

Newsletter

What follows is the 1996 doc file, followed by other newsletter items.

file begins


WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!

Before updating your Braille 'n Speak, Type 'n Speak or Braille Lite, it
will be necessary for you to save all of your files to disk.  This is
because that the update process will destroy all of your files, and the
file recovery commands will not get your files restored after your unit
has been updated.  Failure to save your files to disk first before
updating your machine means that you will not be able to restore your
files after you run the update program.


                           Blazie Engineering
                          1996 Update Features

     In keeping with our annual tradition, Blazie Engineering has
     released yet another update for our line of notetakers ---
     Braille 'n Speak, Type 'n Speak and the Braille Lite.  We received
     many suggestions throughout the year from many customers with
     requests for features and improvements that you felt should be
     included in our products.  We've implemented many of them, as well
     as a few ideas of our own that we felt would be useful additions.
     We hope you like the many features we've added in the past year.




Superflash

     Many customers have asked us to include the capability to have more
     memory in their Braille 'n Speak, Type 'n Speak or Braille Lite.
     At last, this option is available in a package which we're calling
     the "superflash" option.
          With the new superflash option, your unit can now  hold an
          additional 2 megabytes of memory.  This is over 3 Braille 'n
          Speaks of information, and this is in addition to the 640K you
          already have in your unit.  At the time of this writing, the
          superflash option is available for Braille 'n Speak for
          $195.00.  It will soon be ready for Type 'n Speak and Braille
          Lite 18 units.  Call us for availability and pricing for these
          units.
               With the superflash option, this means that you will be
               able to store many text files in "flash" memory.  These
               files can be read like any other file.  They can be
               deleted from the file menu, but the files cannot be
               written into or modified.  Therefore, flash memory should
               only be for files you wish to read and delete.  A phone
               book file might not be an ideal file to store in flash
               memory, as you will probably want to modify that file
               regularly.  Examples of ideal files to be used in flash
               memory might be long novels or text material from the
               Internet or from disk, as these are files which you'll
               just want to read and not modify.  If you try to write
               into a file which is in flash memory, you will hear a
               "file is write protected" message.

     Superflash can certainly store any of your external programs, but
     it is not possible to run or execute an external program which is
     contained in flash memory.  If you have an external program in
     flash memory and you want to run that program, you will first need
     to move the file into a ram folder in order to run it.  See the
     section on Folders below for more information about how to do this.
     The good news is that the spell.dic file for spell checking can
     work in flash memory, so you can now use the spellchecker without
     taking 86 pages of conventional or Ram memory.
          With a new unit, pressing F from the file menu (for free pages
          remaining) will tell you how many Ram pages are left, and you
          will then hear "2045K flash" or "4092K flash" for Braille Lite
          40.  This number will decrease as you fill your flash memory
          with files.




File Folders

  The following supplements chapter 4 of the Braille 'n Speak manual.


The main feature we've added is something called "folders." With
folders you can take the list of files in your file list and organize them
into groups of related files. You may create up to 20 separate folders, label
them with whatever names you like and move any files you choose into them.) A
folder is kind of like a group or subgroup where you can easily categorize your
files. Here are some examples.
     If you use your Blazie notetaker a lot, you might have several files
containing letters to friends or business associates. You might have some files
containing class notes: a biology file, a file for science notes, history, etc.
You also might have some of our external software in your machine, like Graphit
or Braille Term.
  The problem has always been that these files are often scattered in your
unit, with very little organization. Now, you can organize your files
into folders. To use our previous examples, you might have a folder called
"school" containing your biology, history and science files. You might want
to have a folder called "programs" with your external software like Braille
Term and Graphit. And, you might have a "letters" folder to store all those
letters you've written. With the 1996 update, this is now possible.
  If you press the space bar from the file menu, you will toggle the unit from
its default state which we call "all files mode" to the new "folder mode." In
the "all files" mode, the unit behaves exactly as it used to, allowing you
to move up and down your file list. However, "folder mode" shows you your file
list differently.
  In folder mode, dot 1 chord and dot 4 chord (up arrow and down arrow on a
Tns) moves you up and down your file list in the folder you happen to be in.
  By default, there is a folder called "ram startup" which will contain your help,
clipboard and calendar files.
     You will also notice an additional folder called "flash startup"
     which can only be used for superflash  units.

     However, you can certainly create additional
folders and place your files in those folders.

  Creating folders is easy.
  First, before attempting to create a folder or any other folder
  command, make sure you're in "folder mode" by pressing the spacebar
  from the file menu.  Remember that the spacebar will toggle you from
  "all files mode" to "folder mode" and you must be in "folder mode" to
  issue a folder command.

  Just press dots 346 (or the plus key) on your
machine, and you will be asked which folder you wish to create. Simply enter
the folder name, followed by e chord, (or return on a Type n Speak,) and the
folder will be immediately created.
  Note: if you have a superflash unit, you will hear an additional
  prompt which will ask you to "enter f for flash or r for ram folder."
  Entering the letter F means that the folder you have just created is
  for flash memory only.  Entering r for ram means that the folder is
  located in ram memory.  If you don't have s superflash unit, then you
  will not hear this prompt.

  To move from folder to folder, press dots 2-3 chord to move to the previous
folder, and dots 5-6 chord to move to the next folder. On a Type 'n Speak,
these are the pageup and pagedown keys, respectively.
  Dots 2-3-6 chord moves to the first folder in your folder list. This is alt 8
on a Tns. Dots 3-5-6 chord moves to the last folder, which is an alt 0 on your
Tns.
  Dots 2-3-5-6 chord speaks the name of the currently open folder. This is an
alt 7 on a Tns.

Finally, to delete a folder from your unit, first move or
delete all files from the folder and then press dots 36 or the dash key and the
folder will be removed. The reason you need to remove your files from a
folder you want to delete is because you can only delete a folder if
that folder is empty.  This is actually good, because otherwise you
might delete a folder which might contain valuable files.

 All of these folder commands must be issued from the
file menu, as opposed to the open file.  You also must be in "folder mode" when
you issue a folder command. If you are in "all files" mode and try to issue a
folder command, your unit won't let you do this and you'll have to press the
spacebar to go into "folder mode" first. Issuing these keys from your open file
will not work; you must be in the file menu for all of the folder commands
to work properly.
  Once you have created a folder, you'll probably want  to move one or
  more of your files to that folder.

  Originally, your unit will have just one folder called
the "ram startup" folder.
(Note: Braille Lite 40 and superflash units will also have a default folder
in flash memory called "flash startup."
Let's say, as an example, you want
to copy the "calendar.brl" file from the "startup" folder to a new folder you
have created.
  First, move the pointer in the file menu to the "calendar.brl" file. When you
know you're pointing to the "calendar.brl" file, press the gh sign
chord, which is dots
1-2-6. This is the Shift numlock on a Tns.
  You will be asked which folder you'd like to move the file to. Now, press dot
1 chord or dot 4 chord (up arrow or down arrow on a Tns) to move up and down
the list of folders.
  You may also press the numbers 0-9 at this point to tell your machine
  which folder to move the "calendar.brl" file to.  Your first "startup"
  folder is always called folder 0, the next folder will be folder 1,
  etc.  So, at this point, if you enter the number 1, the "calendar.brl"
  file will automatically be moved from the "startup" folder to the next
  folder in your machine.

  You'll notice that the first folder is the "startup" folder and this is a
folder which automatically is in your unit. Move downward until you hear the
name of the folder you want to move the file to, and then press e chord or
"enter" on a Tns.

You can also use dots 126 without the chord, which is the less-than key
on a Tns to move a file which you may specify to a folder.  For example,
suppose that you have a file called "notes" and you wish to move that
file to another folder.  Pressing dots 126 without the spacebar or the
less-than key will ask you for a "file name." Enter the filename "notes"
followed by e-chord or the enter key, and then you will be able to use
dot 1 chord or dot 4 chord to move up and down the list of folders.
When you hear a folder you want to move the "notes" file into, press e
chord or the enter key.
Warning: If your unit is NOT a superflash unit, you can NOT move a file
into the "flash startup" folder.  Attempting to do so will not crash the
machine, but the file will not be moved and will remain in the folder
where it was.




Note: These docs apply to the July 23A revision.  The next revision we
ship will allow you to use the dots 126 key or the less than key on a
Tns to mark files in a specific folder.  The commands used will be the
same ones used in ymodem transfers.  So, you can use the spacebar to
mark a file you're pointing to, or you can use m to mark all of the
files in the currently active folder.  F marks all flash files, and r
marks all ram files.
O marks the open file.  This will allow you to take as many files as you
want and move them to any folder you want to move them to.  After
marking the files you wnat to move, press e chord or enter, and then use
dot 1 chord or dot 4 chord to select the folder to move the files into.

Also, in the August revision you will need to turn on the "allow folder
mode" option in the status menu to access folder mode.  This is with f
chord in the status menu.


The Move Command

The following section contains material which changes and supplements
Section 3.2 in the Braille 'n Speak manual.


The number sign chord (shift f3 on a Type 'n Speak) has
been significantly enhanced.  Previously, it
just allowed you to enter a number of lines.  Now, it allows you to do
much more.

Now, when you press this chord it no longer says "enter number of lines
to move." It now simply says "move."  This is because this command has
many more options, although you can still use it to move to a specific
line, if you want to.

Entering number sign chord and the following letters will let you move
by lines, words, characters.
l for line, w for word, c for character.
     If you don't enter a character but just enter a number, the machine
     will move you to that line number you specified just like before.
     In other words, if you type number-sign chord 4 e-chord or enter,
     you'll wind up on line 4 in your document.

Note: You may use dot 1 chord or dot 4 chord (up arrow or down arrow on
a Type 'n Speak) after pressing the number-sign chord to move in a menu
of choices available to you.


     Here are other ways to use the new Move command.



Let's say you want to move to line 5.  You would write
number sign chord l 5 e chord
To move to character 444 write
number sign chord, c, 444, e chord
You can also enter a plus or minus to move from where you are.
For example: to move down four lines write
number sign chord, l plus 4 e chord

If you want to move back 7 characters, type
number-sign chord, c, -7, e-chord

Typing a letter followed by 0 for a number gives you a full count of lines,
words or letters.  For example, l0 counts how many lines are in a file.

Entering number sign chord followed by The letter p will go to a relative
print page.  For example, to move to print page 4, type
number-sign chord, p4 e-chord

     You can also type B to go to a certain Braille page.  For example,
     to move your reading cursor to Braille page 5, type
     number-sign chord, b5, e-chord.


Hourly Announcement
  Since your  Blazie notetaker has a clock, it would make sense that you'd want
to be reminded of what time it is on the hour, like other talking clocks do.
Now, you can.
Type h-chord to get to the new option from anywhere within the status
menu. This is an alt-H on a Type 'n Speak.


    Pressing n while
pointing to this option will turn the announcement off. Pressing the number 1
sets the announcement to "bell only." Pressing 2
sets it to voice only and pressing 3 sets it to bell and voice."
  What this means is that every hour, on the hour, as long as your unit is on,
you will automatically hear what time it is with a bell, verbal reminder only
or with a bell and a verbal reminder. Note: If your unit is turned off, this
feature will not work.

Press the letter N to turn the hourly announcement off.


Say ASCII Value
  Some of you may know that in our 1995 update, we allowed you to hear the
ASCII value of a character when you press the current character key three
times. The trouble is that a lot of people didn't need this feature, and this
caused some confusion, so we now have in the status menu a "say ASCII values"
on/off toggle. When this toggle is turned on, the unit will in fact speak the
ASCII value of a character with the third press of the current character key.
If this feature is off, which by the way is the default, the machine will only
speak the name of the character and its phonetic equivalent, like alpha for a,
bravo for b, charlie for c, etc.


From the status menu, press dots 36 chord (the read current character
key)to jump to this option.


Start-up Macro
  Some of our power users who enjoy writing macros may know that pressing
n-chord followed by the spacebar records a "power-on" or start-up macro. This
macro will get played back every time you turn on your unit.
  The only problem with this was that some people accidentally wrote n-chord
space when they meant to just write an n, so people would inadvertently write
start-up macros without knowing it. We received tons of support calls from
customers who would say "every time I turn on my Bns it starts entering
characters into my file" and we'd have to walk them through deleting the
start-up macro.
  Now, when you press n-chord (alt n for tns) and the space bar, your machine
will prompt you and ask you if you are really sure you want to create a
start-up macro. Press y if that's what you want, and n if you don't want to do
this.

Speak Just The File Name
  While in the file menu, you can now press dots 3 chord or dot 6 chord to move
up and down the file list and just hear its name with no other information like
page count, translator status, etc. This is a shift left arrow and shift right
arrow on a Tns.
Pressing dots 3-6 chord will speak the name of the current file
you are pointing to.  This is a shift-end on a Tns.


Speech Voices
The following section supplements Chapter 2 of the Braille 'n Speak
manual.

  It is now possible to have five different voices to switch among in your
Braille 'n Speak, Type 'n Speak or Braille Lite. From the speech parameters
menu, press dots 2-3 chord and dots 5-6 chord to go from voice to voice. These
are the pageup and pagedown keys on a Tns, respectively.  You will hear "voice
number 1" "voice number 2" etc. Voices range from 1-5, and each one can have a
different rate, pitch, tone or volume.  Each voice also saves the state
of the numbers/digits toggle, punctuation settings and key echo, key
click and silent key settings.

     Once you hear a voice number, just
adjust the speech the way you like it, and those settings will remain for that
voice.
  The best part of all of this is that only voice 1 will be reset during a warm
reset.  When a warm reset is performed, your unit will return you to voice 1,
but Voices 2 through 5 will remain just as you have set them. Only a cold reset
will reset voices 2 through 5 back to their defaults.)
     If you press y-chord or alt-y on a Type 'n Speak,
you may enter a number from 1-5 to change to the voice you want to go
to.

  For example, press y-chord  followed by the number 4, and you will hear "voice
   number 4." Your
unit is now set to voice number 4 until you change it or do a warm reset.
     When using a Braille 'n Speak or a Braille Lite, enter the numbers
     in Nemeth code.


Base conversions in the scientific calculator
We have added 6 new commands to the scientific calculator. Their names and
functions are as follows:
hd - converts to hexadecimal from decimal
od - converts to octal from decimal
bd - converts to binary from decimal
dh - converts to decimal from hexadecimal
do - converts to decimal from octal
db - converts to decimal from binary

Improvements in the Tab Command
     You may now use the tab command which is dots 4-5 chord to
     repeatedly type any character you want, as many times as you want
     up to 255.
     Here's an example.
          let's say you want to type fifty spaces.  Press the tab
          command, the spacebar, the number 50, and e-chord or enter.  You
          can use this command for any characters you want.

Note: This command does not work for numbers.



Improvements in setting time
We have made changing the time easier in a couple of ways.  First of all, you
now have the option of moving the clock backward or forward any specified
number of hours and minutes from the current time.  This command will be
especially useful for those who travel across time zones frequently or for all
of us during the switches from standard to daylight savings time.  It works
like this.  After you press o chord or f 9, continue by pressing s and t as
usual. When you are prompted to enter time, h h m m, you can enter the new time
as usual, or you may also enter a dash or plus, dots 36 or dots 346.  After
pressing a dash or plus, simply enter the number of hours and minutes you wish
to move the clock in the h h m m format.  As an example, dash 0 2 0 0 will set
the clock back exactly 2 hours.  Plus 0 1 3 5 will set the clock forward 1 hour
and 35 minutes. The other small change is that it is now possible to backspace
when entering the new time in the event you make a mistake while typing.
Status menu improvements
     It is now possible to cycle through the individual choices of a status
menu item by simply repeatedly striking the space bar until you hear the choice
you desire.  As an example, if you are on the baud rate item of the status
menu, striking the space bar repeatedly will cycle you through the different
possible baud rates from 150 through 38,400.  This will work on all status menu
items except those which require a specific number value like print line length
or window length.

Paste File

     It is now possible to paste the contents of a file into a file
     you're working on.  For example, you may be writing some notes for
     a class or a business meeting, and you may want to insert another
     file at the cursor position that may be relevant to what you're
     writing.  To do this, type the paste command, which is 346 chord or
     the Numlock key on a Type 'n Speak.  You will hear "paste what."
     Enter the letter F for "file" followed by the file you wish to
     insert.  Now, press e-chord or enter and the contents of the file
     you requested will be placed right at the cursor position.  There
     must be enough room in the open file in order for this to work
     properly.  For example, if you want to paste a file that is 3 pages
     long in a 1-page file, you won't be able to do this, just like
     pasting from the clipboard to an open file.  So, make sure there's
     enough room in your file when performing this operation.

     Append to clipboard
          We got calls from some of our customers who asked us if there
          could be a way to append things to the clipboard file, rather
          than just overwriting what is already in the clipboard.  Now,
          you can.

               Now, when you press the gh-chord or shift Numlock for the
               copy command, you will be asked to enter "a for append or
               c for copy."  Entering the letter C will copy the block
               of text to the clipboard and it will overwrite whatever
               was in the clipboard file, which is how it always worked.
               However, writing the Letter A at this point will append
               or add whatever it is you're copying to the clipboard
               instead of overwriting it.

                    When deleting text, if you end your deletion with a
                    346 chord or Numlock on a Type 'n Speak, your
                    deleted text will also be appended to the clipboard.
                    Ending your deletion with an e-chord or enter will
                    overwrite the clipboard just like before.

                    Change In Formatter
If you are printing to an ink-print printer with page numbering turned off, the
bottom margin no longer defaults to 6 as it did in previous revisions, but now
defaults to 0. This should make things a lot easier for people who do a lot of
printing.
     If page numbering is turned on, however, the print bottom margin will
default to 6.

We also have new formatter defaults in the status menu.  Even after
performing a hard reset, your formatter defaults will no longer be set
at 0.  They are as follows:


Print line length 75
Print left margin 10
print page length 60
Print top margin 6
Braille line length 33
Braille left margin 1
Braille page length 25
Braille top margin 1


Some much needed miscellaneous changes
  Here is a quick list of some minor changes we have made in the units in the
1996 revision.
     It is now possible to create 127 files in your machine.

     When creating a new file in the file menu, the units are much more forgiving
when it comes to entering invalid names and invalid file sizes.  The units
simply say invalid name or whatever and then ask you for another name or file
size.  In previous revisions, at this point you would have been thrown all the
way back to the enter file command prompt.
Changing from numbers to digits in the calculator does not affect the numbers
or digits setting of the current file any more.
The calendar file now has the name of calendar.brl.  This is done so that when
loading this file from disk the translator will automatically be turned on
for the calendar file.
You can now use bfm and brf as valid filename extensions which, like the brl
extension, will automatically turn the translator on if the file is loaded from
disk.
Changing from european 24 hour time to american time can now be done without
resetting the time.
Entering p from the speech parameters menu will tell you the current
punctuation setting.
Using the dots 1456 chord or the help key from the file menu will give you a
pull down menu for file commands.
When updating a Braille Lite, speech will automatically be turned on at the
beginning of the process.
Holding down the space bar at power up with the Braille Lite now does not turn
speech on.


When performing upload and download commands with the Ymodem protocol,
pressing s-chord for send or r-chord for receive will no longer speak
the file titles as they are being transferred.
To hear the titles of the
files as they are being transferred, simply press the letter S or the
letter R without the chord at the "enter s to send or r to receive"
prompt.



     We would like to thank you for purchasing our 1996 update.  Many
     features which you'll find in this update are because of feedback
     from many of you, and we appreciate your comments and suggestions
     we have received over the years.  It's because of you, our
     customers, that our updates are as good as they are.
          Please keep those comments coming.  whether by phone, letter,
          fax or email, we want to hear from you on things you'd like to
          see in upcoming revisions.  Stay in touch with us.

                            David Goldfield,
                            Customer Support

     Blazie Engineering
     105 East Jarrettsville Road
            Forest Hill, Maryland 21050
            Phone (410) 893-9333
            fax (410) 836-5040
            BBS (410) 893-8944
            email: support@blazie.com



New Phone System

We have a new phone system.
All employees have voice mail.


When we place customers onhold, we now have product news to listen to.

We'll also have a "new features" section, so when you call after hours
you'll be able to select an option on the phone system to hear the
latest info on product news.



New Products


2000 Series


round din serial ports
You can use either port for either the disk drive or the Rs232 port
768K ram (182 plus pages) approx. 30 more pages than the 640
2 megs of flash memory
ability to hold dual operating system, like another language
Supercharge battery lasts for 25-30 hours, takes about 2-3 hours to
charge
Bns can have superflash upgrade for $195.  This includes the 2 megs of
flash and the ability to have a dual operating system if you want it.

E-Braille project
     We have many electronic books in Grade 2 Braille on our Web site at
     http://www.blazie.com or on our ftp site at blazie.com.  It's in
     the pub/books directory at this time, although we'll eventually
     categorize the books in relevant directories like classics, science
     fiction, Shakespeare, etc.

     Currently, Tom Ley has translated the entire King James Bible in
     Grade 2 Braille in the pub/books/bible directory.  By the way, you
     can place the entire Grade 2 Bible in a Braille Lite 40 in the
     flash memory area and STILL have some flash memory left over.  More
     books are being translated all the time, so check often for new
     titles.

     Braille Base
Braille Base is a brand new database program written for your
Braille 'n Speak, Type
'n Speak or Braille Lite.  It allows you to create databases
for storing information, but allows you to determine the kind
of information you want stored.  You can have a database with
names, addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses.  You
might
also have a database for your compact disk collection, with
fields for
the name, the recording artist, the year recorded, etc.
If you are a teacher, you might want a database of your
students with fields for their names, grades, etc.

With this database program, you can easily find
information and perform complex data searches.  For
example, in your compact disk database, you might want to
search for only those CDs recorded by the Beatles in
1968. You might do a complex search for
just those students with grades in the 80 to 100 percentile.
Once you get this initial list of information, you can then
perform searches within this list to retrieve even more specific
or detailed information.  These lists can then be sorted and
saved to another database. You can even print reports to a file
or to your printer. You have a choice of either printing all of
the fields in each record or just specific fields.  This really
is an amazing program and has numerous application possibilities.
The cost for the Braille
Base program is $49 and includes an excellent user's manual on
computer
disk.

Graphit
In response to numerous inquiries for an accessible graphing
calculator, Blazie Engineering now has Graphit.  Graphit is a
software program that allows you to write scientific equations
and print them out on your Braille printer in a graph format.
There are two versions of the program.  One for the Braille 'n
Speak, Type 'n Speak or Braille Lite for only $49.  The other
version is for PC users and runs in DOS for $149.

Graphit allows you to enter 10 equations or inequalities, and
then output the graph of the equations or inequality to your
Braille printer.  You can print the graph on a full grid, just
an x and y axis, or with no axes or grid.  Graphit also gives
you full control over the scale of the graph, by allowing you
to set the range of x and y axis, the grid size, and the
number of units per grid square.

Quickbraille

quickbraille is a new, small translator that takes Ascii documents, like
electronic books, and translates them into Grade 2 Braille.  The cost is
$80.00.  This program is very fast.

V Term and Braille Term - Accessing the Internet with Blazie
Products
Many customers have called to inquire how they can use their
Braille 'n Speak, Type
'n Speak, or Braille Lite on  the Internet.  While a terminal
program is not necessary to access the Internet, using one
makes accessing the Internet functions much easier.
We now have two choices for terminal programs which allow your
Braille
'n Speak or other notetaker to work with BBS'S and the
Internet.

V Term is Blazie Engineering's new VT 100 terminal emulator.
Many services on the Internet, like Pine for e-mail and Lynx
for browsing
the World Wide Web, use what is called VT 100 emulation.
With VT 100 emulation you must use the arrow keys on your
PC to move around.  V Term allows you to access these
environments with your Braille 'n Speak, Type 'n Speak,
or Braille Lite.  The program is simple to use and comes
with a manual on disk.  The cost is only $49.

Version 2 of Braille Term, the full-featured terminal
program is available. For new users, the program is $99
and upgrades from Version 1 are only $25.  Upgrades,
however, must be purchased directly from the program's
author, Dan Greene.  You can contact him at e-mail:
gware@netcom.com or telephone (312) 545-9621.  The
program now features a full macro language so that you
can more easily automate
things you want to do on-line. The program is also VT 100
compatible, allowing you to use the Internet and even surf the
World Wide Web.

Braille Lite 40
After much anticipation Braille Lite 40 is now available for
shipping.  This exciting new product has, as its name suggests,
40 Braille cells for reading, as well as 40 special buttons for
cursor routing.  What is cursor routing? For those users who
may not be familiar with this very useful feature, here's how
it works.  When reading with the Braille display, if you find a cell
that requires editing, just press the route button right behind
the cell with your finger and the cursor immediately moves to
that cell.  This feature will make editing your files a lot
easier and faster.  Besides cursor routing, Braille Lite 40 has
some other exciting features.  All of the new features previously
mentioned above
for the Braille 'n Speak, Braille Lite, and Type 'n Speak is
also available on the Braille Lite 40, but this notetaker has a lot
more memory.  Braille Lite 40 has over 180 pages in
RAM for your files.  It also has what is called "flash memory."
Flash memory is very similar to disk storage in that you cannot
edit a file in flash memory, but you can easily open and view
files that you store in flash memory.

Braille Lite 40 has 4 megabytes of flash memory.  This is over 4
million characters of
storage capacity or the equivalent of approximately six Braille
'n Speaks -all in Braille Lite 40's flash memory.  Braille Lite
40 also has the ability to be a dual language system.  By
pressing a p-chord, followed by the letter l, the unit will
switch from one language to another.  This means that you can
have Braille Lite 40 be in English OR in Spanish, or any two
other languages. Each additional language costs $99.  Braille
"Lite 40 costs $5495.
KW Software
KW Software, Co. sells Personal Information Manager for $49.
This program includes
a rolodex for keeping track of names, addresses, and phone
numbers, and a calendar appointment program.

Braille Key for $49 is also available through KW Software.
This program allows you
to use either your Braille 'n Speak or Braille Lite keyboard as
a keyboard for your PC.  It is not a screen reader, however, so
you therefore will need another screen reader to actually hear
speech from your computer. Braille Key should be used with
another speech synthesizer for best results.  It does have a
Grade 2 input mode.

KW Software, Co. produces an entire diskette of games for
$25.00.  Games include tictac-toe, chess, hangman, and more.

For more information about the above programs contact KW
Software Co. via phone:
(508) 797-3581 or e-mail: kwsco@world.std.com.


Simon Game
Marc Mulcahy has written a version of Simon for your Braille 'n
Speak and Braille Lite.  Simon is a game where the machine
plays a tone, and you have to press a key that matches that
tone.  It then plays the same tone and adds another one, and
then you have to repeat the sequence, and so forth. Besides
Simon, the disk has other games like Hangman and Solitaire.  It
is free when you download it from Blazie's Internet server
using FTP or the Web OR we charge $5 for shipping and handling
to mail you a copy of the disk.

New Catalogs Available


Catalogs for 1997 are available on disk and online, with Braille and
casette on the way.  Write or call us to order one.

Interface Guide
We still have many copies of our Interface guide available, in
print or Braille.  This guide contains useful articles on
interfacing the Braille 'n Speak with many devices like IBM
computers, Apples, Versa Braille, Versapoint, Reading Edge,
modems and
more.  This is a handy book to have, if you plan to interface
your Braille 'n Speak with many different peripherals.  The
Braille version is in two volumes.  Cost: $9 a copy
&9.00 for the print.


Blazie on the Internet
\If you have been listening to TV or the radio, you know that
nearly every company is on the Internet and Blazie Engineering
is no exception.  So now you can contact us in a variety of
ways.  First, there's e-mail.  Nearly every Blazie employee
has their own email address comprised of the person's first
name, then the "@" sign, and them "blazie.com".  So, David
Goldfield's e-mail address is "david@ blazie.com.  Tom Ley, our
marketing, sales, and support person can be reached at
"tom@blazie.com".  If you are seeking the answers to general
support questions about our products, the address
is "support@blazie.com".  E-mail is an excellent way to get in
touch with us, since it is free, except for your local Internet
service provider charge.

Blazie Discussions via e-mail
With e-mail access, you can participate in a variety of
discussion groups via the Internet.  There are discussion
groups on various topics and are referred to as mailing
lists.  Blazie has several mailing lists; one of these lists is
called the "support list".  This list gives you the opportunity to
talk to us as well as other customers about anything
related to our products or the company.  For example, you might have
a question or
problem with one of our products.  Through "support list", you can
received feedback or suggestions from other users who
have had similar difficulties or experiences.  You can
also publicly leave messages for individuals on the list.
Deane Blazie, David Goldfield, and Tom Ley check the
list regularly and will respond to customer questions
and feedback publicly on the list so that other users can
benefit from their responses.  No question is too basic.
Whether you are a new user or power user, Blazie Engineering
would like to know your questions or comments, either via
private e-mail or publicly on the list.

It is relatively simple to access the list.  First you need to
send an email to the
following address: "listproc@blazie.com".  This is not a
person, but a computer that will respond to your request.  You
can then leave the subject line blank but in the message area,
you need to type, "subscribe supportlist", followed by your
first and last name.  It is extremely important to type your
name after the word "support-list", because the automated
computer program will search for it.  If your message is
incorrect, it will be rejected and you will get an error message
sent back to your e-mail box.  If your message was typed
correctly, you will get a message back from our system
acknowledging that
you are on the support list.

Blazie also has an optacon list to discuss future development of the
optacon.  To subscribe to that mailing list, send email to the same
address, listproc@blazie.com but write in the message
subscribe optacon firstname lastname

Both of these mailing list are free, except for the on-
line time charged by your Internet provider.  You can also
discontinue your subscription at any time.

FTP
Besides chatting with us through e-mail, you can also download
files from our server onto your own computer.  The Internet has
a feature called ftp, which stands for file transfer protocol.
This protocol allows you to receive files from many different
systems all over the world.  Blazie has a server, and you can
get to it by typing "ftp blazie.com" from your Internet
account.  All our current manuals are on-line, as well as, demo
software such as Checkbook and Braille Term.  To obtain files
from Blazie's server, at the login prompt, type the word "ftp"
for your username, and type your e-mail address
as your password.  This is called anonymous ftp, and it
allows anyone to dial into our system to receive files.
Getting files from us is free, except for any local Internet
provider charges.

World Wide Web
Blazie Engineering is also on the World Wide Web.  The URL
is http://www.blazie.com.  You can also download files from
us through the Web, as well as browse through our catalog
and read our manuals on-line. You can also "link" or go to
other blindnessrelated Web sites from our own website, which
makes it even more fun.  Aside from charges you pay to your
local Internet provider, we do not charge for using our Web
page.

Price Changes
There are a few price changes since even our latest catalog
has gone to press.  LiteTalk is now $595.  This is a battery-
powered external speech synthesizer sold by Microtalk Makers
of ASAP and ASAW screen readers. Lite-Talk uses a serial or
a parallel port.  Smartalk is now $495.  This is another
tiny speech synthesizer sold by Automated Functions and
works
well with nearly every screen reader available.

Tech Support Hours
Tech Support from our staff is available
Monday through Friday, from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm, Eastern
Standard Time.  Feel free to call us anytime though, if you
call after hours leave a message with your name and phone
number and someone will return your call the next business
day.

David Goldfield
Blazie Engineering
105 East Jarrettsville Road
Forest Hill, Maryland 21050
Voice: (410) 893-9333
Fax: (410) 836-5040
e-mail: david@blazie.com
url: http://www.blazie.com





