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Approved-By:  Bill McGarry <wtm@SHELDEV.SHEL.ISC-BR.COM>
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Date:         Thu, 27 Aug 1992 16:44:58 EDT
Reply-To:     Bill McGarry <wtm@sheldev.shel.isc-br.com>
From:         Bill McGarry <wtm@sheldev.shel.isc-br.com>
Subject:      Handicap Digest # 2893
X-To:         LHCAP <l-hcap@VM1.NODAK.EDU>

                             THE HANDICAP DIGEST

                                 Issue # 2893

                          Thursday, August 27, 1992

Today's Topics:


                                ******

                           Blink Talk Digest # 700

                             Re: "Blind Loyalty"
               new tax on blind audiophiles and computer users
                Re: Using Vocal-Eyes with WordPerfect Office
                          Re: Braille N Speak Compl
                     Re: tiny talk clarification needed
                          Re: Braille And Spelling
                     Scr Rev and Voice Syn Info request
                             Re: GUIDE DOG BLUES
                                Re: Questions
                             Re: GUIDE DOG BLUES


                                ******


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                              Bill McGarry (Moderator)
                              (203) 337-1518



------



Subject: Re: "Blind Loyalty"
From: mattioli@took.enet.dec.com (John Mattioli)
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation


In article <23845@handicap.news>, Mike.Freeman@f126.n105.z1.fidonet.org
(Mike Freeman) writes...
>
>It should be noted that Mrs. Jernigan worked at the National
>Center long before she married Dr. Jernigan.  Thus, the habits she
>acquired would tend to carry over.
>

I agree to a point.  Some habbits are hard to break and some are
less difficult.  I called my new dog by the name of my old dog for
quite some time just because they both filled the role of dog.  I
might add that every time I realized I was calling Harris Vessy it
brought a certain amount of pain, not a great deal, but certainly
enough to motivate me to stop doing it!  The Blind Loyalty article
doesn't point out that Jernigan's wife worked at the center before
she married him and, if the rule is that everyone uses Mr. Mrs. Dr.
etc, than the rules would naturally apply to her as well.  The
article also fails to mention that the rules at the center are that
people are called by title and sirname.  Despite the fact that I am
a rather informal type of guy, I can appreciate the value of doing
things this way.  In fact, this is the way Seeing Eye does things
and I'm one of the people who enjoys this to a poing.

I must congratulate you on your last message.  I believe you're the
first person to do more than state that the article is slanted or
that it lies.  I believe you're the first person to point out a
specific place where it does so.  I'll give you the credit even
though you didn't actually do it yourself but rather left me to do
it after you raised some points.

>
>P.S.  John, I realize this may be anathema to you; we programmers are,
>by and large, an informal bunch.  But believe me, in context, the rule
>makes some sense.  In any case, compared to worrying about decreasing
>the unemployment rate of the blind or fighting for minimum wages for
>sheltered shop workers or fighting to get blind day-care workers
>accepted, a matter like what one is to be called on the job pales into
>insignificance.
>

I totally agree so long as everyone at the center doesn't call each
other Joe, Jim, Bob, Sally, Jill, Jane or Dr. Jernigan.  It would
seem, from your note, that the Title Sirname rule applies to all
and I have no problem with that.  I agree that compared to the
issues you raise this is pretty unimportant, but I must wonder how
unimportant it is when compared with the airline issues (seeing as
how I've never had trouble flying and I do it with some regularity :-).



------

----------
                                 John Mattioli
                           (Put witty repartee here)

(DEC E-NET)	TOOK::MATTIOLI
(UUCP)		{decvax, ucbvax, allegra}!decwrl!took.enet.dec.com!MATTIOLI
(ARPA)		MATTIOLI@TOOK.enet.dec.com




------



Subject: new tax on blind audiophiles and computer users
From: philg@zurich.ai.mit.edu (Philip Greenspun)
Organization: M.I.T. Artificial Intelligence Lab.



In the decades to come, every American computer user who purchases
floppy disks will pay a tax.  Every blind American who makes an audio
recording will pay a tax.  Most of the money collected will go to
record companies owned by foreigners, notably Sony, Philips and
Matsushita.  Congress, after receiving substantial campaign
contributions from the recording industry, has decided that Americans
are criminals who don't want to pay for CDs.  Therefore digital audio
media such as DAT tapes and writable optical disks will be taxed and
the money handed over to record companies and artists.  Just as
consumer DAT and 8mm video tape have become the standard high-capacity
backup media for workstations/minis, it is likely that writable
optical digital audio disks will replace today's magnetic floppy
disks.  Sony and Matsushita own two of the largest record companies in
the US and would get the most money from this bill.  Two years from
now, every time American users of IBM computers make a backup, they'll
be paying a tax to help out IBM's Japanese competitors.

Additional reasons to dislike this bill are varied.  It will be
illegal to sell consumer digital audio recorders in the US that can
make digital-to-digital copies after one generation.  You'll pay a tax
on your shiny new Japanese machine, you'll pay a tax on the tape and
when you try to assemble a recording of your own music, all you'll get
is a big flashing "you are a criminal sign."  You'll have to spend
$5,000 on a "professional" machine in order to gain any real benefit
from the new products.  Technology that should make audio recording
easier for the blind by eliminating the need to set recording levels
will actually make audio recording more difficult by mandating
recorders that only work sometimes and that indicate whether they are
working or not solely by a flashing light.

You can stop this bill from passing.  Congress is sticking it to us
because the recording industry paid them and they don't think anyone
will notice.  CSPAN and most newspapers haven't covered this issue at
all because the bill has dozens of co-sponsors and is therefore
considered non-controversial.  If a Congressman gets even a few
letters regarding this bill, which he's probably hardly thought about
at all, it might be enough to make him think that subsidizing Japanese
computer vendors isn't such a great idea.  Our Senate has already
passed this bill by "unanimous consent" (a procedure whereby a bill
can be approved at midnight when only two Senators are on the floor).
The bill is going to be voted on by the House in mid-September.  It is
called the "Audio Home Recording Act of 1991" and is HR-3204 in the
House.  You can write to your elected representatives this way:

Representative Foo Bar
The Capitol
Washington, DC 20515

If you want any more information, please feel free to contact me,
Philip Greenspun, at the MIT Department of Electrical Engineering,
(philg@altdorf.ai.mit.edu).  I testified before the relevant Senate
subcommittee last Fall as the "nerd witness from MIT."

----------------------------- sample letter

August 17, 1992

Representative Foo Bar
The Capitol
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Representative Bar:

Please write to let me know your position on the Audio Home Recording
Act of 1991 (AHRA).  This bill will injure consumers, especially blind
consumers like me, and help foreigners to compete with American
consumer electronics and computer manufacturers.

AHRA will

1) not "promote the progress of the arts," the constitutional
justification for expanding copyright.  In fact, struggling artists
will have to pay more for media and digital audio recorders, thus
hindering them in their ability to compete with estabished stars.
Will Michael Jackson produce better music if the AHRA increases his
income by 1%?  Or will we be deprived of a future Michael Jackson
because an unknown artist could not afford a "professional" digital
recorder?

2) artificially restrain the American computer industry, which, in the
absence of legislation, would use the same blank media as digital
audio recorders.  DAT tapes, the only currently available consumer
digital audio format, are far more popular for computer data backup
than for copying CDs.  Why should I pay a tax on tapes I use to backup
my Apple hard disk to Apple's foreign competitors (Sony and
Matsushita)?

3) make digital audio recorders hard to use for the blind by mandating
the serial copy management system (SCMS).  These expensive new toys
will only record if the SCMS circuits are happy and that fact is
indicated only by flashing lights that I can't read.  Nor can I edit
my own books on tape with a digital audio recorder because SCMS
eventually assumes that I am trying to copy commercial material and
shuts down the tape recorders.  Is this how technology is supposed to
improve life for the disabled?

This bill is completely unnecessary.  Firstly, Congress's own OTA
determined that most taping is done of material that the consumer
already owns.  If I pay $15 for a CD that costs $1 to manufacture, is
it really so unfair that I make a copy to play somewhere else?  Blind
consumers mostly tape record their own voices.  Is it fair that I
should have to pay a tax to Sony and Michael Jackson for the privilege
of recording my own voice?

Secondly, we are about to enter into an era of high-bandwidth digital
communications and machines that transparently handle computer data,
video and audio in the same manner.  This legislation will look
ridiculously vague and silly in five years.  Only lawyers will be
happy with the resulting chaos and litigation.  As a computer
professional, I deplore this kind of government meddling with
infant technology.

Finally, the idea that we Americans are all criminals doesn't sit well
with me.  We paid $6 billion for prerecorded music last year despite
the fact that we all have cassette recorders.  We paid tens of
billions for publications despite widespread Xerox machines.  We paid
tens of billions for software despite the ease of copying it with
computers.  We gave you the benefit of the doubt by voting for you --
please do the same for us.

Very truly yours,


Joe Constituent




------



Subject: Re: Using Vocal-Eyes with WordPerfect Office
From: janina@netcom.com (Janina Sajka)
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest)

Have you eliminated Repeat Performance from your Office
configuration?  That solved for me, but I'm using ASAP.




------



Subject: Re: Braille N Speak Compl
From: nff2355@dsacg2.dsac.dla.mil (Dale Pennington)
Organization: Defense Logistics Agency Systems Automation Center, Columbus


From article <23768@handicap.news>, by David.Tanner@f168.n129.z1.fidonet.org
(David Tanner):
> Index Number: 23768
>
> I guess the only thing that really bothers me is that I wish we had
> a choice of the 640 or the BNS classic.

David,

I Don't recall where I read it, but I spacifically recall seeing
that the BNS CLASSIC would still be available for those who want
it.  If I get the opportunity to confirm this I'l get back to you.

Dale Pennington
Internet:  dpennington@dsac.dla.mil






------



Subject: Re: tiny talk clarification needed
From: dashiell@nadc.nadc.navy.mil (Jude DaShiell)

Eric,
Is tiny talk meant to be a replacement software package
or a supplement package?
I'm thinking of registering this package if it's a replacement but not if
all it can do is supplement existing ram resident software already on my
machine.
To make my symphonix 200 machine talk is done by having the
three commands:
sonix
tts
bvision
in my autoexec.bat file.  I will definitely register tiny talk
when I do my upgrade to a 386 or 486 machine but now am
running on an true blue xt computer with 512k of ram.
If this is replacement software which of those three commands can be
replaced?

jude <dashiell@nadc.nadc.navy.mil>




------



Subject: Re: Braille And Spelling
From: nff2355@dsacg2.dsac.dla.mil (Dale Pennington)
Organization: Defense Logistics Agency Systems Automation Center, Columbus


From article <23732@handicap.news>,
by Cindy.Hallenbeck@p0.f89.n129.z1.fidonet.org (Cindy Hallenbeck):
> Index Number: 23732
>
> I remember in second grade when my father asked me to
> spell the word "good", and I blurted out "g d"!  It
> came as a horrible shock to them and me too.  I then
> realized the dangers of grade 2 braille.

     I'm sure glad to hear that I was not the only one having such
     an experience.  I was in the third or fourth grade when I sent
     a postcard home with the word said in it.  I knew that "s d"
     was a contraction, but I had never seen the word spelled out.
     Consequently, it came out "s e d".  My parents never let me
     live that one down.

     Dale Pennington
     Internet:  dpennington@dsac.dla.mil




------



Subject: Scr Rev and Voice Syn Info request
From: sferguso@vdoe386.vak12ed.edu (Steve Ferguson)
Organization: Virginia's Public Education Network (Richmond)

Greetings:
     I would like to inquire as to what the forum believes to be
the best buy for the money in the way of screen review programs and
voice synthesizers.  There seems to be a wide variety of things out
there.  What is considered low end, middle and high end price and
feature wise when considering voice synthesizers?  Which screen
review program(s) are best for driving the speech output?  I have
had experience with Echo PC and Votrax TNT in the way of voice
output.  I am also relatively familiar with Flipper (older
version), Soft Vert (older version), and now Tiny Talk.  I am
trying to help a variety of blind individuals gain access to PCs
in a variety of situations (home, college and high school).  Word
processing seems to be the task most people are trying to (or want
to) perform on their machines.

Thanks for any advice offered...Steve Ferguson/Education
Specialist/VDVH




------



Subject: Re: GUIDE DOG BLUES
From: fstruwe@unlinfo.unl.edu (Jacque Virts)
Organization: University of Nebraska - Lincoln

Have you tried enlisting the help of the organization from which you
obtained your guide dog?  It's my understanding that Seeing Eye, for
example, will "go to bat for you" in cases such as this.  Just a
thought.

My husband and I just walk right in to places without hesitation and
really don't give anyone the chance to say "no" to us, but I supposed
we've been lucky so far.  I have learned over the years to never give
people advance knowledge about things which they could use against me,
and this is just one more example!

Best wishes in your battle with these hotels.  They should be taken to
court for discrimination!

Jacque Virts
Thank you F. John for letting me use your computer!




------



Subject: Re: Questions
From: janina@netcom.com (Janina Sajka)
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest)

Steve Mendelsohn did indeed write such a book a few years ago.  He
has another, more complete, one on the way.  Last night he told me
his publisher was expecting it to be available in November.

Any of you who are (or will be) in the San Francisco Bay Area on
Tuesday, 15 September, can hear Steve speak and answer questions on
the subject of "Financing our Adaptive Technology Needs" (or more
precisely, "How the *** do I pay for all this stuff?"  Steve will
be our featured speaker at the September meeting of BayTalk
Computer Users Group which meets the third Tuesday of every month,
6 PM, Sun Peking Restaurant, 2068 Center St., one-half block west
of the BART station in scenic downtown Berkeley (California).





------



Subject: Re: GUIDE DOG BLUES
From: nff2355@dsacg2.dsac.dla.mil (Dale Pennington)
Organization: Defense Logistics Agency Systems Automation Center, Columbus


From article <23784@handicap.news>,
by Kristopher.Roberts@f11.n203.z1.fidonet.org (Kristopher Roberts):
> Index Number: 23784
>
> ...  Yes, I am pissed!  Imagine if a couple were celebrating their
> 50th wedding aniversary and wanted to live it up in a nice
> oceanfront motel on Cape Cod. ... BUT, they were deprived of enjoying
> such a simple celebration because one of them had a guide dog. ....

Perhaps you should write to the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce, your
congressman and, if they are different, the congressmen of the Cape
Cod area.

My wife has a guide dog.  Once when we attempted to enter a local
deli we were told it was illegal to bring the dog.  After some
discussion we simply offered to call the police and let them deside
if it was against the law for a guide dog to be in a deli.  The deli
person backed down immediately and let my wife come in with her dog.

Dale Pennington
Internet:  dpennington@dsac.dla.mil





------






                                ******

                  End of Issue # 2893 of the Handicap Digest

                                ******
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU