Category: Safe Haven
I'm bored so I thought I'd make this topic and see what things we like. For example, I think the talking dictionaries are useful and like the tactile timers better than the talking ones for cooking.
Interesting topic, Harmony. I actually like the talking timers better, because you can set them up for automated announcements. This way, you don't get the workings of the timer gunky with flour, egg, mayonaise, and such. I'm not a fan of talking watches in general for myself, because if I'm bored in a meeting, everyone learns that Lou is bored. I can just lean over my hands while wearing the braille watch, and nobody needs to know that I'm checking the time.
Lou
agree with the second post. I still wish I had a talking dictionary. Apparently, there's a new one out, but whoever sells it wants at least ... what was it ... $800 for it. grrrrrr.
Well, I'm not a particular fan of the "dedicated" talking dictionaries. I know that Kurzweil 1000 has a dictionary built into it, and I abelieve Open book does also. Also, if you go to google and type in the word define followed by a colon and the word or phrase you're intersted in, you can get a definition of a word that way, also. True, you have the convenience of a talking dictionary right at your fingertips as it were, but if you're doing any kind of serious writing, you'll probably be using your computer or notetaker. Speaking of which, for less than the cost of a talking dictionary, if you have the MPower series of notetakers, you can purchase a dictionary for it.
Lou
I used to have the old talking dictionary, but had to give it bak to the school. Apparently there are a few talking dictionaries with several languages on them as well. My friend bought one, but when he got it he found that it didn't speak everytnhing, just bits of things.
Yeah, that's a problem. I've heard that there's one that speaks everything and does both English and Spanish, but I haven't been able to find it.
I bought one for Greek but had the same problem. It was mostly inaccessible. As for the regular ones, the Franklins, I still have mine and it still works. Very nice little gadgit. I love the games and the other features. I didn't know that they made new ones. As for other blind tech, I love my tactile timer (they don't make the kind I have anymore), my old APH recorder (the kind with the medal handle that I searched the galaxy to find), and my talking watch (the kind with a decent voice not that squeaky one) which I am constantly using. I also love Hal beccause it has a Greek synthesizer. However, I hear that it may be possible to use one for Mac, so I'm investigating that as well.
Yeah, I have a 4-year-old Franklin Language Master SE dictionary. I also think they're brilliant for those times when you don't have a laptop at your fingertips, though some of the games on the Franklin are somewhat babyish.
Jen.
I love my Franklin Language Master. I know they're not the newest product on the market, but from what I've seen, they are stil the best. Other dictionaries I've heard of are only partly accessible.
I like Braille watches better than talking ones. But for kitchen timers, I think talking would be best.
I think my all-time favorite blindness product is the refreshable Braille display. Whether it be an independent one that you use with a computer, or as part of a note-taker, refreshable Braille displays rock.
I like the talking color detector. I bought it just before christmas last year and it works quite well. Sometimes it's not very accurate but it works most of the time. I like the tactile timers and watches. I find it hard to understand my talking clock sometimes but I did see a small tactile wind-up clock once, but no-one knew where to get it from. What do people think of those annoying liquid level indicators?
i heard a liquid level indicator from all the way down the hall when i was going to the conklin center for the blind. i walked into the kitchen where they were using it one evening and asked what it was because i have never heard one before. god those things r extremely annoying and extremely loud.
you know. i wonder if they have updated the language master dictionary.
One reason the liquid level indicators are loud is because they also vibrate as an aid to the deaf-blind. I like the talking kitchen timers, because you can be doing something else, and they will still function. As far as wind-up clocks go, I don't know if you can find a print one anywhere, but I'd suspect you can. You might be able to take the face off, and have someone put dots around the edges. Try second-hand shops or flea markets or yard sales.
Lou
I've also seen a cheese cutter, a plastic thing with a piece of wire along the edge where you put the wire on the cheese and it helps you cut slices off evenly. I don't think they're just for the blind, but they're quite helpful if you're not very good at cutting slices very evenly.
No one likes Jaws? I absolutely love it! I depend on Jaws, and the braille-note either qt or bt. I enjoy talking watches, because the braille ones keep breaking. They aren't worth it. I find talking a lot easier. I also like the franklin, but hey, I don't know what the hell happened to mine. I borrowed it from braille institute a while back, and it just broke on me. I also like the new braille displays that are curved, you know for your hands. I think that's neat. Um... I also like the old but surely unforgettable perkins. It's useful for things we can't do so well on the braille-note. I mean, for example, graphing.
Let's not forget about using the perkins to draw pictures, either.
Lou
How do you do that?
Well, in general, you use the braille characters to make up different aspects of the shape you are trying to create. For example if you want a slightly curved shep, you could use an s, an ar sign, a gh sign or a wh sign, depending on the shape of curve you needed. If you want a more square corner, you could use a v, a number sign, a p or a th sign, again, depending on the type of corner you wanted to create. If you wnt info on more reources, or even the plans for some drawings, let me know in a private note.
Lou
That's rather interesting. I only used it to make a chart once because I had completely ran out of graph paper, and I had to do homework that night. Lol! It took me over half an hour.
When I was student teaching and thought I wanted to be a music teacher, I made a braille "staff" so I could doctor it to teach some music notation to sighted students. What I didn't realize at the time wa that it actually helped my own understanding of what the staff and notes looked like.
Lou
Thanks for the tip about going to Google and typing the word definition and then a word to get the definition. I never knew that. I hate dictionary.com. I love my Language Master. I also like talking watches, my talking color identifier, JAWS, my old but reliable Braille 'n Speak, OpenBook for scanning, and occasional use of a Braille labeler and Dymo tape. Oh yeah, and I have a talking caller ID for the phone.
I have a talking mobile phone and also like jaws. I like those scanners that you put the printed page inside and reads it too you, but I think it would probably be really expensive to buy one.