Since my messages are formatted so some of the replies come directly to me
instead of the list, please don't CC the list when replying to this thread.
The ham radio hobby is a watering hole, but I don't think that this listserv
has to be one, also.  There are several hundred listservs frequented by
blind people, covering every imaginable topic.

The web address for the NLS pilot download site is
  http://Nlstalkingbooks.org/dtb
Which will probably change when we switch from pilot mode to full-scale
operation as the BARD (braille and audio recording downloads) site.  

The free-on-loan NLS players don't have text-to-speech, don't play WMA or
Audible content, and don't currently have a bookshelf function enabling you
to put several books on a single cartridge.  They play NLS books,
collections of MP3 files in folders, and will be capable of being authorized
to play the Daisy 2.02 books from RFB&D.

When recording, the Victor Stream doesn't record in an 8-bit audio format.
Instead, it uses the same 3GP format that NLS is using, but at a lower
bit-rate, unencrypted.

5,000 players will be going out to eight of the regional libraries late this
spring, in what we call a pre-launch test.  If this test is successful,
production of 26,000 players per month can begin this summer, so that our
half million users will begin to get players as they become available.  Some
libraries have begun taking waiting lists and some have not.  Most of the
people on this list will probably want the advanced version of the player,
not the standard version, because the advanced version has some additional
navigation keys on it.  You don't download anything to the player.  Instead,
you download materials to USB drives (including our cartridge) which you
then plug into the player.  At first, there may not be as many physical
books on cartridge as there are players, but this will gradually be taken
care of.

I hope this answers at least some of your questions.  Please reply off this
list.

Lloyd Rasmussen, W3IUU, Kensington, Maryland
Home:  http://lras.home.sprynet.com
Work:  http://www.loc.gov/nls