Miscellaneous

A post on security cameras for the blind? Next up, a goldfish's review of mountain bikes. Right? I do not plan to argue that a camera system is as useful for a blind or low vision person as for someone sighted. In fact, I argue that it may be even more important, thanks to two factors. First, most units include microphones that deliver fair-quality audio for live feeds and recorded clips. Second is the ability to share access to the cameras with a trusted sighted person who can access the system from any Web browser or an installed app.

As I have become more integrated with technology, one of the challenges for me has been keeping that equipment powered up. While I have an iPhone and braille display, I also have other things that need to stay charged such as the microphone that delivers a direct audio signal from the person wearing the device to my hearing aids. It often serves as a life line to keep me able to communicate with those around me who only use speech. Depending on the context, there are many other types of equipment I use throughout my life that make me a more independent person.

I've been using a remote control for a few months and others might find this useful as well.

Intro

What if I told you that you could have a tiny device you can use to control the music, audio books, or podcasts on your iPhone or iPad? Nice, right? No fumbling with on-screen buttons, no limited AirPod controls, no missing the rewind function on your Aftershokz headset. But what if I then told you that this same device can be a remote control for VoiceOver itself? That, without having to touch your screen, you can open and navigate apps, double tap, change the volume, even take a picture? Well, a new product says it can do all of this.

I’ve had the echo Frames third generation from Amazon for a couple weeks now, and I can confidently say they have changed the way I go about my day to day life. When you haven’t yet lived with something, it’s hard to understand living with it. If you were to tell me, well, you have Alexa wherever you are, I wouldn’t really grasp that, as generally speaking I haven’t lived with Alexa in a wearable. As I have now done so, I don’t think before asking Alexa something. It’s become, automatic.

When I first found out that this was going to be coming out, when it was announced in January, I was super jazzed. I knew I was upgrading to a MacBook Pro 14, and I knew that needed a 100W adapter.
Most 100W adapters are huge. They can be the size of an iPhone and don't fit anywhere without taking up a whole wall outlet to itself.
Not the Anker nano 736. It was released a few days ago and I really, really needed to have one.

I have a love-hate relationship with Anker. I think their charging accessories are solid, but I find the rest of their products to be mediocre. I’m also not at all fond of their aesthetic choices. Why they insist on covering everything with shiny black plastic is baffling. Guys, it’s going to scratch 5 seconds out of the box. Still, some of their stuff is good, and I think I may have found another gem. Before we continue, I should add that this station does not have Magsafe charging. If you want to take advantage of that on your iPhone 12, you’ll have to look elsewhere.

As advertised on the web, the Apple TV comes with VoiceOver. Enabling VoiceOver on the Apple TV without sighted assistance is easy: Connect the device via HDMI to your TV or AV-Receiver.  Make sure the appropriate port is choosen on your TV or AV-Receiver so that you can hear audio coming from it once its booted.  Then connect the power to the Apple TV and wait for it to boot.

Once its finished it will announce to you that you are supposed to press the lower right button three times to enable VoiceOver.

A friend who is also blind told me about this really cool accessory that can auto-track ones face, which is excellent for blind people who are needing to do selfies or video meetings. Belkin Auto-Tracking Stand Pro with DockKit has been out for a bit, my friend got it first, I tried it at his house, then I got one for myself, and have used it for both video meetings and selfies.

There are 3 things that are really cool about it it that are simple and intuitive:

<h3> Introduction</h3>

Intro

Since 2011, my home Wi-Fi network had been powered by an Apple Airport Extreme base station. Having gone way too long with a basic Netgear router that constantly needed rebooting and had spotty signal throughout the house, I was looking for something that was fast, reliable, and accessible.

I've recently seen some forum topics about the accessibility of some of the Fitbit devices. Here is a review from my blog. This is for the flex including the app. Enjoy.

I thought I'd come on here and give my review on this awesome portable charger.
I received this charger as a christmas gift about a year ago. The person I got it from purchased it from qvc. Not sure of the price at the time but now it's around $39.00.

This is a handy little gadget that plugs in to the earphone jack of a phone.

<h1>What's in the box</h1>
The Ice phone comes with a stand for the phone to sit on which makes it look like an old style phone. There is a space on the stand to put your iphone. It also comes with the handset in a choice of colours, and an instructions booklet.