Out-Of-Sight News and Views
Issue #9
September 1,
2013
In This
Issue
Greetings
from Our President
Navigation
Word on
the Street
Guess Who
Took Another Trip Around the Sun
Our
Out-Of-Sight Superstar
On Stage
– An Intimate Little Theater
The Bookshelf
– 2 Selections
On Your
Own – Facts and Statistics
In the
News - Talking TV Channel Guide
Geek
Gossip – Getting Started with Audacity
Another
Milestone - Blind Motorcyclist Breaks Record
Healthy
Choice, Healthy Living – Stress
In My
Opinion - Top 10 Advantages of Dating Sighted and Blind People
Taking a
Vacation? – Visit the White House
Fun and
Adventure – Blind Navy Veteran Kayaks
The Argus
– Helps Blind People See Shapes and Colors
Come Join
Our Fall Auction – September 21st
And, the
Winner Is
The
Recipe Box – Magic Cookie Bars
Dear
Betty Blunt
Think
Tank
Did You
Know? – Birthstones
Words to
Live By
A Round
of Applause
Oosabelle’s
List
What is
Happening on Out-Of-Sight
Greetings from Our President
Here we
are again thanks to various contributors with another edition of the news
letter packed with interesting articles and information for all of us to enjoy.
Another month has brought us new Additions to
the site in the way of members, games, event hosts and delightful
presentations.
Each of you continues to make Out-Of-Sight
the place to come and enjoy meeting new people and forging friendships that
will last a life time.
Remember to mark your calendar for our
annual fall auction and raffle that will be taking place later this month on
September 21st at 3:00 PM eastern. There are several items and
goodies for you to consider bidding upon and I am looking forward to seeing all
of you there. Note the details concerning this event are further down in the
news letter.
And as always, if you think of anything else
you would like to see in this format, be sure to let us know by writing to us
at the below email address.
Best
Regards,
Lee
Richards
Navigation
To
navigate quickly to the different articles in this newsletter using JAWS,
System Access, or Window Eyes, press the letter H to move through the
headings. For MAC users, press Control
Option Command plus the letter H.
Word on the Street
- Ruff!
Ruff! Cynthia Owusu will
soon be home with her new guidedog.
Welcome home to you both!
- The movie in which Roger landed a part is
in the midst of filming. Roger’s scene will be filmed on Saturday,
September 7th, so break a leg Roger!
- And, they said it would not last! Ha!
Congratulations to Charlie and Arcy Richardson on their 1 year
wedding anniversary, which took place on August 24th!
- Off to college! Harrison Tu will be attending the
- It’s vacation time! John Horna will soon be going home to
- Applause!
Applause! Roger also landed
a role as Assistant Audio Technician for an upcoming play titled, Bells.
It is a neat play about life for a group of sisters who love chatting to
one another on the phone. It will
be performed in October, in
Got any
news for us? We would love to hear what
is going on in your world, so please keep us up to date and write to:
We look
forward to sharing your news with our extended family, here on Out-Of-Sight!
Guess Who Just Took
Another Trip Around the Sun?
Help us
celebrate our September birthdays:
- September 7, Ricky Farley – Ricky, from
- September 8,
- September 8, Linda Permar – Linda lee,
from
- September 10, Patty Iorio – Pattycakes,
from
- September 11, Lisa Filroy – Lisa Filroy,
from
- September 11, Suzy Barnes – Suzy B., from
- September 13, Mike Everett – Mike E., from
- September 18, Leia Stewart – Leia, from
- September 19, John Chatfield – John C.,
from
- September 21, Tanshia Inniss – Fabulous.T,
from
- September 23, Glenda Johnson – Glenda,
from
- September 23, Evelyn
- September 24, Francois Marais – FM94, from
- September 25, Jim Ashley – The Maestro,
from
- September 25, Cynthia Owusu – Bernard’s
Girl, from
- September 26, Jack Crawford – Jack C.,
from
- September 28, Louis Cisneros – Eddie Doo
Wop, from
- September 28, Steve Rushing – PC Tech,
from ?.
- September 29, Linda Knights – Linda, from
- September 29, Della Lausch – Della, from
Please
help us build our birthday list, by sending your Username, first and last name,
date of birth, (year optional), and where you live, to:
Our
Out-Of-Sight Superstar
By Karen Santiago
Thanks to everyone who wrote in with your
suggestions about who should be our Member of the Month for September! There
were several names put forth, and it was a difficult decision as all of the
candidates are members who deserve this recognition! Unfortunately, only one
member each month can be the recipient of this honor. Keep those submissions coming, because we
recognize a member for each month. So,
without further ado:
Congratulations to Mike Everett for becoming
our September Member of the Month! Now,
here is a bit more about our friend, Mike.
I had a great time interviewing our September
member of the month, Mike Everett. Mike has lived in
In his earlier years, Mike lived near the
In 1984 the
In 1988 Mike had cataract surgery and it
greatly improved his vision. Two years later Mike started working for Stanadyne
automotive corporation, a manufacturing company of diesel parts. He started on
the 2nd shift, 3:30 – 12:00, which was difficult when arranging rides. Finally after two
years of second shift, he was moved to first shift. Some of his jobs included
working on an antifreeze recycling machine, dye casting molds, machine shop,
fuel pumps, production line, , and training new employees. Due to the cataract
surgery, his eyes were extremely sensitive to light. He suffered from
macularedema; blisters forming on the retina. The company tried to accommodate
his needs, but it was difficult since he moved from one department to the next.
After five years, Mike decided it would be best for the health of his eyes to
leave, and he did.
In February 1995, Mike’s mother became ill and
suddenly passed away. This was a great shock to Mike and his father. It took
quite some time for the both of them to adjust, as anyone could imagine. Mike is a Christian, and is a firm believer
in his faith and that is how he was able to cope and move on. It was his faith
that would have to be called upon again in late 1999, when his father suffered
a heart attack and needed bypass surgery. Mike’s dad had several other
complications while in the hospital for 51 days, and Mike is truly grateful for
his father’s recovery.
Currently, Mike maintains some parts of the
lawn, the house, and the behind -the -scenes of the auto body shop and car lot.
For instance, he is in charge of advertising, ordering parts, handling calls, e
bay, just to name a few.
It was his sister that got Mike involved in
computers. She introduced him to text chat, the in thing back then. After
acquiring a computer and JAWS, Mike continuously listened to the trainings till
he got a headache. He was introduced to FTP, Audio Tips, and Out-Of-Sight, by
friends. As you all know, Mike is a host of Technically Speaking, where he
gives computer advice. Mike likes going to games and chat rooms where he meets
people from all over the world. He especially likes the Book Club, Blind
Handyman, and The Learning Center.
Here are two things that Mike said during the
closing of our interview; do not limit yourself and become more independent,
the technology is out there. His final question to me was if I wanted to know
his real name. He told me it was Fred, who knew?
If you would like to send Mike a message of
congratulations, or recommend someone for our October Member of the Month,
please write to:
We look forward to your suggestions in
selecting our next Out-Of-Sight Superstar!
On Stage – An Intimate Little Theater
By Joe
Giovanelli
Not
long ago I had some free time so I wandered into a small but well-appointed
theater. The seats were very comfortable
and the temperature was just about right.
A music show was getting ready to start. From what I could see, there
were about 25 to 30 people in the room. One man had a guitar. A lady had a few sheets of paper which I
guess she planned to read from. There was a grand piano on the stage.
The
room got very quiet and the host stepped to the mike and introduced the first
performer. He sang a good old country tune. You should have heard the applause
he received. The next person went to a
keyboard he'd previously set up and played an energetic rock tune which sounded
like Jimmy Hendricks. He got lots of cheers after that was over. A rather shy lady stepped to the mike holding
a flute. She played a beautiful piece of classical music to the accompaniment
of a recorded music track. What a hand she got!
The
evening was just getting started and we already had three different musical
styles. The audience appreciated each
one's performance. Another guy went to the
grand piano and played some pretty advanced jazz. As before, the clapping was
almost deafening. As the evening
progressed, I heard singers and musicians with various skill levels, but
regardless of that, each received thunderous applause. I'm looking forward to the next music show in
that small, intimate theater.
Would
you like to come to the next performance? Well, you can! All you need to do is
check the daily schedule for Out-Of-Sight, and you will see that the next time
the little theater will open is next Saturday at 8:00 PM eastern. Follow the
crowd to the On Stage room and get there early so you can get a good seat. See you there!
The Book Shelf – 2 Selections
Do you
love to curl up with a good book? Been
meaning to read that best seller? Here
are two of our book club selections.
They are to be read for our next book club meeting, which will be held,
Friday, September 20, at 8:00 PM eastern, in the Library. See you there!
Book
#1: Daddy’s Gone a Hunting
DB 76343
Author: Mary Higgins Clark
Reading Time: 10 hours, 1 minute
Read by Madelyn Buzzard
Suspense Fiction
Bestsellers
Concerned by something she discovered at her
family’s furniture business, Kate Connelly asks former employee Gus Schmidt to
join her there in the predawn hours.
But, the building explodes as they enter, killing Gus and leaving Kate
comatose—and the prime suspect in an insurance scam. Some violence. Bestseller 2013.
Download Daddys gone a hunting
Book #2: Cuckoo’s Calling
DB 76784
Author: Robert Galbraith
Reading Time: 15 hours, 56 minutes
Read by Robert Glenister
Mystery and Detective Stories
Bestsellers
J.K. Rowling writing as Robert
Galbraith. Private detective Cormoran
Strike is down on his luck. He lost a
leg in
On Your Own – Facts and Statistics
By Karen Santiago
Levels of Visual Function:
There are
four levels of visual function, according to the International Classification
of Diseases;
- normal vision
- moderate visual impairment
- severe visual impairment
- blindness
Moderate
visual impairment combined with severe visual impairment are grouped under the
term low vision: low vision
taken together with blindness represents all visual impairment.
Legally
Blind:
The federal statute states
that blindness means central vision acuity (clearness of vision) of 20/200 in
the more functioning eye with the use of corrective lens. Simply put,
individuals who are incapable of reading the largest letter on an eye chart
even while wearing corrective lens are deemed legally blind by the government.
Causes of Visual Impairments:
Globally
the major causes of visual impairment are:
- uncorrected refractive
errors (myopia, hyperopia or astigmatism), 43 %
- cataracts, 33%
- glaucoma, 2%.
- Fast Facts:
- 285 million people are visually
impaired worldwide: 39 million are blind and 246 have low vision.
- About 90% of the world’s
visually impaired live in developing countries.
- The number of people
visually impaired from infectious diseases has greatly reduced in the last
20 years.
- 80% of all visual
impairment can be avoided or cured.
Estimates:
Almost
all statistics on blindness are estimates, which mean that the numbers found in
a sample are extrapolated to the entire population.
Children: under age 15
An
estimated 19 million children are visually impaired. Of these, 12 million
children are visually impaired due to refractive errors, a condition that could
be easily diagnosed and corrected. 1.4 million are irreversibly blind for the
rest of their lives.
Blindness
among Children through age 21 (2012):
·
59,193
·
By
reporting agency
·
Reported
by state departments of education: 49,794 (84.1%)
·
Reported
by residential schools for the blind: 4,859 (8.2%)
·
Reported
by rehabilitation programs: 3,301 (5.6%)
·
Reported
by multiple disability programs: 1,239 (2.1%)
·
By
primary reading medium
·
Braille
readers: 5,186 (8.8%)
·
Print
readers: 16,635 (28.1%)
·
Auditory
readers: 4,728 (8.0%)
·
Non-readers:
20,361 (34.4%)
·
Pre-readers:
12,283 (20.7%)
Education attainment 21 – 64
(2011):
·
Less than high school graduation: 4,232,100
·
High school diploma or a GED: 1,061,600
·
Some college education/associates degree: 939,700
·
Bachelor's degree or higher: 374,400
Adults: age
55 and over
About 65 %
of all people who are visually impaired are aged 50 and older, while this age
group comprises about 20 % of the world's population. With an increasing
elderly population in many countries, more people will be at risk of
age-related visual impairment.
Income Status,
2011:
·
Median
Annual Earnings: $33,200
·
Median
Annual Household Income: $32,600
·
Number
living below the poverty line: 1,002,700 (31.0%)
Supplemental Security Income 21 - 64:
received
SSI benefits in 2011 was 604,700 (18.7%).
Job
Capability:
Braille is a strategy that enables the blind
to read and write. Through the use of Braille and technology there are several
employment opportunities that are available to blind people. Blind people have
been successful in the field of accounting, law, customer service, travel, stock brokerage
, electrical engineering, teaching, and
more.
Employment 21 - 64( 2011):
- Employed: 1,225,080
- Full-time/Full-year Employment: 770,000
- Unemployment
(in the labor force): 302,909
- Unemployment (not in the labor force):
1,849,048
Therefore,
for working age adults reporting significant vision loss, only 36.8% were
employed.
Global
response to the Prevention of Blindness:
Globally, 80%
of all visual impairment can be prevented or cured. Areas of progress over the
last 20 years include:
- governments establishing
national programs to prevent and control visual impairment
- eye care services
increasingly integrated into primary and secondary health care systems,
with a focus on the provision of services that are available, affordable
and high quality
- campaigns to raise
awareness, including school-based education
- stronger international
partnerships, with engagement of the private sector and civil society.
Data over
the last 20 years shows that there has been significant progress in preventing
and curing visual impairment in many countries. Furthermore, there has been a
massive reduction in onchocerciasis-related blindness as part of a significant
reduction in the disease. This has been achieved through a number of successful
international partnerships.
Specific
achievements include
Its role is
to:
- develop policies and
strategies to prevent blindness
- to give technical
assistance to
- to monitor and evaluate
programs;
- to coordinate
international partnerships.
In 2009,
the World Health Organization (WHO) approved the 2009-13 Action Plan for the Prevention of Avoidable Blindness and
Visual Impairment, a roadmap for
WHO works
to strengthen national and country-level efforts to eliminate avoidable
blindness, help national health care providers treat eye diseases, expand
access to eye health services, and increase rehabilitation for people with
residual visual impairment. Building and strengthening health systems is a
particular area of focus.
WHO leads
an international alliance of governments, private sector and civil society
organizations aiming to eliminate blinding trachoma from the world by the year
2020.
For the
last ten years WHO has worked with the International Agency for the Prevention
of Blindness in the global initiative "Vision 2020: the Right to
Sight".
Since 2004,
WHO in partnership with Lions Clubs International has established a global network of 35 childhood blindness
centers in 30 countries for the preservation, restoration or rehabilitation of
sight in children.
In response
to the increasing burden of chronic eye disease WHO is now developing policies
and guidelines for diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, age-related macular
degeneration and refractive errors.
Finally, to
support comprehensive eye care systems, WHO provides epidemiologic and public
health technical support to its Member States.
If you have a question about this section or
would like a specific topic covered, please email us at:
In
the News – Talking TV Channel Guide
Submitted by Debi Chatfield
Reprinted from the
How does a blind person find what to watch on a
TV with 200 channels and 46,000 video-on-demand choices of movies, shows, and
clips? Tom Wlodkowski, a blind executive at Comcast Corp., thinks he has the
answer: a talking TV channel guide. No
joke.
Quote, The television is not strictly as visual
a medium as you might think, end quote, said David Goldfield, a computer
technology instructor at the Associated Services for the Blind and Visually
Impaired. Quote, Radio drama in the
Comcast also market-tested the guide with 20 average-Joe-type sight-impaired
individuals in
This is part of a year-old project at Comcast to make the company's products
more accessible to customers with disabilities. Wlodkowski has an accessibility
team and will soon have a lab in the
Comcast is not doing this just to reach out to
the nation's 1.3 million blind individuals who fear being left behind as
popular culture and media go digital on the Internet and TV. The Twenty-First
Century Communications and Accessibility Act of 2010, passed on the 20-year
anniversary of the Americans With Disabilities Act, is forcing technology
companies to integrate accessibility functions into products. It's believed
that, in three years, talking interfaces will have to come with TV products.
Wlodkowski thinks he also can drive business. People with disabilities account
for $200 billion in discretionary spending power, and catering to their needs,
he believes, can boost brand loyalty. Quote, We will meet the requirements of
the law, but we also believe there can be innovation, end quote, he said.
Wlodkowski is looking to develop products that could help older Americans,
quote, age in place, end quote, through the Xfinity home products, which now
include home security.
Generally, technology companies - with the exception of Apple Inc. -have
received poor marks in the selling of blind-friendly products. Quote, We see it
as a civil right, and we see manufacturers embracing accessibility way too
slowly, end quote, Lauren McLarney, government affairs specialist at the National
Federation of the Blind, said of consumer electronics and technology companies.
Comcast's talking guide sounds, quote, worthwhile, end quote, but she hasn't
seen it. The association offers a channel guide by zip code called newsline
that last year was accessed 600,000 times. Before the talking guide, Wlodkowski
said, he would have to recognize Matt Lauer's voice at NBC or Anderson Cooper
on CNN. He also memorized channel numbers. But most times, he had no idea what
was on the channel. Quote, The only way I could navigate TV before, end quote,
Wlodkowski said, "was to go up and down the channels and listen until I
found something that I liked. End quote. Recently, he was fiddling with a
talking TV guide and stumbled on Brady Bunch reruns. Quote, They still
syndicate that? Wow, end quote, he said.
Formerly with AOL Inc., Wlodkowski is the vice president of accessibility and
said his team at Comcast had four goals:
* To seek information from disabled customers about what they need and how they
interact with Comcast's products.
* To integrate functionality into products so
they can be more easily used by disabled subscribers.
* To introduce specific products, such as the
talking guide.
* To enhance customer service for disabled
subscribers.
Wlodkowski, who was born blind, was raised in
One challenging experience in
Geek
Gossip – Getting Started with Audacity
By Rich De Steno
Audacity is a free powerful multi-track audio
recorder and editor for Windows or the Mac.
This article will focus on its basic functions in the Windows
environment. David Bailes has written an
excellent guide for use of Audacity with Jaws, although it really applies to
use with any screen-reader. You can
download a zip file of Audacity Version 2.0.3, its special Lame MP3 encoder,
and the David Bailes guide from my dropbox with the following link:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/8938503/Audacity%20Materials%20Jan2014.zip
After you install Audacity, you should also
install its special Lame MP3 encoder so that you will be able to save files in
the MP3 format. To make a voice
recording, first plug a microphone into your computer and make sure your sound
card is set to microphone, and not line-in.
Press r for record and speak. You
may pause recording by pressing p for pause.
To end the recording, press the space bar. Press space bar again to hear the recording. If the volume of the recording is too low or
high, you can adjust the input and output by pressing control-F6 twice to get
to the Transport Tool Bar and tabbing over to the mixer slider out and input
and adjusting the percentage numbers.
The input will affect the volume of future recordings. Press control-F6 again to exit that tool
bar. To adjust the volume of the
recording you just made, press control-a to select the entire recording, press
alt-c to get to the Effects menu, arrow down once to Amplification, and press
Enter to accept the suggested adjustment in volume. This will adjust the volume to peak level
without distortion. To save the
recording, press alt-f for the file menu, arrow down to Export, and press
Enter. Type in a path and file name and
tab over to select a format, such as wav or MP3. If you choose MP3, you should tab over to
Options and choose a bit rate. Tab over
to Save and press Enter. A screen will
come up enabling you to enter file tag information, such as a title and artist. Press Enter to exit this file tag
screen. The same procedure applies to
line-in recordings once you change your computer's audio input to line-in. Line-in recordings would enable you to, for
example, record old cassettes and save them in MP3.
Audacity is capable of making
professional-sounding multi-track recordings.
Let us say you make a recording of you singing a line of a song. It is fairly simple to record a second track
over that recording of you singing harmony with yourself. Similarly, you may want to record yourself
singing over a karaoke music background.
To sing over a karaoke track, press control-o to open the karaoke
file. Once it is loaded into Audacity,
it becomes your first track, similar to the above example of singing a line of
music.
Use headphones for this procedure. With the first track loaded into Audacity,
press r to begin recording a second track.
You will hear the first track played through your headphones, so you
will know exactly when to sing the second track. When you are finished, press the space bar to
stop.
You now have a two-track recording, but you
will probably want to balance the volume of the two tracks to get the most
desirable mix. You can work on each
track individually to adjust volume or apply other effects. Press the up and down arrows to hear if
either or both tracks are selected. To
toggle a track between selected and unselected, press Enter on the track. To work on one of the two tracks, make sure
it is selected and that the other track is unselected. To adjust the volume of the selected track,,
focus on that track, press the home key, and then press shift-end key to work
on that entire track. Now you may adjust
the volume of that track by pressing alt-c for the Effects menu, arrowing down
once to Amplify and pressing Enter, and typing in a positive number or a
negative number and pressing Enter to raise or lower the volume of that track,
respectively.
Once you are satisfied with the mix, you should
save this two-track recording as a Project in the file menu. This enables you to retrieve it at a later
date if you decide that you want to make further adjustments to individual
tracks. If you want to save the two-track
recording as a wav or MP3 file, follow the instructions described above for
exporting a file to wav or MP3.
Audacity has a multitude of other functions and
capabilities, such as using effects like noise reduction, applying reverb,
compressing the sound, fading in and out, and many others, all of which is
beyond the scope of this article. The
David Bailes guide referred to above is an excellent means of learning much
more about the program and its use
with a screen-reader. Good luck and have fun with Audacity.
Another
Milestone - Blind Motorcyclist Breaks Record
Submitted by Roger Khouri
By Nicole Le Marie
Every corner is a blind bend for this
motorcyclist.
But Stuart Gunns inability to see where
he’s going has not prevented him from setting a new world speed record.
He became the fastest blind and disabled
biker on the planet after hitting 167.1mph on Saturday.
His father, Geoff, rides alongside him and
uses an intercom system to tell him if he is drifting off course or needs to
brake.
‘I hope this proves to people that just
because you are blind or have a disability, does not mean it should change. or
limit your life, said Stuart, from
The 39-year-old broke his back in two places,
shattered several ribs and his shoulder and was paralyzed across the right side
of his body in a horror road accident 11 years ago.
But he fought back to regain some feeling
in his right arm and eventually conquered the challenge of climbing back on his
bike.
Mr Gunn battled crosswinds to beat the
previous fastest time of 164mph at Elvington Airfield in
Quote,
I am absolutely ecstatic and I do not think the news has quite sunk in, end
quote he said.
Healthy Choice,
Healthy Living - Stress
By
Hello everyone!
The topic for this month is stress.
Managing our stress is very critical for staying healthy. It is just as
important as the other topics I have covered in recent months. It is helpful to
take a look at ourselves. Figure out
what we think about how we are doing. Too often, blind people have been exposed
to lots of negativity from their friends, family, and society in general. Many
of us place limitations on ourselves based on these negative comments, and all
of this can cause a lot of stress.
There is a lot of information about stress,
especially on the internet. I have
included a link below, which has information about meditation, relaxation, and
other such related topics, that I think would be helpful for you. Check out the
following link:
Dealing
with Stress - Ten Tips | Skills You Need
Recognizing that you are stressed, is the first
step in the process of stress management.
This could be, realizing that you are not sleeping well, being
irritable, gaining weight, suffering from headaches, experiencing digestive
problems, or a whole host of other issues.
So, first, identify if you are feeling stressed. Then, ask yourself what
you can do about it? For example, is the stress you are feeling self
inflicted? Meaning, are you getting
enough sleep? Drinking enough water? Drinking too much alcohol or coffee? Are you upset with someone and cannot forgive
them? Are you eating right? Eating too
much junk food? Some of our stress levels are caused by our own habits, so we
have to be careful and try to minimize these as much as possible. It is also a
good idea to talk to someone about how we are feeling. Sometimes, we take on
more duties than we realize, and this can be overwhelming, too.
Another way to manage your stress, is to make a
schedule for yourself. In your schedule,
plan for some activities that you enjoy and look forward to attending. This could be as simple as having dinner with
a friend. Or, it may be getting back
into that hobby that you used to do so long ago. Relax, take some time for yourself, and start
releasing some of the stressers that are in your life. Adopt the glass is half
full kind of attitude. Remember, your health is your responsibility, so, make
one healthy choice at a time!
If you have any
questions for
Each
month, an MP3 of this section will be available, so that you may keep an audio
reference of the advice given by
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4208173/06%20Stress.zip
Top 10 – The Advantages of Dating Sighted
and Blind People
Submitted
by Roger Khouri
By
Priscilla McKinley
10.
Dating a sighted person means having a sighted guide when some idiot smashes
into you and breaks your cane on your way to class. Dating a blind person means
having a spare cane when some idiot smashes into you and breaks your cane on
your way to class.
9. Dating a sighted person means having someone to keep you from kissing a nose
instead of the lips. Dating a blind person means not caring if you give or get
a kiss on the nose instead of the lips.
8. Dating a sighted person means being able to take drives in the country on
weekends. Dating a blind person means being able to have private NFB
conventions on weekends.
7. Dating a sighted person means having someone to blame when you run into each
other in the hall. Dating a blind person means it's no ones fault when you run
into each other in the hall.
6. Dating a sighted person means having someone to describe what is going on
during the silent moments of a movie. Dating a blind person means having time
to get popcorn. Or go to the bathroom during the silent moments of a movie.
5. Dating a sighted person means knowing who is going to drive on your next
date. Dating a blind person means knowing you are going to take the bus on your
next date.
4. Dating a sighted person means having someone to tell you if your socks
match. Dating a blind person means having someone else remember if you cut your
tag out of your orange or purple shirt.
3. Dating a sighted person means someone telling you when you have a piece of
broccoli stuck between your two front teeth. Dating a blind person means no one
noticing when you have a piece of broccoli stuck between your two front teeth.
2. Dating a sighted person means being able to ask questions like, What is the
expiration date on this milk? And, Does this look infected? Dating a blind
person means being able to ask questions like, What is the Braille symbol for
S-I-O-N? And, Does this feel swollen?
Okay! Okay! Hold on! I am not going to
give you the number one advantage for dating sighted and blind persons, at
least not until you hear me out. And, do not cheat by skipping ahead, for I
have some important things to say hereReally!
As students, many of you have dated, are dating, or at least would like to
date. Some of you may have pondered the questions about whether or not to date
a sighted or a blind person, as I have in the past. Sometimes, I thought it
would be easier to date a blind person. Someone who could understand the
challenges blind people face on a daily basis. Other times, I thought it would
be easier to date a sighted person. Someone who could alleviate some of the
challenges that go along with blindness, But then, when in a relationship with
a sighted person, I would start questioning why I was with this person, and why
he was with me. Is he with me, because he likes to play the protector? Is he
with me because he has low self esteem and does not think he can get a sighted
person? Am am I with him because it is nice to have someone to drive me places
when I'm in a hurry, or read the paper when Newsline® breaks down? Am I with
this person because I am afraid to be alone?
When in a relationship with a blind person, I found myself asking similar types
of questions. Do we have anything in common besides our blindness? Am I in this
relationship because I do not think a sighted person could accept my
blindness? If I stay in this
relationship, how are we going to manage as a blind couple?
There are many reasons why people enter into relationships with others, and we
as blind students are just as likely to enter into relationships for the wrong
reasons. However, we can make this less likely by possessing self-confidence
and good blindness skills. For example, I will not be as likely to get into a
relationship of dependency on a sighted person if I have access to readers,
have good Braille and cane travel skills, and know the city bus schedule like
the back of my hand. Likewise, I will not be as likely to enter into a
relationship of safety with a blind person if I have the self-confidence to be
blind on my own.
In other words, as in any relationship, you have to be happy with yourself
before you can make another person happy. The better your blindness skills, the
less your blindness becomes an issue in any relationship. Both sighted and
blind persons will respect you more if you have self-confidence and good
blindness skills, And is not that
what Doctor Jernigan, Doctor Maurer, and our other mentors from the National
Federation of the Blind have been telling us for years? It is respectable to be blind. It is
respectable to be blind. It is respectable to be blind. If you keep telling
yourself this, you will start to believe it. If you believe it, you will start
to live it, which will positively affect your relationships with both the
sighted and the blind.
It is important for all of us as blind individuals to analyze our
relationships. I am not saying you should get out a microscope and examine each
and every move you and your partner make, but you should ask yourself the
following questions:
1. Would you still be interested in this person if the status of his or her
sight changed? In other words, if dating a sighted person, would you still be
interested if he or she went blind? Or, if dating a blind person, would you be
interested if he or she got his or her sight back?
2. Would you still want to be with this person if all of a sudden you could
see?
If you are currently in a relationship and answered no to either of the above
questions, you might want to get out that microscope and take a closer look,
for you might be in the relationship for the wrong reasons.
If you answered yes to both of the questions, then you have made it to the
number one advantage for dating a sighted or a blind person, which is the same
for both.
1. Dating this person, sighted or blind, means being with the one you love (or
at least the one you like a heck of a lot), and is this not what really
matters?
Taking a Vacation? – Visit the White House
Submitted
by Mike Everett
·
Wheelchairs may be requested from
·
Listening devices with audio description of the orientation film and exhibition are available at the Information
Desks in Emancipation Hall.
An audio-descriptive tour of Exhibition Hall
provides visitors who are blind or have low vision with a self-guided
experience of the
·
Sign language interpretation for
tours is available when booked in advance. Email Interpreters@saa.senate.gov. All
films have open captioning.
·
Family Restrooms are
available throughout the
·
Service animals are
allowed in the
·
A public TTY is located
near one of the gift shops on the Upper Level.
·
Copies of all
·
Emergency
evacuation information for visitors with disabilities is available here.
·
Additional
information on accessibility in the Capitol and the House and
·
Both the
Senate and House have accessible Galleries which include televisions with
closed-captioning. In addition, the Senate has informational materials available
in alternative formats.
·
If you have
any accessibility questions, please call the Office of Congressional
Accessibility Services at 202-224-4048.
Visitors Requiring
Shuttle Service to the
For your convenience,
the Capitol Visitor Center Office of Visitor Services provides an on-demand
shuttle service for those with mobility issues or in manual wheelchairs.
The shuttles run from the southwest corner of
If
you are traveling with a large group requesting mobility assistance, we
strongly recommend that you contact the Office of Congressional Accessibility
Services at 202-224-4048 prior to your visit. Please provide as much
advance notice as possible to help facilitate your request.
Fun and Adventure – Blind Navy Vet Kayaks Colorado River
Submitted
by Debi Chatfield
Disabled Navy veteran Lonnie Bedwell
made history last week, becoming the first completely blind solo kayaker to go
down the entire length of the
By kayaking the entire 226-mile length
of the
Mornini, who co-founded Team River
Runner, a chapter of Disabled Sports USA, in 2004 and currently serves as its
Executive Director, praised the team effort that engendered this historic
achievement and which continues to serve as the ethos of his organization.
Quote, No one goes down the
Quote, Joe Mornini has opened the
doors for warriors who were wounded to find life again on the water. He is a
man of singular vision and energy who saw a need and focused his sites on
helping wounded veterans get back in the game,” said Brian Brurud, the founder
of Check-6, Inc. Congratulations to Lonnie and Team River Runner on a job very
well done!end quote.
ABOUT TEAM RIVER RUNNER
Team River Runner (TRR) was established in August 2004 by kayakers in the
ABOUT CHECK-6, INC.
Founded in 2007, Check-6 (http://www.checksix.com)
is a disabled veteran run organization that brings lessons learned from
aviation and the military to other high-risk industries, including oil &
gas, mining, and industrial power generation. Check-6 applies the best
practices of aircraft carrier operations, commercial aviation, nuclear and
space operations to help reduce human error, increasing efficiency in the
process. The company has grown from a handful of dedicated people in 2007 to more
than 300 working around the world today.
The Argus - Helps the Blind to See Shapes and Colors
Submitted by Roger Khouri
By Danela Hernandez
Dean
Lloyd started losing his sight in his mid twenties, while he was studying
medicine in the early 1960’s. His doctors diagnosed him with a debilitating
condition known as Usher Syndrome. They told him he would be blind and deaf in
months, and that dementia would follow.
Quote, my prognosis did not look good, end quote, Lloyd recalls with a chuckle.
As it turns out, Lloyd had something else altogether. He had been born with a
genetic condition known as retinitis pigmentosa, a disease that eats away at
the retina, specifically targeting those cells that detect light. Once these
cells die, the eyes cannot transform and decode the incoming light in order to
produce sight.
Lloyds condition worsened very slowly. Though his night vision was not great,
he does not recall having other difficulties at first. He transitioned into
biochemistry research at Stanford, then moved on to be a software engineer.
When his loss of vision began to make coding on a computer screen too difficult
- there were no aids for visually impaired programmers back then, he says - he
decided to try law school. With the help of two readers, Lloyd passed the bar
and started practicing law in 1982. At the time, he had very limited vision.
Then in 1989, he finally lost the ability to see. Quote, There was nothing for
17 years, he says. Until I got the Argus in 2007. end quote. The Argus, named
after the all-seeing Greek god with 100 eyes, is a wearable computer that helps
blind people see borders and boundaries at very low resolution. We first
reported on the device some eight years ago, when it was still in testing. Now,
at long last, the Food and Drug Administration has approved its use in the
The Argus is not a true eyes for the blind device - patients can't see objects
in the same way people with normal eyesight can. Instead, they see
black-and-white edges and contrast points, and the brain can be trained to use
this artificial data as a visual guide. It provides enough visual information for
the patient to gain some independence, allowing them to cross a street safely,
or navigate an unfamiliar room.
Quote, you have to learn to see again, but people who have this implant were
people that used to see, end quote, said Lloyd, one of the first patients to
get the Argus. "As you go through life, you still have pictures in your
brain of everything you've seen before. So, you are creating yourself an image
that matches what's in your memory. It's a concept that a lot of people do not
get when they think about this device. End quote.
An array of hardware makes this possible. Central to the Argus system is a grid
of 60 tiny electrodes, which are implanted in a patient's retina. The patient
also wears a pair of sunglasses outfitted with a video camera and a Texas
Instruments digital signal processor. The chip translates the light picked up
by the video camera into patterns of electrical activity, and those patterns
get beamed wirelessly to a receiver connected to the grid of electrodes inside
the eye. These electrodes - basically miniature glass needles – stimulate nerve
cells in the retina, which then send signals to the part of the brain that
processes visual information. Through this stimulation, the perception of sight
is produced. Since it requires the optic nerve to be healthy, it will not work
on patients who have nerve damage or suffer from other kinds of blindness.
The device is the result of about 20 years of research and clinical trials, and
its development has benefited tremendously from innovations in consumer
electronics. The tiny video camera, for example, is very close to what you'd
find on a cellphone, says Dr. Robert Greenberg of Second Sight, the Sylmar,
California-based company that developed Argus. The images the camera captures are
then processed by a DSP chip, a component common in consumer-grade electronics.
Even though the Argus is the first of its kind in the medical world, the
hardware components are not exactly state-of-the-art. The DSP chip it's
currently using is 10 years old. Getting a medical device cleared by the FDA is
a long and tedious process, and approval is only granted for a specific device.
So if it's tweaked at all, the FDA needs to take a second look. The medical
space isn't like the consumer world, where new and shiny devices are prototyped
and brought to market within months. Right now, Second Sight is considering
upgrading the Argus to an ARM processor or a new DSP chip for image processing,
but such changes would likely result in a couple of years of testing and
regulatory approvals.
Quote, the computer technology [we use] tends to not be the latest cutting edge
because of the amount of testing required, end quote, said Greenberg. To speed
up the development process, Second Sight is turning to software instead. The
company is working on a software platform called Acuboost that would make
updating previously manufactured Argus models as easy as updating your
computer's operating system, says Greenberg. This is especially important
because the Argus is an implanted device, and installing it inside a patient's
eye requires pretty invasive surgery. Swapping out the electrode array like you
would a cellphone, a tablet, or a pair of augmented-reality goggles is not
really an option. So software upgrades would benefit both new patients and
patients who already have the device implanted.
The company is currently developing algorithms to improve resolution, image
focus and zooming. Their latest software can also automate brightness
adjustments and enable color recognition. Thus far, scientists at Second Sight
have been able to produce the perception of multiple colors in the lab by
sending different patterns of stimulation to each electrode in the retinal
implant. When the Argus camera picks up red or green, that information would be
encoded through different patterns of electrical activity, which would be sent
to the electrodes in the patient's eye, creating the perception of color. The
team is testing whether varying the frequency or the delay between each
stimulus plays a roll in producing color quote, vision. End quote. Because each
patient is different, they also have to optimize the algorithm to determine
each persons color map - that is, which stimuli can reliably result in the
particular patient seeing which colors.
This new direction of research grew out of feedback from current Argus patients
who reported seeing colors. Because the cells that are tuned to detect specific
colors are dead in these patients, the scientists at Second Sight did not
expect any color perception to be reported.
Quote, that is what led to the investigation, end quote, said USC's Dr. Mark
Humayun, the ophthalmologist and biomedical engineer who developed Argus. These
new color detecting algorithms are not quite ready yet, but the Argus team
hopes to roll them out shortly.
Meanwhile, researchers continue to learn a lot about how an artificial sight
mechanism relays the information it gathers to the brain. Quote, It is
different, end quote, says Humayun. Quote, It is not the way we normally see,
but it activates the same function. End quote.
Come Join Our Fall Auction – September 21st
We will be having our 6th Annual
Fall Auction Fund Raiser coming up on Saturday, September 21st, at 3:00 PM
eastern, in the
Please feel free to let us know of any items
you would like to donate. Perhaps, you have updated your adaptive technology
and have a talking dictionary lying around collecting dust, or what about some
software, keyboards, microphones, note takers, cellphones, headphones, hard drives, mp3 players, digital
recorders, and even computers, that you've meant to sell, but just haven't
found a buyer? We've got the perfect solution for you! Donate your technology
items, whether new or gently used, to us, so that we may auction them off and
raise money for our site. All proceeds go toward our annual fees to maintain
the site for your continued enjoyment and fellowship. Most of the donations
tend to be accessible electronic items, however we are not going to limit it to
just this. So if you have any homemade craft items, delectable desserts, or
anything non electronic we would appreciate the donation of those items as
well. We ask when you donate please let us know the physical condition as well
as the working order of your donation. We also ask anyone who is donating to
pay for the shipping of that particular item to the winner of that bid, if
possible.
If you wish to donate an item to this fund
raiser, please, contact us at: fallauction@out-of-sight.net .
Please include the name of your item, the
age of the item, model number, a brief description, any problems with the item,
and any other pertinent information about the item which would be beneficial
for the new user to know. It's due to the generosity of members like
yourself that we enjoy the activities, games and events here on
Out-Of-Sight.net.
Whether you donate or not to our auction,
everyone is welcome for an afternoon of friendship and fun!
At the conclusion of the auction on
September 21st, please send all donations for winning bids to the address
below. Once those donations have been received, we will promptly ensure that
the respective auction item is shipped.
If you are unable to attend the auction, but
wish to make a tax deductible donation, please send your check to:
Out-OF-Sight.net Inc.
Make sure you put donation in the memo
field for your tax records.
If you prefer to make your donation through
Pay Pal or credit card, you may click on the Donate button on our Fall
Auction page.
Thank you for your support, and see you on
September 21st! Together, we can truly make this community an Out-Of-Sight
place to be!
And the Winner Is
You! This would be great to hear, right?
Well then, it is
Your Choice! Would you like either a
brand new iPod Touch? Or, an iPad Mini?
Or, how about a Logitech Wireless, Bluetooth capable headset?
Yup! That is right! You could be the proud owner of one of these
items, courtesy of Out-Of-Sight.net!
Do you love a good
sounding headset? Do you love Apple
products? Are you just dying to have the
latest and greatest iDevice available?
Would you like to win? We are
pleased to announce our first ever raffle, here on Out-Of-Sight!
The raffle winners
will be drawn at the conclusion of our 6th Annual Fall Auction,
which will be held on Saturday, September 21st, at 3:00 PM eastern.
A donation of $5 per ticket, or 5 tickets for $20 will be available. Specific rules for the raffle are below.
Please send all
requests for tickets to the following email address. We will need your name, telephone number, and
the number of tickets you would like.
Send this information to:
Once we receive
your payment, ticket numbers will be issued to you by email. So, what are you waiting for? Send in your request for raffle tickets, send
in your payment, and be there on September 21st to see if you are
the winner! All proceeds will be used to
continue to keep, Out-Of-Sight up and running for many years to come! Support
the site that brings you hours and hours of enjoyment each week, while at the
same time, getting a chance to be the proud owner of a Logitech Wireless
Headset, or the choice of either a brand new iPod Touch, or iPad Mini! Will the winner be you?
Out-Of-Sight
Raffle Rules
3 items are being raffled:
Drawing #1: Your choice of either an iPod
Touch or iPad Mini.
Drawing #2. LogiTech Wireless, Blue Tooth
capable, H 800, Headset.
Drawing #3. LogiTech Wireless, Blue Tooth
capable, H 800, Headset.
- All payments for raffle tickets must be received by midnight
September 20, 2013.
- No ticket numbers will be released to an individual until payment
has been made.
- Tickets will be sold as either $5 per ticket, or in increments of 5
tickets for $20. For example, a $50 donation would provide 12 raffle
tickets.
- The drawings will be held on September 21st, 2013 at the
conclusion of the Fall Auction, unless the Fall Auction is cancelled due
to technical difficulties. If this occurs, the drawings will occur
at the conclusion of the rescheduled Fall Auction.
- The winner of the first drawing will have a choice of either
the iPod touch or the iPad Mini described below. This will be the
first of 3 prizes drawn. The second and third winners will receive a
new LogiTech H 800 Wireless, Blue Tooth capable Headset.
- The iPod Touch or iPad Mini will be purchased new by Mark Dew,
direct from Apple, shortly after the Fall Auction on September 21, 2013,
after the winner has made personal choices, as to the color, engraving,
and such.
- The device will be engraved with the words:
www.Out-Of-Sight.net on the back, along with the winner’s personalized
preference.
- The winners need not be present to win.
- The iPod Touch or iPad Mini chosen will be shipped directly
from Apple to the raffle winner.
- No shipping cost of any kind will be incurred by the winners.
- If choosing an iPad Mini 64 gig, instead of the 32 gig offered,
the winner will need to add an additional $100 to upgrade the
device. This will not be paid by Out-Of-Sight.net.
- Any questions about the iPod Touch or iPad Mini should be sent to Mark Dew at:
- All questions or requests for raffle tickets must be sent to the
email address provided below. We will not accept requests for tickets in
any other format. Send your ticket requests to:
- Payments may be made by check, money order, credit card, or through
Pay Pal. If using a credit card or Pay Pal account, please go to our
home page at:
and click on Donate
to complete your transaction.
- If sending payment by check or money order, please send it to:
Out-Of-Sight.net
c/o Lee Richards
Hurry, and get your tickets now, and see you on
September 21st!
Raffle
Descriptions
iPod
Touch
5th Generation
The Ipod touch comes in 5 different colors.
Black, Silver, Pink, Yellow, Blue, and Red.
Ipod Touch 64 gb storage.
Wi-Fi
Connects to the Internet over Wi-Fi networks.
Free iPod engraving.
Brilliant new design
The ultra slim, ultra light iPod touch comes in fresh new colors, and rocks
the incredible
new Apple Ear Pods.
4-inch Retina display
More screen means more music, messages, websites, and games. And it all looks
stunning
on the Retina display.
5-megapixel iSight camera
Make every shot your best with advanced optics, tap to focus, and LED flash.
And
shoot video in 1080p HD.
What is in the box
iPod touch
iPod touch loop
Apple Ear Pods
Lightning to USB cable
Warranty
Every iPod touch includes 90 days of free telephone technical support and a
one-year
limited warranty.
iPad
Mini
IPad mini 32 gb storage.
Wi-Fi
Connects to the Internet over Wi-Fi networks.
Free iPod engraving
Beautiful 7.9-inch display
Colors are vivid and text is sharp on the iPad mini display. But what really makes
it stand out is its size. At 7.9 inches, it’s perfectly sized to deliver an
experience
every bit as big as iPad.
Over 300,000 apps3
Right from the start, apps made for iPad also work with iPad mini. They’re immersive,
full-screen apps that let you do almost anything you can imagine. And they make
iPad
mini practically impossible to put down. Ultrafast wireless With advanced
Wi-Fi that’s up to twice as fast as any previous-generation iPad and access to fast cellular data networks around
the world, iPad mini lets you download content, stream video, and
browse the web at amazing speeds.
What is in the box
iPad mini
Lightning to USB Cable
USB Power Adapter
Limited Warranty
Every iPad mini comes with complimentary telephone technical
support for 90 days
from your iPad mini purchase date and a one-year limited
warranty.
Note: the winner may upgrade the iPad mini from 32 to 64 gb if they wish.
The cost is $100 paid by the winner.
Logitech
Wireless Headset
Chat, rock, and surf on your PC, Tablet, or Smartphone
with no wires to tie you down. Easily
connect to and switch between devices like your PC, tablet and smartphone
with a full set of on-ear controls. Laser-tuned drivers and a built-in
equalizer give you rich digital stereo that immerses you in your music and
calls, and a noise-canceling microphone reduces background noise. This
headset is blue tooth capable as well.
The Recipe Box – Magic
Cookie Bars
Adapted from Eagle Brand recipe
By Suzy Barnes
Yields about 24 bars
Preparation Time: About 10 minutes
Cooking Time:
About 30 minutes
Ingredients:
Crisco, original, no-stick cooking spray
1 ½ cups, graham cracker crumbs (about 15
crackers)
1/2 cup, (1 stick) melted butter
1 can, 14 ounces, Eagle Brand Sweetened
Condensed Milk
2 cups, dark chocolate pieces, (I use
Ghirardelli 60%)
2 cups, peanut butter morsels
1 1/3 cups, moist, flaked coconut
1 cup, slivered almonds (you may also use
walnut or pecan pieces)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease the bottom and sides of an 8” by 8:
square baking pan with cooking spray.
Use approximately 15 graham crackers for crust. If these are not already crushed, place in a
Ziploc bag and crush crackers using a can, rolling back and forth over the
bag. Mix together crushed graham
crackers and melted butter in a bowl.
Mix together. Press moistened
mixture into greased pan to form a crust.
Pour ½ can of condensed milk over the crust. Begin layering ingredients,
beginning with some chocolate pieces, flaked coconut, peanut butter chips, and
then, slivered almonds. Repeat again to
make another layer beginning with chocolate pieces. Add a few more chocolate pieces and coconut
to the top. Pour remaining condensed
milk over top of layers. Lightly tap
down ingredients before baking. Bake 25 to 30 minutes until coconut is lightly
browned. Loosen from sides of pan while still warm. Cool on wire rack. Cut into squares.
Variations:
Substitute chocolate pieces or nuts with candy
coated pieces, dried cranberries, raisins, mini-marshmallows, or butterscotch
chips.
Dear Betty Blunt
Please note:
This submission is not to be taken
seriously. It is just for fun! If you
would like to submit a question for Miss Betty Blunt to answer, please write
to:
She may or may not answer your question
seriously, and she may or may not give you the answer you were hoping for, but
one thing is for sure, you will get a good laugh out of her witty, bold, and
blunt advice. She will often make
comments that we all wish we could say, but are just too afraid to make. So,
send in your questions, and let us see if she can help you with your
relationship issues. If you wish, your initials, city, and state will be
altered to conceal your identity.
Dear Betty Blunt,
I am new to computers, and it is getting quite
frustrating when trying to learn how to use things. Take for example; you need
to click on the Start Button to find the Shutdown button to turn off your
computer. How intuitive is that? Looking for it in the Start Button menu would
have been the last place on earth for me to look. Would it have really
killed them to put a Turn Off button right beside the Start Button? I'm getting
more gray hairs as I trudge along. Do you have any sound advice as I make
my way through all this nonsense?
Sincerely,
Albert G. Doerty
Calgary,
Dear Computer Geek,
Oh, some of these questions make my head hurt.
Ah, the wonderful wonders of the world!
If we could only find answers to all of our burning questions! Today is
your lucky day, however! I actually have
an answer for you that should make some sense.
Back in my day, the Start Button actually was called, the System
Button. But, there seemed to be a
problem. People would boot up their
computers and just sit there, unsure of what to do next. So, the powers that be
renamed the button, the Start Button, so that people would know where to where
to click when they wanted to do something.
The button represents click here you dummy, and after it was renamed,
the usability of the button sky rocketed.
Hmmmmm, I wonder just exactly who they were thinking about when they
programmed that button? Got any clues
Mister Computer Geek? I will give you
three guesses, and the first two do not count. Miss Betty points to Computer
Geek.
Insincerely,
BB
Think Tank
By Rich De Steno and
Roger Khouri
Thank you to everyone
who submitted answers to last months brain teasers. Many of you were very close, but close only
counts in horseshoes and hand grenades!
Just kidding! It is apparent that
this month, many of you had your thinking caps on! So, congratulations go out to Muffee Beaton,
sue Burdyshaw, Roann Clarke, Allison Hilliker, Roger Khouri, Lawrence
MacLellan, Charlie Richardson, and Pam Scott for answering all three brain
teasers correctly!
Applause also goes out to Suzy Barnes, Joe
Giovanelli, and Nancy Martin for figuring out one of the three brain teasers!
Way to go!
Here are the August brain teasers and their
answers:
1. How much dirt is there in a hole that
measures two feet by three feet by four feet?
Answer:
None. There is no dirt in a hole.
2. What
word in the English language is always spelled incorrectly?
Answer:
Incorrectly
3. How
many seconds are there in a year?
Answer:
12. January 2nd,
February 2nd, March 2nd, etc.
Now, for our super duper brain teasers for
September! Can you solve these? Lets see who thinks they are smarter than a
fifth grader!
1. I am the beginning of the end, and the end of
time and space. I am essential to creation, and I surround every place. What am
I?
2. What always runs but never walks, often
murmurs, never talks, has a bed but never sleeps, has a mouth but never eats?
3. Two
men play five complete games of checkers. Each man wins the same
number of games. There are no ties. How?
Please submit the answers to these brain
teasers to:
We will let you know if you are correct, and if
so, we will publish your name in the October newsletter. Have fun trying to
solve these puzzles!
Did You Know? -
Birthstones
By Katie Chandler
Do you know the name of your birthstone and its
color? Check out this list and discover!
January:
Garnet – deep red
February:
Amethyst - purple
March:
Aquamarine – pale blue
April:
Diamond – clear
May:
Emerald - green
June:
July:
Ruby – red
August:
Peridot, Sardonyx – pale green
September:
Sapphire – deep blue
October:
Opal, Pink Tourmaline – multicolored, pink
November:
Citrine, Yellow Topaz - yellow
December:
Blue Topaz, Turquoise - blue
Words to
Live By
Submitted
by Karen Santiago
Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift
for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who
rejoice, but for those who love, time is eternity.
By Henry Van Dyke
A Round of Applause
Thanks goes out to you, our
extended family on Out-Of-Sight! You participate
and spend your time getting to know one another on the site. Without you, there
would be no need for programming, no need for special activities, and no need
to even have a site. So, thank you very much! Thanks for making this community
an Out of Sight place to be!
Oosabelle’s List
No, this
is not Craig’s List, but it is the next best thing! If you have something to sell, or announce,
send us your ad, and we will post it, as long as there is space available in
the newsletter. Send your ads to:
- A new, free, challenging and accessible
word game for Windows called Tiny Zebras Rock is available from Rich
DeSteno. Send your request to him at ironrock@verizon.net. He also has Destination Mars, Run for
President, Dodge City Desperados, and Atlantic City Black Jack for the
asking.
- I have created a group for blind teachers
and others who work in the field of education. If you would like to join, please send a
message to:
blind_educators-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
- Are you blind or visually impaired,
looking for a singles group? If so,
join the newly created blind_singles group. To join, send a blank email message to:
Blind_singles-subscribe@blindtech-list.info
- Here is a useful link: www.theunitconverter.com
A unit
converter for all measurements.
- Dicey Rolls is a new computer game for
Windows that works well with speech from Rich De Steno. It is a dice game in which you compete
against the computer to reach a target number of points. You bet on rolls of the dice, and there
are various occurrences and factors that effect your score. Download Dicey Rolls at:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/8938503/dr10w.zip
- Global Penfriends is a pen pal site that
allows people from all over the world to submit their ad and connect with
other pen friends. Profiles are manually approved and if you activate your
premium membership, you could access all features of the site. I highly
recommend it to
others. If you would like to have a look, the link is: www.globalpenfriends.com
What
is happening on Out-Of-Sight?
If you would like to receive our daily
announcements and schedule of events, please select the following email link.
Or, write a blank email to:
Out-of-sight-announcement-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
That is all there is to it! You should receive a daily announcement from
us within 24 hours. These announcements not only highlight the schedule of the
day, they provide important information about any cancellations, new events, or
special messages from our hosts or board members. Stay informed with our daily
announcement!
Also stay tuned for our monthly newsletter,
which will be distributed on the first of every month. We look forward to your input and suggestions
for future newsletters. Please submit
your questions, comments, or article submissions by the 20th of each
month to
Debi Chatfield
Editor
Catch the vision--it is Out of Sight!