Hello everyone,

Thanks to the wonderful recording and editting skills of Doug Hunsinger,
both the June and July meetings of the Visually Impaired Pittsburgh Area
Computer Enthusiasts (VIPACE) are available for on-line streaming using
RealAudio.

The June meeting features Ed Smith of Humanware and can be heard at
http://www.vipace.org/audio/2001-0621vipace.ram.

The July meeting features Mike Calvo from the InHouse Radio Network
demonstrating the FreedomBox and can be heard at
http://www.vipace.org/audio/2001-0713vipace.ram.

I am including the meeting announcements from each of these meetings below
to provide you with a more-details description of what is in the recordings.

Ed Smith from Humanware (June 21, 2001):
The next meeting of the Visually Impaired Pittsburgh Area Computer
Enthusiasts (VIPACE) will be on Thursday, June 21, 2001, from 6:00 PM untiil
8:00 PM at Centre City Tower, 650 Smithfield Street, in downtown Pittsburgh.
There will be someone in the lobby of Centre City Tower to help escort you
to the meeting room.

Our guest will be Ed Smith, mid-Atlantic Regional Manager of Humanware, Inc.
(now owned by PDI, which I am sure Mr. Smith will clarify more).  Ed is nice
enough to come in from Philadelphia to show us some new equipment being
offered by Humanware, outlined below.  As you may recall, Ed's presentation
of the Braille Companion went over very well last April, and VIPACE is very
pleased to have Ed come again to visit our group this year.

Ed Smith says:

When I meet with VIPACE on June 21, I will be showing all of the notetakers,
including the BrailleNote, the VoiceNote BT (braille keyboard), the
VoiceNote QT (typing keyboard), and the Braille Voyager braille display.  I
will also talk about the BrailleNote QT (typing keyboard), which is another
version of the BrailleNote being released in July.  I will also show a
SmartView 8000 which is a Low Vision Magnification system produced by PDI,
the new owners of HumanWare.

Mike Calvo from InHouse Radio Network (July 13, 2001):
Whether you are supersticious or not, the next meeting of the Visually
Impaired Pittsburgh Area Computer Enthusiasts (VIPACE) will be held on
Friday, July 13, 2001, from 6:00PM until 8:00PM at Pittsburgh Vision
Services in Oakland.  Pittsburgh Vision Services is located near the corner
of 5th Avenue and Craig St. at 300 South Craig Street.  Their phone number
is 412-682-5600.

For decades we have all dreamed of a computer that we could simply talk to
and it would do what we asked!  Finally, such a product is here, and VIPACE
patrons will get to see it in action.  Mike Calvo, from the InHouse Radio
Networks, will be demonstrating a product that makes this dream a reality,
called the Freedom Box.

Below are more details from the Freedom Box website at
http://www.freedombox.cc.  Please visit the site to hear a demo.  Time
permitting there will be some VIPACE business, including the Question Corner
where old and new computer users alike can ask questions and learn from each
other.  If you have questions, contact Mike Gravitt at [log in to unmask] or
by calling 412-344-2313.  Hope to see you there!

Here are some more details taken from the webpage:

Computer: What would you like to do?
User:           Hear the weather.
Computer: Ok. for which city would you like to hear the
weather?
User:          New York
Computer: Please wait, now getting the weather for New
York.

Pinch yourself, you're not dreaming! It's that easy!  Talk to this
one-of-a-kind product and it will do what you say!  The Freedom Box is a
revolutionary new product from InHouse Radio Networks that allows a user
with a disability full access to the internet just by talking to it. No more
waiting for someone to read your mail or information you want.  Now you can
use the internet just like anyone else!  No more high cost computer systems
with hard to learn adaptive technology.

The Freedom Box connects to your favorite web sites and turns all the links
on the page into voice commands. Gone are the days of learning how to use a
mouse, keyboard, operating system, and confusing adaptive technology.  Now
you can just talk to the Freedom Box and it will do what you ask.  If you
forget what words to say, just say "help" and the Freedom Box will give you
a list of commands for each of its functions.

- Hear Thousands of Radio Stations.
- Talk shows.
- Described Videos.
- Online Games.
- Send and Receive Email.
- Speak With Persons From Around the World.
- Look For a Job
- Take Online Classes
- Shop Online.

The Freedom Box is a stand-alone system that connects to the internet using
a standard phone line or ethernet connection.  Using the included
microphone, the user speaks to the base unit to instruct it to perform its
functions. Also available is a keypad similar to a telephone dial pad to
navigate menus or the current web page.

When you join the Freedom Box online community you will enjoy shopping that
has the customer in mind at every step.  Shopping online is confusing to
even the most internet-savy people, but not you.  You will enjoy one
standard shopping interface
whether buying food, clothing, a car, or your first home.  128 bit secure
technology insures all your purchases are safe and private.  So order and
wait for the doorbell to ring with your purchases!

And, soon, you can connect an optional scanner to the Freedom Box and read
your mail, faxes, books, letters, food boxes, etc.


VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
To join or leave the list, send a message to
[log in to unmask]  In the body of the message, simply type
"subscribe vicug-l" or "unsubscribe vicug-l" without the quotations.
 VICUG-L is archived on the World Wide Web at
http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/vicug-l.html