Hi listers. I noticed lately that there is a lot of talk on the list about the ways in which the braille note is used. I thought I would give my 2 cents to this conversation.
First of all, I am a student in college, and one of the really neat things my university does, is puts an electronic copy of all my textbooks online. They can be downloaded from a personal web site given to me by the university. So, either by the use of keyweb, or a flash card reader and the PC, I transfer all my books to the braille note. Its really cool and amazing that all my books fit on the braille note, and in a little machine, not even the size of a braille book, I now have both braille and speech access to everything. Most times, the braille note is the only thing I ever take to class. Its nice and easy to switch between the book reader and keyword, so that I can both read specific parts of the book the professor is referring to in discussion, and take notes quickly and conveniently. I also use the braille note for writing rough drafts of papers, only transferring them to MS word on the computer to address different formatting issues and such. Often times, I also download a lot of email, because I find that having my email with me wherever I go is much more efficient than having to wait to check and respond to things all in front of the PC. Finally, even though it has some problems, I often use the gps to make sure that I get off the bus at the right stop, as drivers are kind of bad at remembering to announce such things. Its also helpful when I get turned around to see what direction I am going, and see what POI's I have created are near me. It really helps me get oriented again. Well, sorry for rambling. Didn't mean to be so long-winded. John J Herzog
