[no subject]

[K. Washington via Pc-audio]

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I'm not thrilled with any software on my PC 
automatically examining my personal emails to 
tell me anything. I can see hackers now thinking 
of ways of using this "Improvement" too their 
advantage. Thanks... but no thanks!


At 03:28 AM 5/23/2016, you wrote:

Hi Dane
Kortana will be much more intelligent this year. 
For example examining your mails for 
appointments and being able to notify you about these.


Brian

-Oprindelig meddelelse-
Fra: Pc-audio 
[mailto:pc-audio-boun...@pc-audio.org] PÃ¥ vegne af Dane Trethowan

Sendt: 22. maj 2016 23:17
Til: PC Audio Discussion List 
Emne: Windows 10 and Cortana

Hi!


I'm surprised Cortana hasn't been mentioned here 
at all, for those who don't know Cortana is the 
search facility in Windows 10 which combines 
Voice Recognition to search for and accomplish tasks.



I use Cortana from time to time but for some 
reason I don't feel as comfortable using Cortana 
on my Windows Desktop as I do using Google on one of my Android devices.



In my view Google products have a strangle hold 
on the Voice Recognition game but having said 
all that its early days for Cortana and we're 
going to see a lot of development in this area 
from all sorts of players and perhaps we'll even 
see Apple with their SIRI catch up in this area too.



I've been able to have Cortana open Apps on my 
computer, tell me the time and current 
temperature in different locations and have 
Cortana open various web sites but I haven't 
really been able to get much further than that.



I tried to have Cortana send an eMail but I was 
told I didn't have an eMail account configured 
which isn't quite correct, I use Mozilla 
Thunderbird on the Desktop PC and - whilst 
Cortana has no problem whatever in opening 
Thunderbird when commanded - it must rely on an 
Outlook Email account or something similar set up, that's my assumption anyway.



Surprisingly I haven't been able to get Cortana 
to "Call" numbers and this struck me as very odd 
given I have Skype, a Microsoft product 
installed on the system.  When I asked Cortana 
to "Call 123 4567" I was told that, "Sorry, I 
can't call anyone on this system".



So there we are, my few cents worth on 
Cortana.  Besides the voice recognition features 
is the search feature from the keyboard which I 
just wouldn't be without and of course I've been using this since Windows 7.





--

**
Those who don't need help are prepared to help themselves



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[no subject]

[K. Washington via Pc-audio]

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I've experienced this same oddity with the AppleTV 4th and 5th Gen. 
It's like VoiceOver activates starting at volume 0 and then it 
automatically raises the volume to the level set in settings after a 
few seconds has elapsed. Once it stops speaking (It's silent for at 
least 5 seconds) the volume automatically decreases down to level 0. 
It's like VoiceOver is in sleep mode waiting for a command to speak 
something. I'm not even sure if Apple realizes this quirk happens 
with VoiceOver on the AppleTV.


I don't experience this at all on my iPod.

At 06:48 PM 5/7/2016, you wrote:
I recently got a fourth generation Apple TV and connected it to a 
Samsung TV which is connected to a Klipsch sound bar via optical 
cable. After some experimentation, including switching out the cable 
and trying a different and older TV to make sure the problem wasn't 
our newer TV, I have determined that there is an issue with 
voiceover cutting out when there isn't already audio playing through 
the sound bar. That is, if there is a TV show or some music or 
whatever going through the Apple TV to the sound bar, and I use the 
included remote or a Bluetooth keyboard to move around on the Apple 
TV and hear what it is saying with voiceover, there is no problem. 
Voiceover does not cut out. However, if there is no audio streaming 
through the sound bar from the Apple TV, then voiceover does cut out 
and the first words are always missed. Someone on an Apple related 
list said he had the same problem and solved it by using a Bluetooth 
headset. The only Bluetooth headset I have is a single ear piece 
Plantronics, probably about five years old, which I use on my iPhone 
when I'm out. This guy thinks that the issue is some kind of energy 
saving thing in the sound bar that doesn't kick in in time to catch 
the first few syllables are words that voiceover is saying.  I'm all 
in favor of energy savings, but really. This is disgusting. I wonder 
if anybody has a Bluetooth headset solution that won't cost very 
much. I have really nice   Headsets, but none of them are Bluetooth. 
I do not intend to buy the new ones from BMW which cost $400. Smile.

Mary


Sent from my iPhone



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[no subject]

[K. Washington via Pc-audio]

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Mary, can you share the subscription information for this mailing 
list? I would like to follow this thread for I've always steered 
clear of Android devices for I thought the Google Talk functionality 
wasn't that good. Maybe things have improved over the years where it 
warrants another look-see LOL.


At 12:15 AM 2/17/2016, you wrote:

I'm on a very high traffic android list, and there has lately been
discussion of android tv boxes, but not an actual tv set, on that list.
People have had issues making certain services that are not  directly
from google, such as Netflix, work at all with talkback.  Devices
discussed include the nexus, Shield and another one that is something
like metracom, but I'm sure I've got that spelled wrong. How much did
this Sony android set set you back? No pun intended.

Mary



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[no subject]

[K. Washington via Pc-audio]

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How accessible are these set-top boxes to someone who is visually 
impaired? Meaning can you receive a new one, unpack it, connect it to 
your TV (Using HDMI cable) and have no problem setting it up? I was 
able to do that very thing with my AppleTV 3rd and 4th generation.


And I really hope the Google Talk functionality of these set-top 
boxes isn't like what I experienced on my Amazon Fire tablet. I mean 
the audio accessibility of these tablets is simply... BRUITAL!


I'm more interested in watching (Listening) to MLB, NBA & NFL game 
broadcasts from other cities. What would you consider the best, most 
accessible set-top box on the market today (I'm in the U.S by the way.)


At 10:04 AM 2/17/2016, you wrote:

No, the boxes I'm talking about are set-top boxes, not full tvs. The
Shield, which is the most expensive of the lot, runs $200 or so. The
nexus is the original one from google, and rumor has it that a new one
will be forthcoming this year. It was selling quite cheap over here a
few months back, on clearance, I suspect. And the Metracom, or however
it is spelled, runs around $100 or a tad less on amazon. My husband
actually bought one of them, because he wanted to experiment with Kody.
Again, these are strictly set top boxes, more like the Apple tv in that
respect, rather than being a full tv set. How android tv may differ in
these boxes from android tv in your set, I have no idea. Both the
shield and the metracom are advertised as coming with lolly pop version
of android tv, so it seems like they should be the same, just based on
that, and supposedly the two newer devices are in line for the upgrade
to android 6.0.

Mary



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[no subject]

[K. Washington via Pc-audio]

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The best I found is discogs.com.

I use an excellent program called MP3Tag to correctly tag all of my 
audio files:

http://www.mp3tag.de/en/

It is the most accessible, powerful MP3 Tag editor I've used in all 
of my years of being on-line. Create a Discogs account and link 
MP3Tag editor to it and you will find yourself wanting to re-tag all 
of your audio files for the heck of it. Offers right mouse click 
audio file tagging via Windows Explorer. Best free audio file 
application I've used ever!


At 05:48 AM 1/28/2016, you wrote:
Can anyone supply me with a reliable database I can use for cd track 
information. The free sites are somewhat unreliable with their data.

Andrea
--
Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can 
start from now and make a brand new ending." - Carl Brad



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[no subject]

[K. Washington via Pc-audio]

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Ok, I do realize this question has probably been posted to the list 
several times, but I'm looking for something more specific.


I'm looking for a totally accessible MP3 Tag Editor that works via 
the "Right Mouse Click" menu of Windows Explorer.


So say I'm looking through a list stored on my PC using Windows 
Explorer. I come across a MP3 song I enjoy listening too, but doesn't 
have any MP3 tag information associated with it.


So I would like to be able to simply Right Mouse Click the file. Then 
select something that says "Retrieve Tag Info." The software would 
then appear and automatically search for songs matching the file's 
naming structure "Artist - Song Title" in a song search engine 
database (Amazon, Google, whatever.) I can arrow down the list of 
matches and select one I feel fits the best and then simply click 
Apply or "Save Tag Info" and then I'm done.


Can someone here please recommend a Paid or Free application that 
works this way? My reason for wanting my MP3 songs properly tagged is 
that it makes it much easier to categorize them in iTunes. Thanks.


By the way, I'm using the latest build of JAWS 17 under Windows 7 (64 
bit) and a TripleTalk USB hardware synth.



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[no subject]

[K. Washington via Pc-audio]

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I'm looking forward to the ability to install/use apps on the 4G version.

I have a SAMNet (System Access Mobile Network) 
membership and love the descriptive video service 
they offer. Use the iOS iBlink radio app to connect to my SAMNet account.


Get tired of watching/listening to Descriptive TV 
shows and movies on my little iPod. Being able to 
use my TV would be so nice thanks to the new 4G Apple TV. Can't wait!


Amazing how much I thoroughly enjoy TV shows and 
movies now having the various scenes audibly 
described (Just watched Ant Man this past Friday.)


At 06:46 PM 12/12/2015, you wrote:

Exactly that.

In Australia at least not only is the new 4G 
Apple TV being sold but the 3G is also available.


There is quite a difference and the first 
notable difference is in price, the Apple 3G TV 
is around $110 Australian whereas the 4G 64GB version is around $350.


What’s the difference between the 2 
generations? the 4G supports Apps - similar to 
how an iPhone or iPad does - but the 3G 
doesn’t however you can still purchase TV 
episodes and so on from the iTunes store, use an 
accessible version of Netflix, stream your 
Music, listen to Radio Stations and use 
Voiceover, no Siri with the 3G version 
unfortunately but some might still consider the 
3G version an absolute bargain, I know I do and 
- now that I know that both 3G and 4G versions 
are available - I’ll wait a little longer, 
save a bit more and buy both Gens, can put one in the den for example.


And a final word with regard to the Apple TV 4G, 
I notice that Pandora have released an App so I can’t wait to see that.



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



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[no subject]

[K. Washington via Pc-audio]

--- Begin Message ---

So will this device replace the trusty old mobility cane or guide dog?

Is there a mailing list I can subscribe to to keep tabs on the 
progress of this device. Suprised Google didn't think of this first. 
Guess the Google Lens project has them pretty tied up LOL.


At 12:41 PM 12/4/2015, you wrote:

> 
http://www.theverge.com/2015/11/30/9821512/microsoft-updates-navigation-headset-for-the-blind 




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



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