Hi, There are two ways to read the current time but they both do the same thing. control-f8 will focus on the status menu where you will find the clock among other lovely items by using left and right arrow but in order to read the time when you land on the clock, you need to use control-option-down and then up arrow for some reason. Also, you may know that you can set the clock to announce the time at intervals from every 15 minutes, half hour or hour. The other way to get to the status menu is control-option-m with the m tapped twice and then left arrow once and the time will be spoken. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dj Paddy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "General discussions on all topics relating to the use of Mac OS Xby theblind" <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, November 10, 2008 8:07 AM Subject: Re: Finally here
Ester, This is a very comprehensive and useful post. I'm filing this and will begin going through it at home as I am in the Universitys library at the mometn. I've had a quick look at the I Can Work this thing link you provided. This looks extremely useful and I can't thank you and all the rest of you guys enough. I've quite an extensive stack of resources now to get on with. I must admit so far with basic navigation I seem to be doing quite well. Two quick questions. 1. How do I install an application? 2. How can I red the current time? Thanks very much Ester, Alex, Erik, Dave, Mitch for ll your help. I have been showing my Mac to some of my classmates and also my P A today. One actually said, "It's very futuristic----- Original Message ----- looking", another actually said, "It looks a thing of beauty". Several have commented on how thing it is and lite-weight considering the hardware I have in my MB Pro. Oh yes and a third question. How can i check battery status? Thanks again foks. I cant' wait to get out of my Systems Engineering/Requirements class and dull Advanced Database Systems this afternoon to go home and play! Barry From: "Esther" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "General discussions on all topics relating to the use of Mac OS X by theblind" <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, November 09, 2008 9:42 PM Subject: Re: Finally here > Hi, > > I'll try to fill in where I can make some additions to what's already > been mentioned. > > On Nov 7, 2008, at 11:16 AM, Dj Paddy wrote: >> a self confessed geek! I've used all the Windows OS's bar Vista. I am >> looking forward to installing Vmware Fusion and getting Linux up and >> running on here. > If you have some Unix/Linux background, you might be interested in > reading: "Top Ten Mac OS X Hints for Unix Geeks": > > http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2002/10/22/macforunix.html > > This old (but updated) web page gives information on items like running > terminal commands, shells, and system directory structure. >> >> >> 5. Podcasting. >> >> What application is people using for this? I've noticed Podcast Catcher >> in Utilitys but again it's asking me for a password along side my >> username? >> > The easiest application to use for subscribing to and downloading > podcasts is iTunes (assuming you mean listening to podcasts rather than > producing them). The podcasts section of the iTunes Store is probably > the most comprehensive single location for finding podcasts, and iTunes > lets you set options for subscribing, downloading, and managing podcasts > in automated fashion or manually. You don't need an account at the iTunes > Store to subscribe to podcasts. You can do a simple search for podcasts > within iTunes by selecting the iTunes Store in the Sources Table and > entering the name of the podcast followed by a carriage return in the > Search Text Field, then you can move to the search results in the iTunes > Store and optionally sample or play podcast episodes, read episode > descriptions. download specific episodes, or subscribe to a podcast. > > You can also subscribe to podcasts by supplying a URL for the podcast > feed, as with other podcatcher programs. This is a way to use iTunes for > podcasts that don't have entries at the iTunes Store -- like ACB radio's > Main Menu. Use the "Subscribe to Podcast" option in the Advanced Menu on > the iTunes menu bar (VO-M and press "A" to navigate to the Advanced menu > and arrow down to "Subscribe to Podcast" and return) and type in the URL > of the feed, then press return. If you have been using another > podcatcher, you can import the OPML file into iTunes using the File menu. > > Downloaded episodes will appear in the Podcasts section of your iTunes > Library, organized in folders by podcast name. To access these, select > "Podcasts" in the Sources Table, then navigate to the Songs Table to find > your episodes. You'll need to expand a folder (VO- backslash, where > backslash is the rightmost key below the delete key and above the return > key on US keyboards, acts as a toggle to expand or collapse folders here > or in Finder) to view the podcasts. The number of new (unplayed) podcasts > is reported after you hear "Podcasts" in the Sources Table, so you are > alerted to new downloads. New episodes are also flagged in the first > (status) column in the Songs Table for podcasts and their folders. > > You can automate management of your podcasts by using the two buttons > reached by VO-right past the Songs Table for podcasts: the first will let > you change your subscription status (Subscribe or Unsubscribe) to your > selection in the Songs Table, the second will let you specify your > settings for having iTunes check for new podcasts episodes -- how > frequently (hourly, daily, weekly, manually), what to do when new > episodes are available (download all episodes on feed [can be enormous on > some feeds] or latest episode), which episodes to keep (all, all > unplayed, most recent 2, 3, 5, 10, etc., manually manage). You can also > customize your preferences by podcast subscription and use even more > options from the contextual menu in the Songs Table to exempt specific > episodes from the automatic management rules (e.g. "Do not auto > delete" -- which is automatically set for any episode you manually > download). There's also a refresh button (VO-right past the one for > "Settings") that will let you manually update your check of all the > podcast feeds at any time. > > Podcasts that you subscribe to through iTunes will automatically > "bookmark" so that their last played positions are remembered if you stop > in the middle. If you use an iPod and sync contents your latest played > position will transfer between devices, for continuous listening of > podcasts and audiobooks. > > Although simple searches will let you sample the latest episode and > subscribe to podcasts without interacting with the HTML area of the > iTunes Store, navigating into HTML area lets you access a page for each > podcast that gives a complete list of all currently available episodes > (that you can individually sample or download without necessarily > subscribing to the series), navigate links to the corresponding web page > for the podcast, and view what other podcasts subscribers to this podcast > listen to. > > There is also a Power Search link at the iTunes Store that you can use to > search for podcasts by title, author, description, category, and > language. So, for example, if you do a simple search by selecting > "iTunes Store" in your Source Table, then navigating to the Search Text > field and typing "Screenless Switchers" without quotation marks, then > pressing return, you can VO-right to the Songs Table and interact, and > find the single entry (for the latest episode) and sample it by pressing > return. You can also VO-right to the column where you hear "Free" and > route your mouse cursor to your VoiceOver cursor (if you don't have your > Mouse Cursor set to track your VoiceOver cursor), and press (VO-space) to > subscribe. However, if you had interacted with the iTunes Store HTML > area just before your VO- right to the Songs Table, you could have > subscribed by pressing (VO- space) the "subscribe" button (without cursor > routing) or you could have chosen the link to either the Screenless > Switchers podcast or its artwork and pressed it (VO-space) to go to its > podcast page. The podcast page includes a full description of the > podcast series and a subscribe button, along with links to the website, > and a list of "Listeners also subscribed to" links to other podcasts. > Moreover, if you stop interacting and VO-right to corresponding Songs > Table, you'll get a list of all available episodes with release date and > episode description. If you VO-right to where you hear "free" you can > download individual episodes. If you stop interacting and VO-left back > to the iTunes Store HTML area and interact there, you can navigate back > (Command-left bracket) just as you do for web pages. You can also select > the "Power Search" link on that page and press "VO- space" it. This will > allow you to set popup buttons for store categories (e.g."Music" or > "Podcasts" and enter search terms under title, author, description, > etc.). Another item of note is the "iTunes U" category. These are > podcasts released by Universities, Libraries, radio stations with special > educations programs, etc. > >> >> 9 Further learning. >> >> Any recommended resources other than the Voice Over Daisy manual for >> teaching myself? > Erik and others have already mentioned some resources. There's also Tim > Kilburn's VoiceOver web pages: > > http://homepage.mac.com/kilburns/voiceover/ > > and Greg Kearney's VoiceOver Compatibility pages for checking > accessibility of software: > > http://w3.wmcnet.org/vo/ > > Greg also has links to some useful workflows and utilities at that page, > and he's put over some of his Daisy books and documentation at the Curtin > University pages: > > http://www.cucat.org/books.php > > There are various items at the projects page, such as links to eSpeak for > the Mac, and the Olearia Daisy player at: > > http://www.cucat.org/projects.php > > Also, try the guides at I can work this thing: > > http://www.icanworkthisthing.com/docs/mac_with_voiceover/ > > Personally, I use the search facitilies at the Mail Archives for this > list a lot: > > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > > Some of the search features are summarized in the archived post listed > below, which I got to by using the above link, pressing tab to go to the > search field, and typing: > > from:"Esther" erik searching tips > > to give you an idea of how it's done. > > See: > > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/msg36943.html > > With regard to Mobile Me, Erik's remarked: > >> Hi man, I thought .mac/mobile me was a subscription service? The >> reason I didn't sign up was because I thought the screen said it was >> going to be over $100 per year. > > You can get a 1 year subscription through Amazon for $79, I think. But > in any case it's possible to get a free 60-day trial although the signup > web site may still not be accessible so that you have to call Apple > support. One reason people do this is to use iChat, which requires > either a .Mac/Mobile Me account or and AOL account. After the trial > period the login name should still work for iChat, unless things have > changed. > >> >> Thanks heeps for any and all answers, I knwo this is a lot but I'm >> pressed for time as I was meant to have had this system 7 weeks ago, >> (granted it means I got the new Mac Pro now), but I need to get up to >> speed here as quickly as possible for final year projects. >> >> Dj Paddy > > > > HTH > > Cheers, > > Esther > > > > > __________ Information from ESET Smart Security, version of virus > signature database 3597 (20081108) __________ > > The message was checked by ESET Smart Security. > > http://www.eset.com > >
