WEBVTT - Talking Tech 6th August 2024 0:00:21.378 --> 0:00:25.368 Hello everyone. Welcome to Talking Tech. This edition available from 0:00:25.368 --> 0:00:29.298 August the 6th, 2024. I'm Stephen Jolly, great to have 0:00:29.298 --> 0:00:33.318 you with us listening through Vision Australia Radio, associated Stations 0:00:33.318 --> 0:00:37.038 of the Radio Reading Network or the Community Radio Network. 0:00:37.038 --> 0:00:39.888 There is also the podcast. To catch that, all you 0:00:39.888 --> 0:00:42.528 need to do is search for the two words talking 0:00:42.558 --> 0:00:45.318 tech and Dana can all come usually on a Tuesday 0:00:45.318 --> 0:00:48.548 afternoon just after it's been produced. Another option is to 0:00:48.548 --> 0:00:51.608 ask your Siri device or smart speaker to play Vision 0:00:51.608 --> 0:00:56.558 Australia Radio talking tech podcast Vision Australia Radio talking Tech 0:00:56.558 --> 0:01:00.068 podcast with me, someone who can explain all this tech 0:01:00.068 --> 0:01:04.868 stuff really well. Vision Australia's national advisor on access technology, 0:01:04.868 --> 0:01:09.158 David Woodbridge. David, let's start with the product minute, an 0:01:09.158 --> 0:01:12.678 item from the vision store of Vision Australia. You've got 0:01:12.678 --> 0:01:15.438 a nice big phone to tell us about. Yes I do. 0:01:15.438 --> 0:01:19.998 So this product is called the Big Purple Phone Silver Fox. 0:01:19.998 --> 0:01:21.678 And the first thing I like about this is that 0:01:21.678 --> 0:01:25.068 it's an Australian product. So you know, made in Australia, 0:01:25.068 --> 0:01:27.528 which is actually really cool. Um, I probably should say 0:01:27.528 --> 0:01:30.768 the software is made in Australia because the software that 0:01:30.768 --> 0:01:33.648 runs on the hardware, the hardware is actually a Nokia phone. 0:01:34.038 --> 0:01:36.798 And of course, you're probably already thinking, well, I think 0:01:36.818 --> 0:01:38.948 David's going to mention the word android, which I am. 0:01:39.128 --> 0:01:42.788 Because the operating system on the phone is indeed Android, 0:01:42.788 --> 0:01:46.748 and the software, which is the big purple phone, Silver 0:01:46.748 --> 0:01:51.008 Fox software. It sits on top of that Android operating system. 0:01:51.008 --> 0:01:54.518 But as far as a customer is concerned, when you 0:01:54.518 --> 0:01:56.348 wander into the vision store and you pick up the 0:01:56.348 --> 0:02:01.978 big purple phone, silver fox, you see immediately beautiful. large, 0:02:01.978 --> 0:02:05.758 simple icons. You see pictures of people that you'd like 0:02:05.758 --> 0:02:10.948 to dial. Um, it's extremely high contrast. It's got an 0:02:10.948 --> 0:02:15.988 SOS button for emergency calling, and it's got a limited 0:02:15.988 --> 0:02:20.128 number of apps on the phone that you can choose 0:02:20.128 --> 0:02:25.438 to have, visible or not visible. And if you're a 0:02:25.438 --> 0:02:28.298 carer or a support person of someone who has the 0:02:28.298 --> 0:02:31.358 phone and they don't have the ability to be able 0:02:31.358 --> 0:02:34.508 to change settings on the phone themselves, or you want 0:02:34.508 --> 0:02:37.268 to add things to it or take things off, there 0:02:37.268 --> 0:02:40.388 is a quote carers website that you can log into 0:02:40.388 --> 0:02:44.288 and you can completely control the phone. Of course, with 0:02:44.288 --> 0:02:47.378 the person's permission on being able to change the settings 0:02:47.378 --> 0:02:49.238 in the phone. But the thing I also like about 0:02:49.238 --> 0:02:53.578 the phone is the fact that it's also protected against 0:02:53.578 --> 0:02:58.588 spam calling and SMS messages, because where you can set 0:02:58.588 --> 0:03:02.788 up for only contacts can call the phone. So there's no, 0:03:02.788 --> 0:03:06.508 you know, spamming going on. And the really, really cool 0:03:06.508 --> 0:03:09.958 thing is that if you need to get into other 0:03:09.958 --> 0:03:12.628 settings of the phone, which is hidden from the user, 0:03:12.628 --> 0:03:15.388 you can also do that. And it has very simple 0:03:15.388 --> 0:03:19.878 things like video calling. It has internet radio on it 0:03:19.878 --> 0:03:23.718 for listening to different radio stations. Um, it's got photos 0:03:23.718 --> 0:03:27.918 so you can still share and take photos and you 0:03:27.918 --> 0:03:30.378 can still, you know, send and receive text messages. You 0:03:30.378 --> 0:03:32.958 can also use the Dialpad if you wish to make 0:03:32.958 --> 0:03:36.348 phone calls manually. And by the way, even though this 0:03:36.348 --> 0:03:40.208 is a low vision phone, that keypad, you can also 0:03:40.208 --> 0:03:42.638 make it talk. So when you press one, two and three, 0:03:42.638 --> 0:03:47.108 it'll actually announce one, two and three. So all over 0:03:47.108 --> 0:03:50.198 it's what it's meant to be is a very simple, 0:03:50.198 --> 0:03:53.108 straightforward phone. Now, I know we used to call these 0:03:53.108 --> 0:03:55.868 things dumb phones in the past. Well, if you like, 0:03:56.168 --> 0:03:58.658 I wouldn't say this is a dumb. This is a nice, 0:03:58.658 --> 0:04:01.538 simple phone to use for people that just want to 0:04:01.538 --> 0:04:04.058 be connected with their loved ones and friends, and I 0:04:04.058 --> 0:04:05.598 think it's a fantastic idea. 0:04:05.598 --> 0:04:06.858 And how much is it? 0:04:07.038 --> 0:04:09.048 It's $699. 0:04:09.048 --> 0:04:14.718 $699. The big purple phone, silver Fox from the vision 0:04:14.718 --> 0:04:20.028 store at Vision Australia. I want to talk about Orcam. 0:04:20.028 --> 0:04:24.288 Many would know of the Orcam products, the wearable that 0:04:24.288 --> 0:04:28.038 detects things been around for some years and more recently, 0:04:28.038 --> 0:04:32.108 the handheld redoubles. There's been talk around the world that 0:04:32.108 --> 0:04:36.488 orcam are moving out of the blindness and low vision market. David. 0:04:36.608 --> 0:04:40.658 That's correct. It's been on a few news websites and podcasts, 0:04:40.658 --> 0:04:44.318 and I'd like to assure our customers and of course, 0:04:44.318 --> 0:04:49.178 our listeners, that senior management at both Quantum and Vision 0:04:49.178 --> 0:04:53.348 Australia Vision Store are quite aware of what's happening. They're 0:04:53.348 --> 0:04:56.358 currently working through a few things to see how this 0:04:56.358 --> 0:05:00.288 will impact both Quantum and Vision Australia, and I'll be 0:05:00.288 --> 0:05:02.298 able to give people an update in the near future. 0:05:02.508 --> 0:05:05.598 Now, I'd like to talk to you about your podcasts. 0:05:05.598 --> 0:05:08.178 We haven't talked about podcasts for a while, and the 0:05:08.178 --> 0:05:11.448 podcasting world is an evolving one. What do you do 0:05:11.448 --> 0:05:12.858 with podcasts these days? 0:05:13.188 --> 0:05:18.348 So I've gone in and decided to only use the 0:05:18.368 --> 0:05:22.268 podcasts app on, of course my Mac, my Apple Watch, 0:05:22.268 --> 0:05:26.888 my Apple TV and my iPhone, etc. etc. because while 0:05:26.888 --> 0:05:29.168 it had transcriptions in it and two, I was just 0:05:29.168 --> 0:05:32.168 getting very messy between the old downcast that I used to, 0:05:32.378 --> 0:05:36.128 which I used to use Stephen overcast and the Apple Podcasts, 0:05:36.128 --> 0:05:38.558 I decided, right, that's it. I'm going to actually consolidate 0:05:38.558 --> 0:05:42.518 into one app, which is the podcasts app. And then 0:05:42.518 --> 0:05:44.308 when I cleaned them up about a week or two ago, 0:05:44.308 --> 0:05:47.368 I discovered that I've got about 21 to 22 podcasts 0:05:47.368 --> 0:05:51.358 that I religiously follow every single week and listen to them. 0:05:51.778 --> 0:05:55.318 But out of those 21, which are divided up between 0:05:55.318 --> 0:05:58.618 adaptive technology or assistive technology and mainstream, I do have 0:05:58.618 --> 0:06:01.588 three top favorites for assistive technology, and I definitely do 0:06:01.588 --> 0:06:03.688 have top three favorites for mainstream. 0:06:03.688 --> 0:06:05.608 And you've got a list of all those somewhere. 0:06:05.758 --> 0:06:08.868 I do, so I did post the whole list on 0:06:08.868 --> 0:06:13.218 Mastodon because it definitely won't fit on Twitter. Um, I 0:06:13.218 --> 0:06:16.458 will have all the links in the show notes. Um, 0:06:16.458 --> 0:06:18.378 but I didn't want to sort of bore people about 0:06:18.378 --> 0:06:21.438 going through the whole 22. So today I'll just list 0:06:21.438 --> 0:06:24.678 my top three from each category. But yes, you can 0:06:24.678 --> 0:06:27.588 definitely look in the show notes or on Mastodon. 0:06:27.768 --> 0:06:29.268 And what are your top ones? 0:06:29.778 --> 0:06:31.758 So what I recommend to people to listen to in 0:06:31.758 --> 0:06:37.528 particular is the Talking Tech Vision Australia radio show. Second 0:06:37.528 --> 0:06:40.828 one is Living Blind Fully by Jonathan Mohsin and number 0:06:40.828 --> 0:06:45.178 three is the IC Forest Technologies from a blind person's perspective. 0:06:45.568 --> 0:06:47.458 And what about mainstream ones? 0:06:47.488 --> 0:06:50.488 Mainstream one is one that I've been using and listening 0:06:50.518 --> 0:06:53.788 to for a long time is the Daily Tech news show. 0:06:54.238 --> 0:06:58.608 The second one is six colors and a third one 0:06:58.608 --> 0:06:59.838 is Macbreak weekly. 0:07:00.168 --> 0:07:01.158 What six colors? 0:07:01.158 --> 0:07:05.058 About six colors is by a person called Jason Snell, 0:07:05.058 --> 0:07:07.668 who used to be one of the major editors at 0:07:07.668 --> 0:07:10.638 Macworld quite a long time ago, and he's been a 0:07:10.638 --> 0:07:15.648 co-host now on Macbreak weekly. So he does a podcast 0:07:15.648 --> 0:07:20.418 which is primarily aimed at Apple technology, but he really 0:07:20.418 --> 0:07:23.828 does all types of technology and how it relates to 0:07:23.828 --> 0:07:27.068 culture in general. So it's not just a, you know, 0:07:27.068 --> 0:07:30.728 this tech came out, it's how this technology is reflected 0:07:30.728 --> 0:07:32.138 in our current culture. 0:07:32.198 --> 0:07:34.118 And details in the show notes of how to get 0:07:34.118 --> 0:07:34.868 hold of those. 0:07:34.868 --> 0:07:35.498 Indeed. 0:07:35.768 --> 0:07:41.108 Excellent. A completely different topic. Now X is continuing to 0:07:41.138 --> 0:07:44.408 muck around and has removed the Twitter app from the 0:07:44.408 --> 0:07:45.758 Mac App Store. 0:07:45.908 --> 0:07:48.888 Yes. now there's an interesting story behind this one, because 0:07:48.888 --> 0:07:52.728 I got a notification on my Mac last weekend and 0:07:52.728 --> 0:07:56.568 it said, uh, you can't use this application anymore, you 0:07:56.568 --> 0:07:59.148 need to update it to the X app. So I 0:07:59.148 --> 0:08:00.948 updated it to the X app, and then it came 0:08:00.948 --> 0:08:04.638 back and said, you are not authorized to use this application. 0:08:04.668 --> 0:08:07.818 I went, oh. So I got rid of that one. 0:08:07.818 --> 0:08:10.578 And then I went back to my iOS Xe app 0:08:10.578 --> 0:08:15.068 and it said, uh, due to violations of the ECS 0:08:15.068 --> 0:08:19.868 rules of conduct, your, uh, account has been suspended. Um, 0:08:19.868 --> 0:08:23.198 please contact us if you don't agree with this. So 0:08:23.198 --> 0:08:27.098 I emailed ECS as instructed by their email. I got 0:08:27.098 --> 0:08:30.788 a one liner back saying it's under review. No further 0:08:31.058 --> 0:08:33.488 discussion was held with me, and then I logged on 0:08:33.488 --> 0:08:36.868 the next day and it said, Your account has now 0:08:36.868 --> 0:08:40.258 been labelled as a spam account and it's attracting spam, 0:08:40.258 --> 0:08:43.228 but you can still use it. However, your spam label 0:08:43.228 --> 0:08:46.858 may limit the reach of your account. So what I've 0:08:46.858 --> 0:08:50.428 now decided is that I'm probably going to only very 0:08:50.548 --> 0:08:53.848 rarely post on X, because I was only doing it 0:08:53.848 --> 0:08:58.258 to support people, and the fact that the Mac application 0:08:58.258 --> 0:09:03.458 has completely gone with no comment from X at all. Um, 0:09:03.458 --> 0:09:06.398 most people are saying now, just don't even try and 0:09:06.398 --> 0:09:09.068 run an X app if you've got an M1, Mac, etc. 0:09:09.068 --> 0:09:11.648 because you'll most likely get blocked, which is what happened 0:09:11.648 --> 0:09:14.708 to me. Um, so for all intents and purposes, if 0:09:14.708 --> 0:09:18.158 you want to use X now, it's either the web version, 0:09:18.158 --> 0:09:21.248 the Android version, or the iOS version. The Mac one 0:09:21.248 --> 0:09:23.648 does not exist anymore. And of course, if you've got windows, 0:09:23.648 --> 0:09:25.678 you can use it on windows as well via the 0:09:25.678 --> 0:09:29.128 website or other apps, but it's just a complete mess. 0:09:29.128 --> 0:09:33.268 Again, very strange. Let's talk more positive things now. We 0:09:33.268 --> 0:09:35.518 haven't talked about it much for a while, but The 0:09:35.518 --> 0:09:40.408 Living Mindfully podcast from Jonathan Mohsin continues to flourish. 0:09:40.468 --> 0:09:43.408 It does, and I quite like what he's done in 0:09:43.408 --> 0:09:47.248 sort of a bit of a, a renew of living mindfully. 0:09:47.248 --> 0:09:49.858 And that's the fact that you can now subscribe to 0:09:49.858 --> 0:09:53.538 Living Blindly under Apple Podcasts, which is a great thing. 0:09:53.868 --> 0:09:57.588 Under there you can subscribe monthly or yearly. And of course, 0:09:57.738 --> 0:10:00.648 I think you've got a 14 day cooling off period. 0:10:00.648 --> 0:10:03.258 And as if you do monthly, you can always terminate 0:10:03.258 --> 0:10:07.188 whenever you want to. But interestingly, he also said on 0:10:07.188 --> 0:10:13.098 his latest Living Blindly podcast that if you subscribe via 0:10:13.098 --> 0:10:17.938 their podcast website, you can choose about how much you 0:10:17.938 --> 0:10:20.638 want to pay to support the program. You can always 0:10:20.638 --> 0:10:24.388 change it, whereas the calls on Apple you can only get, 0:10:24.658 --> 0:10:26.428 you know, one, 1 or 2 bites of the cherry 0:10:26.428 --> 0:10:30.298 either monthly or yearly. And the other thing I think 0:10:30.298 --> 0:10:33.958 was interesting is once you subscribe to Apple Podcasts, that's it. 0:10:33.958 --> 0:10:35.818 You can only use it in the podcast app, so 0:10:35.818 --> 0:10:37.228 you can't use it on the Victor Reader stream or 0:10:37.228 --> 0:10:40.998 anything else if you do it via podcast, of course 0:10:40.998 --> 0:10:45.198 it's a secure link to the Living Mindfully Plus feed, 0:10:45.198 --> 0:10:47.268 and you can pop that on anything you like, whether 0:10:47.268 --> 0:10:52.968 it's your Victor Reader, stream, your Sense Player, uh, Apple Podcasts, overcast, 0:10:52.968 --> 0:10:55.008 or whatever else you might be using. So have a 0:10:55.008 --> 0:10:56.838 think about what you do. I chose to do an 0:10:56.838 --> 0:10:59.448 Apple podcast. Like I said earlier on, I've just put 0:10:59.448 --> 0:11:01.248 all my stuff in just one place now. 0:11:01.728 --> 0:11:04.358 Yeah, it's a good one to go to. It's a 0:11:04.358 --> 0:11:07.148 very good way to keep in touch with current affairs 0:11:07.148 --> 0:11:10.088 in the tech world, for people who are blind or 0:11:10.088 --> 0:11:12.848 have low vision and other blindness and low vision related 0:11:12.848 --> 0:11:13.388 stuff as well. 0:11:13.388 --> 0:11:14.168 Absolutely. 0:11:15.248 --> 0:11:17.708 People do spend a lot of money on hats, and 0:11:17.708 --> 0:11:23.108 you can spend $150 us on a very environmentally friendly one. 0:11:24.098 --> 0:11:26.828 Yes. Now, I think this is a really cool idea. 0:11:26.828 --> 0:11:31.218 It's from a company called Eco Flow. And it's a hat, 0:11:31.218 --> 0:11:32.928 of course, to, you know, keep the sun off you, 0:11:32.928 --> 0:11:34.728 which is very good for us in Australia since it's 0:11:34.728 --> 0:11:37.698 coming up to spring and summer and what the hats 0:11:37.728 --> 0:11:41.658 got built into it, a little solar panels, um, that 0:11:41.988 --> 0:11:47.028 generate power and you can plug in your smartphone to 0:11:47.028 --> 0:11:49.518 recharge it when you're out and about, when you're wearing 0:11:49.518 --> 0:11:53.198 your hat in the sun. So this is like a 0:11:53.198 --> 0:11:56.048 new wearable and a piece of clothing while we're at it. 0:11:56.048 --> 0:11:58.778 But I just think it's a really, really, really cool 0:11:58.778 --> 0:12:02.078 idea because when I'm out in the garden, um, particularly 0:12:02.078 --> 0:12:04.718 in summer here, I'm always guarding. I'm literally outside for 0:12:04.718 --> 0:12:08.048 a good 3 or 4 hours anyway. So I'm probably 0:12:08.048 --> 0:12:09.878 going to be one of these that's probably going to 0:12:09.878 --> 0:12:13.298 buy this hat. So hopefully in summer time this year 0:12:13.298 --> 0:12:16.148 in Australia, I'll let you know how my eco flow 0:12:16.148 --> 0:12:19.118 hat is going. But I just think it's a tremendous idea. 0:12:19.718 --> 0:12:21.008 And how do you get hold of it? 0:12:21.038 --> 0:12:24.878 There's a link in the show notes that I will share. Um, 0:12:24.878 --> 0:12:27.878 it was one of my RSS feed articles, but I'll 0:12:27.878 --> 0:12:29.528 have a link in the show notes and you can 0:12:29.528 --> 0:12:31.568 look it up and take it from there. 0:12:32.378 --> 0:12:36.698 There's been further developments with the Apple Pay facility. 0:12:36.998 --> 0:12:39.458 Yeah, this is an interesting one. Now, I'll just say 0:12:39.458 --> 0:12:41.288 up front that I can't use this because I've got 0:12:41.288 --> 0:12:43.238 two Apple IDs. I've got a developer, one in my 0:12:43.238 --> 0:12:46.628 main one. But if you go into your Apple Wallet 0:12:46.628 --> 0:12:50.168 and you choose Add card, you'll see a new option 0:12:50.168 --> 0:12:52.808 that says Apple Card. Now don't get too excited. This 0:12:52.808 --> 0:12:55.208 is not the credit card they've been talking about overseas. 0:12:55.208 --> 0:12:58.898 This is where you can literally add money to your, quote, 0:12:58.898 --> 0:13:03.488 Apple Card. And then when you go into an Apple Store. 0:13:03.488 --> 0:13:05.768 So this is not the App Store but the Apple 0:13:05.768 --> 0:13:09.578 Store physically or I guess I can't confirm this, but 0:13:09.578 --> 0:13:12.338 I'm assuming the Apple Store app. You can then use 0:13:12.338 --> 0:13:15.068 the money that you've been putting into your Apple Card 0:13:15.068 --> 0:13:17.438 to go against the purchase of a product, so it's 0:13:17.438 --> 0:13:20.198 almost like having your own little piggy bank, as we 0:13:20.198 --> 0:13:22.748 used to say. Um, so you save up your dollars 0:13:22.748 --> 0:13:24.548 and cents and then you can go and buy exactly 0:13:24.548 --> 0:13:27.038 what you want at the Apple Store. If using your 0:13:27.038 --> 0:13:28.748 some of your savings and your Apple Card. 0:13:28.748 --> 0:13:31.418 It's an alternative to drawing from your credit card. 0:13:31.438 --> 0:13:34.948 Correct. Except this. This way you've already, quote, spent the money, 0:13:34.948 --> 0:13:36.268 if you like, because you've already stored it in the 0:13:36.268 --> 0:13:37.168 upper card already. 0:13:37.198 --> 0:13:40.108 Now, before we go, a reminder of whether a details 0:13:40.108 --> 0:13:42.178 of what we've been talking about in this and previous 0:13:42.178 --> 0:13:43.588 editions of the program indeed. 0:13:43.588 --> 0:13:45.688 So as always, you can check out my blog site, 0:13:45.688 --> 0:13:50.278 which is David Wood bur dot Podbean pod Cbn.com. 0:13:50.278 --> 0:13:56.698 David Wood beard Podbean podbean.com to right to the program. 0:13:56.698 --> 0:13:58.828 You can write to me at Vision Australia where I work, 0:13:58.828 --> 0:14:02.968 which is David Dot Woodbridge. How it sounds at Vision Australia. 0:14:03.178 --> 0:14:07.738 Org David Woodbridge at Vision Australia. Org. This has been 0:14:07.738 --> 0:14:11.008 talking tech with me has been Vision Australia's national advisor 0:14:11.008 --> 0:14:15.478 on access technology David Woodbridge I'm Stephen Jolly. Stay safe. 0:14:15.478 --> 0:14:17.188 We'll talk more tech next week. See you.