Month: June 2008

Royall

Yes, I’m home from Texas Assistive Technology Network
’08, and I know that there are family members eager for a report.  TATN
isn’t where you go to make fast sales or quickly change minds. As the name
indicates, it’s really an opportunity to network and exchange ideas. The
discussions can also be a hoot.

 

For the uninitiated, this is a blog entry. I blog about my
experiences, and TATN was one of them. My blog is at http://adayinthelifeofaperson.spaces.live.com/.

 

Remember, the presentation is at http://www.conchbbs.com/filestore/TATN
’08_0001.wmv. It’s 60 megabytes so don’t try viewing it over
dialup.

 

In a day or two, I’ll talk about a couple of characters
I met at TATN. They were the hoot, and pretty interesting to talk with. J

FW: Windows Weekly 64: Celtics Win

Royall

Ok, I admit it.
Podcasts like this renew my hope for humanity. Microsoft could and should take Darth
Jobs to task. J

 

Feed: Windows Weekly
Posted on: Friday, June 20, 2008 2:02 AM
Author: leo@leoville.com (Leo Laporte)
Subject: Windows Weekly 64: Celtics Win

 


Hosts: Paul Thurrott and Leo Laporte

Firefox 3, Microsoft
advertising, MSN Music, Lotus Symphony, your taskbar, and more.

Topics:

  • Paul
    attends Celtics finals victory in Game 6

  • Firefox
    3 download day: 8.3 million downloads for the record

  • New
    features: new UI, extensibility, awesomebar, library, malware protection
    and more.

  • Microsoft
    hires new advertising firm

  • Paul
    bought a new MacBook … to run Windows Vista

  • MSN
    Music

News quickie: Lotus
Symphony 1.0 released

Vista tip of the week:
Master the taskbar (includes start menu and tray)

Software of the week: Twhirl

Also: Google Talk Labs Edition

Audible.com pick of
the week: The
Spies of Warsaw (Unabridged) by Alan Furst

Check out Paul’s blog at http://www.internet-nexus.com and
the SuperSite for Windows http://winsupersite.com
for more information.

Thanks to Cachefly for the bandwidth for this show. The
Windows Weekly theme music is courtesy of Derek
K. Miller.

Running time: 1:11:19


View
article…

Enclosures:

WW-064.mp3 (33 MB)
http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/twit.cachefly.net/WW-064.mp3

 

FW: TATN ’08

Royall

25a25sig

Maybe, but remember that I’m
speaking to these people more as a former client than a slick-haired,
forked-tongue vendor. I consciously keep a low gloss on the presentation in
order to be easier for them to sympathize with. The audience will mainly be
educators, and a grizzled ex-student may be heard better than a smooth outsider
with no budget. Although Xpress-It is currently still on the site, it won’t
be next week. I meant what I said about changes coming, but I also don’t want
to appear disingenuous. I want to cause the rehab community to seriously rethink
what it’s doing even if I never sell a copy of Xpress-It.

Besides,
the presentation was finished and deep into transcoding by the time I saw your
comment. Windows Movie Maker had absolutely no problem doing what I had in mind.
(Screw Apple, HARD!) The presentation is available here for all
to critique. Even Apple boxes can view it, but I warn you, it’s not for
skinny pipes! If you’re on DSL, you’ll be downloading a while. That’s
because it’s meant for a large screen.

 

From: DJSloan
Sent: Saturday, June 14, 2008 6:04 PM
To: Scott Royall
Subject: Re: TATN ’08

 

Scott ..
  Shows the product.
  Good audience participation.
  Well summarized.
  I’d like to see a more direct ‘summary’ of where you are going when a
topic is introduced (like a teaser) to keep people’s interest.
DJS

Scott Royall wrote:

Here
is a draft of the presentation I’m to give at the Texas Assistive
Technology Network ’08 conference on the 24th. I’m not
really happy with it, because I think it wanders too much. However, I was
trying to say something important and use up a reasonable amount of time
without giving yet another boring product demo. What do you think?

 

I still have to make the overhead slides. I want to use an
Apple file format called Enhanced MP3, which will display slides synchronized
to the audio. But, I’m having trouble finding software to create the file.

 

—

==========================================
DJSloan .. Houston, Texas
DJSloan25a26@Yahoo.com
Reference:

Apple does it again

Royall

No, I don’t mean the iPhone. Once again, Apple twisted
reality to suit them. You can do a slideshow to sound, IF you are willing to
have your slides change at one fixed rate (that you can set). That’s probably
good for slideshows, but it’s an anathema to presentations.

 

About the only way that I know of to do what I need is with
video. I seem to vaguely recall that several video authoring tools will set
stills to a soundtrack. Maybe even Windows Movie Maker will. In any case, I will
have to rethink my slides just a week before my debut. Fun.

TATN ’08

Royall

Here is a
draft of the presentation I’m to give at the Texas Assistive Technology Network
’08 conference on the 24th. I’m not really happy with
it, because I think it wanders too much. However, I was trying to say something
important and use up a reasonable amount of time without giving yet another
boring product demo. What do you think?

 

I still have to make the overhead slides. I want to use an
Apple file format called Enhanced MP3, which will display slides synchronized
to the audio. But, I’m having trouble finding software to create the
file.

RE: Talk

Royall

Indeed.

 

I don’t think my laptops
count as secondary presenters, but I will share this with them.

 

From: Angela Standridge
[mailto:amstand@esc4.net]
Sent: Thursday, June 05, 2008 2:37 PM
To: Scott Royall
Subject: RE: Talk

 

§ 
Presenter:  Scott Royall

(If
you have secondary presenters please share this information with them
  )

§  Title of Presentation: Walk the Walk and Talk
the Talk

§  Abstract that will go in program:
Come hear what it is like to be on the communicator’s side of the
communication device. I am Scott Royall, born in Bryan, Texas
in 1956. I worked for Shell Oil for 14 years as a software developer before
being laid off in April, 2002. I’m also physically disabled with Cerebral
Palsy. I use a customized electric wheelchair to get around, but am unable to
talk. One of life’s first lessons I had to learn was that verbal communication
is one of the tools that makes the difference between just existing and
actually being a member of society. That’s what prompted me to use my skills as
software developer to create Xpress-It. With Xpress-It, a standard laptop
computer, an automotive-type audio amplifier and speakers, I can talk to
anyone. Experience a real-time demonstration of Express-It from a real-time
communicator!

§ 
Day,
Session and Time: 06/24/08 Tuesday,
Session 6, 3:00-4:00

§ 
Presentation
Room Number: 106

§  Strand (s): Augmentative
Communication

 

 

Angela Standridge, M.A.,
CCC-SLP, ATP

Region 4 ESC

713-744-6831

From: Scott Royall
[mailto:royall@conchbbs.com]
Sent: Thursday, June 05, 2008 2:28 PM
To: Angela Standridge
Subject: Talk

 

What time is my presentation scheduled for? I’m about
a third through the first revision.

RE: Heh

Royall

You’re Dell, don’t you know
better? I seriously doubt the D610 has a user-replaceable CPU. J

 

Dell has a real image problem,
as you well know. I was on the radio the other day with a ham who had a new HP
something-or-other. He needed to reload the software for his do-everything
printer, and was trying to communicate with HP. Of course it was the classic tale
of trying to chat with India. He couldn’t believe Dell could be any better.

 

Dell, I know the economic
arguments for outsourcing support to India, Panama, etc, but it’s a false
economy. Americans want to speak to someone who actually does understand.

 

From:
Richard_Bernier@Dell.com [mailto:Richard_Bernier@Dell.com]
Sent: Monday, June 02, 2008 10:31 AM
To: royall@conchbbs.com
Subject: RE: Heh/

 

Ah, the quest for low wattage, less heat, and better
processing.  I recently bought an Intel L7400 processor on eBay a couple
of weeks ago (they are not easy to find). 

 

Intel Core™2 Duo
Processor L7400Δ

LE80537LF0214M                  
 1.50 GHz              667
MHz           4 MB Unified              17
watts              1.1625
V-1.3 V 100° C 479 μFC-BGA

 

Good description link: http://www.cp65.com/news/20070118.shtml

 

It’s basically, is a super high quality Merom processor. 
The only problem is that it comes in a surface mount packaging, no pins.  So,
it’s not going to fit in my Latitude D620 L 
Now, it just sitting on a shelf.

Richard Bernier
Online Community Outreach Liaison
Dell Inc.
800-822-8965 Ext. 726-8859 | Richard_Bernier@dell.com
Doing good or needing improvement, either way you can contact my
manager mailto:geoffrey_knoxr@dell.com?subject=Customer
feedback on Richard Bernier

From: Scott Royall
[mailto:royall@conchbbs.com]
Sent: Saturday, May 31, 2008 6:24 PM
To: Bernier, Richard
Subject: Heh/

 

This should
raise a grin.