Rose, I totally agree with what you said about practical issues
that need to be addressed. I'm a fulltime rehab teacher, and I
frequently use braillenote when I evaluate and write reports. I
too think that there should be more support for microsoft word.
I was really impressed that Humanware added database mananger. I
used database manager for all case records. I think that the
upgrade should primiarily focuse on work oriented tasks. The
braillenote is certainly a great tool for the job.
Mike
----- Original Message -----
From: "Rose Combs" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: "'vicky collins'"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,<[email protected]
Date sent: Sun, 02 Sep 2007 22:53:42 -0700
Subject: RE: [Braillenote] general comments/was List of current
bugs foundunderKeySoft 7.5.17
OK, for some of you this upgrade is great. For me, what I am
hearing is
play lists which I don't think will ever be a feature I have much
interest
in since I don't use the Braille note for multimedia often as the
speaker
isn't built for that.
Foreign language support, great for a lot of you, but I don't
have any skill
at foreign languages.
SSL is the only thing I see that I actually consider something I
might use.
Thing is, we have been asking for more current Microsoft Word
Support since
at least 2002 if not before. This summer I was faced with a new
computer
program that was not at all Jaws Friendly that I am forced to use
at work.
Although the program can and does write its reports (medical
reports) in
HTML/XML format, I was sent five Word documents with all the
keystrokes and
other instructions I was being provided for use of said program
and not one
of them would open in its native format on the Braille Note and I
tried
various options so that I could view these files on the Braille
note from
trying to send them as Word 97 documents to RTF and they would
not open. I
had to convert all five documents to text and this rendered them
nearly but
not quite useless to me, symbols were translated to full words
but, even
more frustrating was the fact that all the lines were run
together and
adding returns to separate them and hopefully turn them into
paragraphs did
not make any of these documents nagivitable by the usual commands
to move
from item to item in a list.
I have managed to learn and use the said program with these
documents after
spending a full weekend trying to figure out how to get them into
a useable
form on the BN and in reality, I suppose the best thing I could
have done
was to copy type each line from the computer into the Braille
Note to have
gotten the results I would have liked to have but, the sad truth
is, I did
not do that due to time constraints, family illness and the fact
that I
needed some form of these files immediately.
Another issue, one we have talked about in the one chat I
attended is the
fact that hooking up the Braille Note for a display on a
computer,
especially with Jaws (which is what many of us use in the work
setting) is
next to impossible and I am not computer illiterate. I finally
bought a
Focus Braille display despite having two Braille notes (one at
home and one
at work) because it is so easily connected to a computer, plug it
in, and
you are ready to go. I have never been able to get bluetooth to
work, my
computer, especially at work does not have a serial port and I am
restricted
from putting software to support a USB-to-serial adapter on that
computer.
Despite all this, despite my feelings of frustration with the
above issues,
I still use my Braille note daily, I manage to find or live with
workaround
solutions I'd rather not use or solutions that are half solutions
to major
problems in the work world because I still think it is the best
thing going
out there, and because even if I wanted to switch, I have a lot
of time and
money invested in the product.
Once these bugs are squashed, and more importantly once I can be
assured
that my addresses and calendar entries can be copied from
computer to
Braille Note or from Braille Note to computer, I will get this
upgrade, but,
I sure wish some of the issues I and others have been asking for
on this
list since the days when Larry Lewis was at HW which tells you
how long it
has been were addressed. I distinctly remember addressing some
of these
issues when Larry was there, so it was, as I recall the fall of
2002 when
the Word issues first came up. The only thing I think we got
from those
discussions was the ability to sync calendar and address with
Outlook a
great and badly needed feature but since then Microsoft products
have been
at the bottom of the list as far as new features are concerned.
I live and work in the Real World, I need Real World solutions.
I don't
need FM radios that work intermittently, I don't need games I
lose patience
with if I ever have time to play them at all.
OK, sorry for the rant, but I have been frustrated by having to
practically
rewrite everything I am sent from my employer in order to have it
under my
fingers in a somewhat timely fashion.
Rose Combs
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of
vicky collins
Sent: Sunday, September 02, 2007 8:13 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: RE: [Braillenote] general comments/was List of current
bugs
foundunder KeySoft 7.5.17
Hi All,
Well, I'm still on vacation, and thus haven't had the chance to
upgrade yet.
However, I thought I would make a few comments regarding Rose's
post,
anyway.
First, seeing as we do appear to have this major translation
problem with KS
7.5, although Brian's assurances from the HW staff have been
appreciated, I
can't help but be a bit surprised that a representative from HW
hasn't yet
offered these same assurances to the list. Oh, sure, I know a
patch to fix
these bugs may very well take some time, but it shouldn't take
but just a
moment or two for an HW staff member to acknowledge and try to
alleviate the
concerns of the users of the BN products regarding this issue,
even if it is
a weekend.
Second, sure, with just looking at things from a distance, so to
speak, one
might very well think that the beta team should have caught these
bugs.
However, in defense of that beta team, what with checking all
kinds of
issues and trying to confirm that as many as possible known bugs
have been
fixed, sometimes things like this do just get missed. Then, too,
in this
case, there were several new things HW were trying to implement
with this
release, and they were also trying to meet that SSL email
encryption date of
September first.
Third, speaking of that September first date, I was thinking that
A T and T,
SBCGlobal in my case, gave this September date to start requiring
the SSL
encryption; however, I'm still able to send and receive email
just fine with
my BN and KS 7.2. But, grin, who knows what will happen Tuesday
when folks
go back to work in the US.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Rose Combs" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: "'Richard Ring'" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,"'Kevin
Chao'" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,"'Alex Parks'"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,"'Joseph Lee'"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,<[email protected]>,
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date sent: Sat, 1 Sep 2007 18:47:34 -0700
Subject: RE: [Braillenote] List of current bugs found under
KeySoft 7.5.17
This is the first upgrade I have not gotten within a day of it
being
announced. My big reason was that I use Keysync to sync my
address book and
planner, and this once saved me a lot of trouble because I had a
major
computer crash and was able to restore my planner/calendar and
addresses
from the Braille note.
However, after hearing the translation stories today, I am almost
glad I
can't just rush up and get the update. I want what I am sending
out to be
exactly what I intended it to be.
I am very disappointed in the HW tactics this time too, Based in
NZ it might
be but they had to know August 31 was the start of a long weekend
in the
states and that they would be leaving thousands of customers
without support
over the weekend. If the update process works like usual, I have
not even
read the directions yet, then for many of us it will go well but
some will
have problems.
Personally I'd rather have waited days, weeks or even months for
an upgrade
that worked rather than have one that would make people look like
illiterates while sending e-mail message to this list or to
anywhere.
I am disappointed with what I am hearing from a company that I
have
staunchly defended over the years, because for me at least the
Braille Note
was and is one of the most useful pieces of technology I have
bought in the
past 7 years that I use daily, at work, at home, while waiting
for a ride,
in the doctor's office, even to read myself to a state of
relaxation at
night in my bed. I use my PC daily too, but, the Braille Note is
almost a
part of me, seldom do you find me without it. It has even gone
to the
grocery store with me to provide me with the list I have made up
or to take
notes on items I'd like further nutritional info about.
I have never been a beta tester, but know that I'd do my best to
put any
device or program through as many paces as I could even if that
meant doing
things I don't normally do on a daily basis.
So, in short, I am not downloading the upgrade this weekend, and
am
disappointed to hear about these translation problems people are
having
because when I do use the Braille Note for e-mail I want to know
I am
sending exactly what I intended to send.
I do hope these issues are resolved quickly.
Rose Combs
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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