WEBVTT - Talking Tech 20th June 2023 0:00:08.188 --> 0:00:11.518 Hello everyone. Welcome to Talking Tech. This edition available from 0:00:11.518 --> 0:00:15.418 June the 20th, 2023. I'm Stephen Jolly. Great to have 0:00:15.418 --> 0:00:18.718 you with us wherever you're listening, perhaps through Vision Australia Radio, 0:00:18.718 --> 0:00:23.398 associated Stations of Australia or maybe the Community Radio Network, 0:00:23.398 --> 0:00:26.488 there is also the podcast to get hold of that. 0:00:26.488 --> 0:00:28.318 All you need to do is search for the two 0:00:28.318 --> 0:00:32.038 words talking tech and Dan it can all come usually 0:00:32.038 --> 0:00:35.938 on a Tuesday afternoon just after it's been produced. Another 0:00:35.938 --> 0:00:39.148 option is to ask your Siri device or smart speaker 0:00:39.148 --> 0:00:44.278 to play Vision Australia Radio Talking Tech Podcast. Vision Australia 0:00:44.278 --> 0:00:49.078 Radio Talking Tech podcast. With me someone who can explain 0:00:49.078 --> 0:00:52.978 all this tech stuff really well. Vision Australia's National Advisor 0:00:52.978 --> 0:00:55.858 on Access Technology, David Woodbridge. 0:00:56.038 --> 0:00:58.228 Now I suddenly realize too, with all the stuff that's 0:00:58.228 --> 0:01:00.508 been going on in technology in the last couple of weeks, 0:01:00.598 --> 0:01:04.318 we haven't had time to catch up with your overseas trip. 0:01:04.318 --> 0:01:06.808 So a couple of questions I had for you. I 0:01:06.808 --> 0:01:11.938 believe you went and visited Louis Brough's house, I believe. 0:01:12.388 --> 0:01:16.108 Yes, we did. I travelled in May in very early 0:01:16.108 --> 0:01:20.338 June with my wife and a friend of ours, and 0:01:20.338 --> 0:01:25.318 we did spend some time in France, in Paris, and 0:01:25.318 --> 0:01:28.198 one morning we went about 50 K out of Paris 0:01:28.198 --> 0:01:33.258 to a little place called Cobra Coupe v r a Y. 0:01:33.298 --> 0:01:37.468 And then we visited the Louis Brown Museum, which is 0:01:37.468 --> 0:01:41.248 based at the family home where he grew up as 0:01:41.248 --> 0:01:45.808 a child before going off to the Institute for Blind 0:01:45.808 --> 0:01:49.648 Children and progressed to become a very famous man. So 0:01:49.648 --> 0:01:52.498 that was quite something. Visiting the museum and getting a 0:01:52.498 --> 0:01:56.368 feel for where the family were, what the rooms were 0:01:56.368 --> 0:02:00.538 in the house. And our tour guide, Stephan, who was terrific, 0:02:00.778 --> 0:02:05.188 he's really the curator of the museum there, he took 0:02:05.188 --> 0:02:07.858 us into the dining room and explained it or family 0:02:07.858 --> 0:02:09.628 room and said, Now let's sit down here and have 0:02:09.628 --> 0:02:11.998 a talk. So we sat down at the at the 0:02:11.998 --> 0:02:16.468 dining room table and talked about Louis Braille. And then 0:02:16.468 --> 0:02:20.338 we went over to the museum area and saw some 0:02:20.338 --> 0:02:26.368 of the very early Braille equipment and other tactile equipment 0:02:26.368 --> 0:02:28.738 like the the old Taylor Slate. Do you remember the 0:02:28.738 --> 0:02:31.768 Taylor Slate? I do. I do. So there was a 0:02:32.308 --> 0:02:34.978 usually a metal slate with little holes in it and 0:02:34.978 --> 0:02:38.158 little pieces of lead that you put in these holes. 0:02:38.158 --> 0:02:40.768 And the what we call figures could be put in 0:02:40.768 --> 0:02:43.828 in eight different ways because they were octagonal holes. They 0:02:43.828 --> 0:02:47.548 had eight sides to the holes and they had a 0:02:47.548 --> 0:02:49.528 bar on one end and two little points on the 0:02:49.528 --> 0:02:51.898 other end. So that was very interesting. I also saw 0:02:51.898 --> 0:02:56.278 an abacus and hello to all those people who still 0:02:56.278 --> 0:02:59.908 have an abacus. I used one at school. I don't 0:02:59.908 --> 0:03:01.858 know what I did with it, I'm ashamed to say, 0:03:01.858 --> 0:03:05.188 But marvelous little thing for arithmetic, but very much the 0:03:05.188 --> 0:03:08.578 old Braille and tactile stuff. And what really impressed me 0:03:08.578 --> 0:03:12.508 was the thing about Braille. It really hit home and 0:03:12.508 --> 0:03:15.358 I hadn't thought about it as much is that though 0:03:15.358 --> 0:03:20.668 there were tactile systems around, Captain Charles Barbier, for instance, 0:03:20.668 --> 0:03:23.848 developed a tactile system meant to be for the use 0:03:23.848 --> 0:03:28.348 of the blind. Braille was so simple that it really 0:03:28.348 --> 0:03:32.638 was the breakthrough one because it's based on just six dots. 0:03:32.638 --> 0:03:37.948 Other systems are using dots to try and represent the 0:03:37.948 --> 0:03:42.328 printed character. Louis Braille said, Put all that away. Let's 0:03:42.328 --> 0:03:45.778 just work on basic six dots, which is easier to 0:03:45.778 --> 0:03:51.388 feel and it's easier to produce Braille both for many 0:03:51.388 --> 0:03:55.018 people to use or for one person to write for 0:03:55.018 --> 0:03:57.268 their own personal purposes, because that was a difficulty in 0:03:57.268 --> 0:03:59.488 the early days with the tactile systems. How do you 0:03:59.488 --> 0:04:03.448 reproduce it? So a lot of learning, but great memories. 0:04:03.448 --> 0:04:06.298 And it was a privilege to be there at the 0:04:06.298 --> 0:04:09.448 home of and the Museum of the Great Louis Braille, 0:04:09.448 --> 0:04:11.818 who's made such a difference for so many of us. 0:04:12.418 --> 0:04:16.558 Born in 1809, died in 1852, so a couple of 0:04:16.558 --> 0:04:17.398 hundred years ago now. 0:04:17.548 --> 0:04:19.678 Yeah, pretty amazing sort of stuff. Did you visit any 0:04:19.678 --> 0:04:23.488 other museums that had more accessible type up to date 0:04:23.488 --> 0:04:24.448 stuff in at all? 0:04:25.018 --> 0:04:28.348 We did visit a number of museums in London and 0:04:28.348 --> 0:04:31.798 in Paris, and what I was struck with was the 0:04:31.798 --> 0:04:36.598 effort that they do go to to be accessible these days. 0:04:36.718 --> 0:04:39.688 You can often go to places now where you get 0:04:39.688 --> 0:04:43.198 an audio guide that you download as an app. Some 0:04:43.198 --> 0:04:45.598 of those in Australia as well as in other parts 0:04:45.598 --> 0:04:50.038 of the world to varying degrees of accessibility with some 0:04:50.038 --> 0:04:51.778 of those apps. There's a little work still to go 0:04:51.778 --> 0:04:54.298 on with them to get them right. A lot of 0:04:54.298 --> 0:04:59.158 places have devices that you hire. Some of those are 0:04:59.158 --> 0:05:02.548 just touch screen ones. So you need someone who can 0:05:02.548 --> 0:05:05.188 see a bit to be able to help you navigate that. 0:05:05.188 --> 0:05:08.388 But there are some now and. Use one of them 0:05:08.388 --> 0:05:11.298 in the Churchill war rooms in London when we had 0:05:11.298 --> 0:05:14.358 a tour of that. Have the buttons on them So 0:05:14.358 --> 0:05:16.968 the physical buttons make such a difference, you can actually 0:05:16.968 --> 0:05:20.178 move around from section to section. ET cetera. And some 0:05:20.178 --> 0:05:22.638 have gone out of their way to be more descriptive. 0:05:22.638 --> 0:05:26.208 So not just the audio guide for, shall we say, 0:05:26.208 --> 0:05:31.998 mainstream use, but particular added descriptive bits to make it 0:05:31.998 --> 0:05:35.148 easier for a blind person to know their way around 0:05:35.148 --> 0:05:38.778 and orientate themselves. Really good stuff. So they were interesting. 0:05:39.048 --> 0:05:42.408 Okay. And what about transportation? Because I know we're slowly 0:05:42.408 --> 0:05:44.658 improving over here in Australia, but how did you find 0:05:44.658 --> 0:05:46.068 the transport system over there? 0:05:46.318 --> 0:05:49.758 We're doing pretty well here. There are some things in 0:05:49.758 --> 0:05:53.418 the UK which are probably better. They've got a terrific 0:05:53.418 --> 0:05:56.658 public transport system, particularly the rail system I had a 0:05:56.658 --> 0:06:01.848 lot of experience with and audible announcements were just automatic. 0:06:01.848 --> 0:06:03.498 You didn't have to worry about whether they were going 0:06:03.498 --> 0:06:07.938 to announce the stops or not. The traffic signals, the 0:06:07.938 --> 0:06:10.968 audible traffic signals, doesn't matter what city you go to, 0:06:10.968 --> 0:06:14.718 the traffic signals are the same. They're consistent. Not like ours, 0:06:14.718 --> 0:06:19.668 where sometimes they're adequately loud and other times they're a 0:06:19.668 --> 0:06:21.828 bit soft, none of that sort of thing. They were 0:06:22.068 --> 0:06:26.418 very consistent. And the other thing that impressed me was 0:06:26.418 --> 0:06:30.888 the very familiar tactile ground surface indicators, you know, those 0:06:30.888 --> 0:06:34.548 sort of tactile markings as you cross streets, even the 0:06:34.548 --> 0:06:37.128 famous Abbey Road is just like a normal street. It's 0:06:37.128 --> 0:06:41.028 got its tactile indicators as you walk off the footpath 0:06:41.028 --> 0:06:42.348 as well. So that was pretty good. 0:06:42.498 --> 0:06:45.138 It's nice to know this stuff is getting more universal 0:06:45.138 --> 0:06:48.378 access across the world. These devices, I know in one 0:06:48.378 --> 0:06:50.418 of my sort of friends went to Japan a month 0:06:50.418 --> 0:06:55.398 or two ago. She was absolutely amazed that how things 0:06:55.398 --> 0:07:00.738 were accessible in transportation, in hotels, in restaurants. And it 0:07:00.738 --> 0:07:03.558 was really funny because she started taking pictures of Braille 0:07:03.558 --> 0:07:06.318 and tactile markers. Then she suddenly realized that I wouldn't 0:07:06.318 --> 0:07:08.238 be able to see them, but at least it was 0:07:08.328 --> 0:07:12.738 the thought that counts. Yeah. All right. So speaking of overseas, 0:07:12.738 --> 0:07:16.158 have you been listening to the cricket Ashes in England? 0:07:16.158 --> 0:07:16.818 At the moment? 0:07:17.538 --> 0:07:20.118 I have been tuned in a little bit like every 0:07:20.118 --> 0:07:23.748 night and losing a bit of sleep. The ABC Listen 0:07:23.748 --> 0:07:25.188 app is the way to go, isn't it? 0:07:25.518 --> 0:07:28.668 Oh, it is. It's absolutely brilliant. I've been using that 0:07:28.668 --> 0:07:31.238 every night. And yes, like you, I've been thinking, Oh, look, 0:07:31.278 --> 0:07:33.858 come on, 1:00, 2:00 in the morning is not really 0:07:33.858 --> 0:07:35.328 going to kill me the next day because it is 0:07:35.328 --> 0:07:39.558 overseas in England. But no, it's it's really great. And 0:07:39.558 --> 0:07:43.368 it just even now, in 2023, it still amazes me 0:07:43.368 --> 0:07:46.428 that here I am sitting in or laying in my 0:07:46.428 --> 0:07:49.248 nice comfy bed and I can still listen to something 0:07:49.248 --> 0:07:52.188 that's happening on the opposite side of the world. Crystal clear. 0:07:52.218 --> 0:07:55.728 You can hear the crowds, the commentary, the ball being hit, 0:07:55.728 --> 0:07:58.608 all that sort of really cool stuff. So, you know, 0:07:58.698 --> 0:08:01.698 you people, they may not follow cricket. It's a five 0:08:01.698 --> 0:08:05.448 test series. So I'm really looking forward to listening to 0:08:05.448 --> 0:08:08.088 more tests as we keep moving forward. 0:08:08.328 --> 0:08:10.668 And the women's Ashes is going on at about the 0:08:10.668 --> 0:08:15.108 same time to be able to catch that. So David, 0:08:15.108 --> 0:08:19.518 let's talk now about the Vision Australia's library and the 0:08:19.518 --> 0:08:21.708 VA Connect app. We haven't talked about those for a while, 0:08:21.708 --> 0:08:23.778 but it's a good way of getting access to content, 0:08:23.778 --> 0:08:24.288 isn't it? 0:08:24.498 --> 0:08:26.568 It is, because it's one of these things that I 0:08:26.568 --> 0:08:28.698 just take for granted and I assume that everybody knows 0:08:28.698 --> 0:08:30.408 about them. But you're right, we haven't mentioned it for 0:08:30.408 --> 0:08:33.048 a while, and these are two apps that you run 0:08:33.048 --> 0:08:36.258 on your smartphone so you can run them on your iOS, 0:08:36.558 --> 0:08:40.038 your iPhone or iPad or on your Android phone or tablet. 0:08:40.398 --> 0:08:43.548 And it's a way of getting access to the Vision 0:08:43.548 --> 0:08:50.178 Australia Library to access Daisy Books. So talking books, newspapers, 0:08:50.178 --> 0:08:54.738 magazines and most of the podcast that Vision Australia Radio produces, 0:08:54.738 --> 0:08:59.808 including Talking Tech, you can basically log into the app, 0:08:59.808 --> 0:09:04.038 you can search for and subscribe to newspapers, podcasts I've 0:09:04.038 --> 0:09:07.638 already mentioned, and down they come whenever they're available, like 0:09:07.638 --> 0:09:10.548 the Sydney Morning Herald or the Age of Melbourne or 0:09:10.548 --> 0:09:12.678 Talking Tech every Tuesday and so on. So it's a 0:09:12.678 --> 0:09:17.208 really great way of having your own personal information service 0:09:17.208 --> 0:09:20.868 that's curated for people that are blind and low vision. 0:09:20.868 --> 0:09:22.668 So you don't get all the sort of, I guess 0:09:22.668 --> 0:09:25.908 the non visual stuff too much. But this is curated for, 0:09:25.908 --> 0:09:27.678 for blind and low vision people and I just find 0:09:27.678 --> 0:09:29.208 it a fantastic resource. 0:09:29.538 --> 0:09:33.498 Now, talking about your own personal News and information service, 0:09:34.638 --> 0:09:37.908 explain to us, because some people might not be familiar 0:09:37.908 --> 0:09:40.368 with this, what an RSS reader is. 0:09:40.518 --> 0:09:44.568 So RSS stands for really simple syndication, so if you 0:09:44.568 --> 0:09:46.938 could imagine you put a link in to access a 0:09:46.938 --> 0:09:51.228 podcast feed. Well, this is a link to access tech 0:09:51.228 --> 0:09:56.028 and other type of media type stuff. So what it 0:09:56.028 --> 0:09:58.428 does is you put this link in. So for example, 0:09:58.428 --> 0:10:03.318 I subscribed to, let's say the cricket one from overseas 0:10:03.408 --> 0:10:07.458 and every time any information gets updated in that feed. 0:10:07.938 --> 0:10:10.908 It means that every time I run my RSS app, 0:10:10.908 --> 0:10:13.308 like a podcast app, the one that I is is 0:10:13.308 --> 0:10:19.068 called Leary RSS Reader, which is Leary pronounced Leary. Every 0:10:19.068 --> 0:10:21.738 time I run that one, it doesn't update. It scans 0:10:21.738 --> 0:10:24.708 all the different types of RSS feeds that I've got 0:10:24.708 --> 0:10:27.018 on that, and I've got about 35 of them at 0:10:27.018 --> 0:10:32.928 the moment. And because I can go into each category 0:10:32.928 --> 0:10:36.618 or each topic and it starts at the most recent 0:10:36.618 --> 0:10:39.588 at the top and keeps going downwards, I can actually 0:10:40.428 --> 0:10:43.458 save things for later reading. I can share things out 0:10:43.458 --> 0:10:47.298 to Mastodon and Twitter, but I always find because I'm 0:10:47.298 --> 0:10:50.718 getting exactly what I'm after and I can just have 0:10:50.718 --> 0:10:54.318 it flagged to only give me the unread items. It's 0:10:54.318 --> 0:10:57.438 a really great way of me keeping up to date with, 0:10:57.438 --> 0:11:03.168 you know, technology, martial arts, the Formula One, cricket music 0:11:03.168 --> 0:11:05.388 and all sorts of other things that I that I 0:11:05.388 --> 0:11:07.668 do outside of work. And I just find it's a 0:11:07.668 --> 0:11:10.518 great way. So if you're a bit over Mastodon in Twitter, 0:11:10.908 --> 0:11:14.598 Leary or any other RSS reader is a really great 0:11:14.598 --> 0:11:16.158 way to keep up to date with what's going on 0:11:16.158 --> 0:11:16.878 in the world. 0:11:16.968 --> 0:11:19.188 So how do you set yourself up to use one 0:11:19.188 --> 0:11:20.748 of these RSS readers? 0:11:21.228 --> 0:11:23.268 So you download the app. So in this case it's 0:11:23.268 --> 0:11:26.388 literally for iOS. I'll have to check one that would 0:11:26.388 --> 0:11:31.248 be useful for for Android. But remember, there's also Google News, 0:11:31.248 --> 0:11:34.488 which is also an RSS reader for Android anyway, that 0:11:34.488 --> 0:11:37.188 you can also use an iOS and you go in 0:11:37.188 --> 0:11:40.578 there and you can actually either search for tidal keywords 0:11:40.578 --> 0:11:43.098 or you can go and say, Look, I'll look at 0:11:43.098 --> 0:11:46.348 the technology section or the lifestyle section, and then out 0:11:46.348 --> 0:11:49.338 of there you can choose ones that are there, they're 0:11:49.428 --> 0:11:51.738 trending ones or their top ten, whatever else, and that's 0:11:51.738 --> 0:11:52.668 the best way to start. 0:11:53.028 --> 0:11:55.758 Very good. Well, we wish people luck with getting into 0:11:55.758 --> 0:11:58.278 that sort of thing. That sounds a bit complex at 0:11:58.278 --> 0:12:01.038 the start, but once you get into it, it's pretty straightforward. Yeah, it's. 0:12:01.038 --> 0:12:02.748 One of those things. It's once it's set up, it's 0:12:02.748 --> 0:12:04.368 a piece of cake to use. Yeah. 0:12:05.418 --> 0:12:09.228 You had another exploring tech webinar back in May. 0:12:09.558 --> 0:12:12.468 We did, and it's now up on the YouTube channel. 0:12:12.468 --> 0:12:15.348 So if you want to see the lovely Sam or 0:12:15.348 --> 0:12:19.908 the lovely Ramona from Pacific Vision and Human Wear respectively, 0:12:20.058 --> 0:12:24.498 then you can check out that YouTube channel for Virgin Australia. 0:12:24.498 --> 0:12:27.108 And by the way, you can also access the Virgin 0:12:27.108 --> 0:12:32.508 Australia Library on either the Victoria Stream or the Sense 0:12:32.508 --> 0:12:36.378 player from Pacific Vision. So another way of grabbing content 0:12:36.378 --> 0:12:37.378 for yourself as well. 0:12:37.458 --> 0:12:39.828 Yeah, they both do a great job. Sam Taylor from 0:12:39.828 --> 0:12:45.648 Pacific Vision and Ramona Mandi from Human Wear. What's RIMM about? 0:12:45.888 --> 0:12:46.728 I am. 0:12:47.268 --> 0:12:51.408 RIMM is remote incident manager, so it's a fully accessible 0:12:51.408 --> 0:12:56.508 way of you as a support person remotely accessing somebody 0:12:56.508 --> 0:13:01.098 else's computer, whether it's a mac or a Windows machine. 0:13:01.638 --> 0:13:05.058 Because up until this point we can use other applications 0:13:05.058 --> 0:13:08.718 which sort of work. This one means that it's 100% 0:13:08.718 --> 0:13:11.718 accessible and it's been in beta. I think we mentioned 0:13:11.718 --> 0:13:14.268 it earlier this year, it's now out of beta, so 0:13:14.268 --> 0:13:16.638 you can actually fully use it and subscribe to it. 0:13:17.448 --> 0:13:19.428 And it's one of the best things that I have 0:13:19.428 --> 0:13:22.848 in my toolbox, so to speak, for supporting family and friends. 0:13:22.848 --> 0:13:24.468 If they have trouble with their machines. 0:13:24.678 --> 0:13:25.938 Windows and Mac. 0:13:26.268 --> 0:13:30.048 Correct? Yep. So you can download both clients and I 0:13:30.048 --> 0:13:31.668 won't go into how you use it, but you basically 0:13:31.668 --> 0:13:34.458 send a person a link and then you log in 0:13:34.458 --> 0:13:38.628 together and then you can share each other's information, you 0:13:38.628 --> 0:13:40.818 can copy files or that sort of really cool stuff. 0:13:40.818 --> 0:13:42.378 So a great utility. 0:13:42.768 --> 0:13:45.138 Now just before we go, a reminder of where people 0:13:45.138 --> 0:13:48.288 can find details of what we've been talking about in 0:13:48.288 --> 0:13:50.448 this and previous editions of the program. 0:13:50.628 --> 0:13:52.608 Indeed. So as always, you can check out my show 0:13:52.608 --> 0:13:55.908 notes on my blog site, which is David would be 0:13:55.908 --> 0:13:59.278 r dot podbean pad bn com. 0:13:59.658 --> 0:14:06.228 David would be dot podbean podbean.com. To write to the program. 0:14:06.408 --> 0:14:08.298 You can write to me at Vision Australia where I work, 0:14:08.298 --> 0:14:12.348 which is David Dot Woodbridge, a Division australia.org. 0:14:12.648 --> 0:14:17.658 David Dot Woodbridge at Vision Australia. Org This has been 0:14:17.658 --> 0:14:20.988 talking tech with me has been Vision Australia's National Advisor 0:14:20.988 --> 0:14:25.668 on Access Technology, David Woodbridge. I'm Stephen Jolley. Take care. 0:14:25.668 --> 0:14:27.228 We'll talk more tech next week. See you.