SInce the subject has been discussed recently I thought I"d
present another angle to consider.
dUring Katrina I would have been hard pressed to charge a
laptop, pda or other device's batteries.  THank GOd for a
slate and stylus.
When handling traffic using phone the sending station should
assume that the receiving station is using pen or pencil
writing in longhand.  HE or she should send at a speed which
accomodates this spelling and voicing possibly unfamiliar or
ambiguous groups as they come up.  A moderately skilled
slate user should be able to follow along if the sending
station is a skilled traffic handler.  Otherwise tell him or
her to slow down.

Even if you're not a regular slate user, if you're a
braille user at all you should practice this skill
occasionally.  AFter all, those little notetaker batteries
have a finite lifespan without the umbilical to the outside
world.

IN fact if I ever buy a notetaker I"ll be quite interested
in fabricating a recharger for its battery pack which can
draw power from 12 volts dc.  A friend of mine did something
like that for his laptop a few years ago.

73 de nf5b




Richard WEbb,
Electric SPider Productions,
Eads Tennessee