opened it and it worked fine. As it turns
out, I
couldn't open the original file until I did a 1-2-3 reset, then
all was
well. However, that led to a second problem.
The Word file in question contained a number of web addresses
which I needed
to visit in order to complete a class assignment. Though I could
see them
quite clearly when viewing the Word file on the PC, they were
omitted
entirely from the document when viewing it in Keyweb. I was
unaware that
Keyweb wouldn't display embedded hyperlink fields in a Word
document, so,
frankly, I was a little surprised, and, a tad bit annoyed. My
Braille Note
is on its way back to me, having been upgraded to an MPower which
should be
running Keysoft 7, and I'm really excited about that. Having
heard about all
the neat functionality built into Keysoft 7 and the MPower
platform, I can't
wait to take the unit for a spin.
However, I need to reiterate and expound on something that I've
been saying
for a long, long time. Humanware development managers have been
very
responsive to the needs and wants of the customers, and I extend
a hearty
thumbs-up for their efforts thus far to enhance the functionality
of the
product offering. Many folks, myself included, asked for a
faster hardware
platform and got it, a newer version of Windows CE and got it.
Folks asked
for enhanced media player support, streaming audio, database
functionality,
and the list goes on, and all of that is here now, and that's
great!
But what about the long-standing issues that still need to be
addressed?
Humanware needs to recognize and remember that there's a
significant
percentage of folks within the user population who, like myself,
use the
Braille Note for education and business as well as pleasure on a
day-to-day
basis, so special consideration must be given to ensuring that
those
applications that can be used for education and business have the
best
possible support that the platform will offer. This means that
Keyword, for
example, needs to be able to handle any Word document version
that's thrown
at it, and that in the interest of being fully and seamlessly
integrated
into education and business-related activity, it needs to, among
other
things, be able to handle fancier formatting such as tables
without
crashing and handle markup such as embedded hyperlinks without
omitting the
associated information. It also means that those memory glitches
which
cause critical documents to mysteriously disappear into the bit
bucket need
to be isolated and dealt with in no uncertain terms. Yeah, I ran
across
that one a couple of weeks ago and let me tell ya, folks,
re-creating my
data wasn't much fun.
These issues still haven't been fully addressed in years, and
it's become
apparent that those of us who are concerned about them just
haven't "made
enough noise" by submitting formal requests to Humanware
development or the
support team. So I urge those who feel as I do, stand up and be
counted.
Voice your concerns on the list yet again, and write to Humanware
support
directly as I'm doing at this very moment, so that Humanware
development
managers can see the numbers and know that we're out here
clamoring for
resolution of these issues.
Okay, time to get off my soapbox. No flames, please. See y'all
later.
Tom
___
To leave the BrailleNote list, send a blank message to
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
To view the list archives or change your preferences, visit
http://list.humanware.com/mailman/listinfo/braillenote
___
To leave the BrailleNote list, send a blank message to
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
To view the list archives or change your preferences, visit
http://list.humanware.com/mailman/listinfo/braillenote
___
To leave the BrailleNote list, send a blank message to
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
To view the list archives or change your preferences, visit
http://list.humanware.com/mailman/listinfo/braillenote
