Living Blindfully

Latest Episodes:

Episode 26:COVID-19 thoughts and advice, what's coming in iOS 14, a PhoneSoap Pro review, and new technology at CSUN 20 Mar 15, 2020

Show notes

Hi Mosen at Largers. If you're in self-isolation or even more directly affected by COVID-19, I wish you all the best. These are unprecedented experiences in our lifetimes, but we will get through them.

On today's show.

Intro,0:00.000

Tips for working from home,1:07.315

Clear instructions about how to thoroughly wash your hands,9:05.152

A blast from the past as a ringtone,16:13.625

Aira Horizon glasses and Uber PIN,18:11.442

Product review of PhoneSoap Pro,20:28.476

Direct audio input for hearing aids assists with accessible voting,25:34.799

Apparent massive leak tells us what might be coming in iOS 14,26:14.331

More working from home tips,35:30.959

Apple Tags,37:02.129

Monopoly,38:24.893

Gratitude for what we have and Quentin C's playroom,44:01.866

The future of aira,49:31.904

The Bonnie Bulletin red puppy appeal,55:04.253

New Zealand's response to COVID-19,1:02:06.031

iOS 14 wishes,1:08:39.041

New blindness technology at CSUN,1:13:09.659

iOS 14,1:18:24.204

Why haven't the Olympics been cancelled yet?,1:19:20.764

Episode 25:I got hacked, memories of Monopoly, standing up to hate speech and CSUN is still happening Mar 08, 2020

Show notes

Hi Mosen At Largers. Thank you for listening, and also for the reviews and 5 star ratings people have left. And of course we have received a mountain of contributions again this week, so thank you also for those. Here's what's on this week's episode followed by the time in the file that you can hear it. Remember, if you use a podcast app with chapter support, Mosen At Large fully supports chapters to make it easy to skip to sections of the podcast.

Introduction,0:00.000

Earlier this week I got hacked,1:35.203

Blind job preparedness and praise for Ulysses for iOS,5:22.166

Using Overcast with voice control,11:12.230

Learning to use a Bluetooth keyboard with your iPhone,13:25.035

Can you get a sighted person to control your iPhone remotely?,16:59.208

The fascinating history of Monopoly and versions we have played over the years,19:04.044

Accessible routers and antivirus software,33:19.165

Sighted people questioning whether blind people should be parents and problems with VoiceOver for iOS losing speech persist,37:04.257

iOS beta issues and the future of cricket audio commentary in New Zealand,42:16.102

Accessible radon detectors,47:33.621

Remembering a tough New Zealand anniversary and what it teaches us about standing up to hate speech,48:53.740

Games on the good old Apple II E,57:47.956

Why is the CSUN conference still happening?,58:47.225

Memories of 15 March from New Zealand,1:02:58.057

Do you ever call your voice assistant instead of your guide dog?,1:03:42.280

Aira is discontinuing Horizon,1:05:46.235

The Bonnie bulletin begins with talk of tornados inTennessee,1:11:37.764

New Zealand's Red Puppy appeal is approaching,1:14:13.927

requiring proof of guide dog certification,1:17:00.163

Aira feedback,1:23:56.704

Making ringtones and blindness agencies that use vision in their name,1:25:38.506

Protect your Uber rides with a PIN,1:27:06.023

New studies show that a keto diet is good for brain health as we get older,1:28:51.256

Closing and contact info,1:32:41.031

Episode 24:Common misconceptions sighted people have about blind people Mar 01, 2020

Show notes

Hi Mosen at largers. It's another very busy show thanks to your input. Remember, in a podcast player supporting chapter marks, you can easily skip forward and back between segments. Here's each item followed by its time in the file.

Intro,0:00.000

It's Leap Year's Day as we record this,0:57.276

Learning to code,7:43.444

Alternative calendars that don't require a leap day every four years,8:59.318

Listener comment on people who think all blind people are alike,10:01.901

A remarkable iPhone survival and customer service story,12:18.344

An Alexa skill that won't disable,18:29.928

Listener praise for a Samson microphone,20:22.389

Who wears their Apple Watch in the shower,22:25.295

Listener comment on audio apps and YouMail,23:18.014

Apple Watch fall detection,27:44.930

Listener comment on misconceptions about blindness,28:32.533

Listener comment on bullying and envy in the blind community,29:15.060

Listener comment on a blindness agency that won't let you identify as blind,34:44.123

Listener questions about 1Password,38:19.828

As blind people how do we know that cold callers are who they say they are,46:32.317

iOS 13.4 beta 3 update,51:33.124

Tom Dooley sequel,59:19.708

Listener question on routers and access points with the most accessible interfaces,1:00:09.350

The Bonnie Bulletin would it be so bad to have official guide dog certification in the US,1:02:58.484

Misconceptions about blind people,1:14:31.189

A listener review of the WeWalk smart cane,1:16:40.036

Listener comment on attitudes in the blind community and a forthcoming free iOS guide,1:21:28.941

Listener comment on the responsibility of guide dog handlers,1:24:00.893

Listener comment on bullying,1:25:31.767

Listener question on stopping JAWS showing formatting in Braille,1:28:01.835

Significant changes happening for Bluetooth audio including hearing aids,1:30:55.592

Closing,1:33:14.349

Episode 23:Bullying ruins people's lives and even kills them, tech news and comments Feb 23, 2020

Show notes

Hello Mosen at largers. Today we're talking in part about a subject I knew would come up sooner or later – bullying both online and off. If this topic raises upsetting issues for you, you need not go through this by yourself. Depending on the nature of the bullying, you may have legal redress, you certainly don't need to put up with it. Please seek appropriate assistance in your country. Bullying can happen to people who are even thought to be important or famous, and it can hurt you no matter who you are. We send love to everyone who has experienced this or is going through it, and especially Australian nine-year-old Quaden Bayles who is in the news this week.

Here's what's on the show.

Intro,0:00.000

"Listener comment, Amazon Echo having responsiveness issues",0:36.253

"Bullying, it's everywhere, including in the blind community",4:21.388

The WeWalk Smart Cane sounds really cool. Anyone using it and how is it going?,20:01.260

"Listener comment, Duck DuckGo's Bang commands, alternative browsers toChrome, and iOS audio apps",21:55.416

Apple is offering a free replacement for XS and XS Max extended battery cases,34:52.270

"Listener comment, Siri US election support, and voicemail providers",38:57.195

"Listener comment, annoyed by people who don't correct dictation errors",42:26.996

Google in trouble for guessing where punctuation is needed in dictation,44:21.166

"Listener comment, 1Password and good security in general",45:13.435

"Listener comment, cool collaboration with Microsoft Office, and removing clutter from websites",54:50.961

"Listener comment, the WeWalkSmart Cane",1:01:01.666

"The Bonnie Bulletin begins, the dreaded shingles, a listener relates",1:03:50.220

"Listener info, the story of Tom Dula",1:09:16.440

"Listener comment, the Blind Shell Classic smartphone, and there had better be peanut butter in heaven",1:12:34.096

"Listener question, being productive with Braille",1:18:25.078

"Listener question,Castro and protected feeds",1:21:45.326

"Listener comment, in praise of the Ulysses word processor for iOS",1:25:48.949

"Listener comment, setting up Waltr2 onWindows",1:26:33.028

"Listener question, customising iOS gestures",1:28:20.626

Cricket on the radio under threat in New Zealand,1:29:30.794

"Listener comment, 1Password and gasslighting",1:31:40.071

Episode 22:How to make and transfer ringtones to your iPhone without ever touching iTunes, and we give away five copies of Cash Reader for iOS Feb 16, 2020

Show notes

Hello Mosen at Largers. A very busy show this week with plenty of listener feedback, plus our big Cash Reader for iOS giveaway.

Here's what's in store, followed by the time each thing happens in the show.

Intro,0:00.000

"Listener comment, Ringtones, Face ID",1:43.577

The Anchor app and service for creating podcasts,7:44.380

"Listener comment,Ringtones and Castro Podcast Player",10:45.010

"Listener comment on the name Lighthouse, and ringtones",13:17.497

"Listener question, how accessible is Audacity?",15:52.928

Listener comment, Ringtones and Waltr2",17:10.888

"Listener comment, Ringtones",19:14.653

"Listener question, accessible audio editors for iOS", we mention a couple of accessible apps from Wooji Juice,20:46.328

"Listener comment, using short text strings for Uber, ringtones and blindness agency names",22:32.805

Creating a ringtone and transferring it to your iPhone using Waltr2,27:59.133

"Listener comment, Castro, mechanical keyboard",41:43.151

YouTube Premium is a worthwhile investment on iOS,45:17.876

Listener comment on metal ringtones,45:51.414

"Listener comment, making your own ringtones and Alexa's Apple Podcast integration",47:41.993

"Listener comment, Castro Podcast Player is great but lacks some important features",49:36.205

"The Bonnie bulletin begins, ain't got time to fix the shingles",51:19.828

Valentine's Day,58:19.997

Who/what is the Tom Dooley song about?,1:04:39.476

"Listener comment, Waltr2, the Rode Wireless Go, and has Alexa become less responsive for anyone else?",1:12:16.192

Apple claims that Siri can update you on all things US election. But does it work for anyone?,1:15:03.666

Let's draw the five lucky winners in our Cash Reader for iOS giveaway,1:17:48.630

"Listener comment, ringtones",1:20:21.221

"Listener comment, ringtones",1:21:06.643

"Listener comment, how Vision Australia got its name, and Castro Podcast Player",1:22:07.923

"Listener comment, ringtones",1:27:04.326

"Listener comment, the value of Echo Show to blind people",1:28:29.586

I've found I don't like going without Google,1:29:07.096

Five star reviews really really help independent podcast producers. If you have time, thanks in advance for giving us a positive review.

Episode 21:Win $25,000 in the San Francisco Lighthouse's Holman Prize for Blind Ambition, do you use ringtones other than the defaults, tech news, and we miss the Iowa scream Feb 09, 2020

Show notes

Hi Mosen at Largers. Here's a summary of what's on the podcast this week, with the item first followed by its time in the show.

Introduction,0:00.000

"Ringtones and texttones, Do you make your own, buy your own or just use the defaults?",0:36.390

Blind parents and potty training. For helpful resources on blind parenting, check out the NFB Blind Parents site,10:47.245

"Neil Young says the MacbookPro's audio quality if ""Fisher Price""",15:10.039

"Listener comment, Buy duplicates of your hearing accessories.",17:42.604

"Listeners questions on the Holman prize, and how did lighthouses in a blindness context get their name?",22:41.537

An innocent-sounding question from the Beatles Twitter account gets an unexpected response,27:27.302

"New iOS, tvOS, watchOS and MacOS betas". Here's a link to the Water Minder app I mentioned in this section,29:05.644

"Listener comment, VoiceOver suddenly just stopped working altogether on iPhone SE",34:49.586

"More listener comments on the Lighthouse name, and how the Lighthouse in FL positively changed a listener's life",39:19.861

Lee Kumutat from the San Francisco Lighthouse talks about the Holman Prize for blind ambition. The Holman Prize for Blind Ambition will be accepting applications until March 15. From traversing the Bosporus Straight via solo kayak, to hosting the first conference in Mexico for blind children and their families led by blind professionals, to creating an app to enable blind citizen scientists to participate in the search for exoplanets by listening to space, the nine winners so far (hailing from five countries on four continents), have each found unique ways to forever change the world’s perception of blindness. Applications and information is available here: https://holman.lighthouse-sf.org/apply/.,42:39.299

Listener question: how easy is it to use Google Sheets efficiently with a screen reader?,57:33.791

More listener feedback on ringtones,1:04:14.489

The Bonnie Bulletin begins with discussion of a threat to RNZ Concert. Please sign the Save RNZ Concert petition,1:09:45.650

We look at the Iowa debacle and long for the days of the good old Iowa scream,1:14:09.327

Listener comments and questions on Overcast and Castro,1:17:30.131

Cash Reader app and a giveaway for Mosen At Large listeners,1:18:53.439

"Listener question, screen time on iOS not behaving as expected",1:22:02.215

"Microsoft Power Toys are back, and a new cool one called Keyboard Shortcut Manager is coming",1:25:03.126

Amazon Echo Show now identifies products via barcodes,1:28:02.126

"Microsoft Teams exploded in some parts of the world this week, because someone forgot to put a virtual coin in a virtual metre",1:29:01.239

Listener feedback about the EchoShow,1:30:20.614

The When Did I app,1:31:13.428

"There's a major rewrite of my favourite iOS calendar app, Fantastical",1:33:19.795

"If you're a podcaster, Squadcast might improve your remote interviews substantially",1:36:04.499

More thoughts on EchoShow,1:39:28.126

Episode 20:Why is it so hard getting a refund from Apple's App Store, tech news and questions, Brexit, impeachment shambles and US guide dog users need to have their say Feb 02, 2020

Show notes

Hi Mosen at largers, here's what's on this week's packed episode, but before I tell you that, a reminder that reviews and word of mouth really help small independent producers. If you like the podcast, please give it a five star review if your podcast service offers this, or just spread the word on social media, email lists and to friends. Thanks so much mate.

In this summary, you'll find the topic first, followed by the time it happens in the episode.

It's far too complicated to get a refund from Apple for an inaccessible app,1:28.660

Ridding myself of Google's invasive data collection,12:34.183

A listener has a dodgy Lyft experience and we talk about rating and ride sharing,14:09.165

A listener experiences odd unlocking issues with Touch ID,21:27.208

A listener responds to the question about leaving your wallet at home in the era of ApplePay and recommends wallet cases,23:12.500

Enabling Google Chrome extensions in Microsoft's awesome new Edge browser,25:23.695

Most accessible ways to access Reddit, all of them on iOS",26:43.949. Apps mentioned include Dystopia, which you must obtain from TestFlight,Apollo, and BaconReader.

A listener asks if there's any way to stop Windows from asking if she likes what she sees,29:27.929

Being in the heart of US primary country,30:34.674

Listener feedback on app refunds,32:39.743

Podcasts on Presidential politics past and present,36:39.642

Brexit and impeachment, an historic week,41:45.153

Listener app recommendation, RSSRadio",51:58.807

"Overcast has an update where Voice Boost has been rewritten, A big Castro update coming soon",56:29.320

Sonosequencer is heaven for any Sonos geek,57:38.794

The Bonnie Bulletin begins with Bonnie's impressions of the Castro Podcast app,1:01:04.372

"Listener inquiry, Getting Facebook to show content chronologically",1:03:28.658

Big changes may be in store for US guide dog handlers,1:06:12.653

"More feedback on going walletless in the iPhone era, and a hearing aid crisis",1:13:36.047

A listener asks for typing tutor recommendations,1:18:30.025

"Believe it or not, there's a browser extension called Detrumpify",1:19:59.704

"The decade's beginning, and case of Braille rear their heads again",1:20:34.801

"A listener inquiry on efficient ways to keep up with news, particularly technology news",1:22:00.621

"Are we close to the release of iPhone 9? Yes, you read that right.",1:27:15.155

Former New Zealand Prime Minister and WTO Director General Mike Moore has died,1:28:24.333

"Netflix recommendation, Miss Americana",1:29:43.797

Episode 19:Gadgetry and geekery, no, the new decade has absolutely not started yet, and do you ever leave your wallet at home? Jan 26, 2020

Show notes

Hi again Mosen at largers. I'm back after a summer break, having been geeking out with a lot of tech, just for the fun of it. Please note that in response to many requests, the podcast is now produced with chapter marks, making it easy for you to move between items in the podcast in any good podcast player. I'll also provide time stamps in the show notes.

01:21 Bonnie has a new laptop, I describe what we chose and why.

05:50 geeking out with Reaper, and podcast chapters.

06:17 an earthquake provides a rude awakening.

07:45 A listener reports that after a Windows update, she must log in twice

09:06 Reaper, chapter marks, and the remarkable auphonic service.

12:23, The facts are very clear. Why the new decade doesn't start until next year, and why it matters.

21:12, There's an impeachin' going on!

23:27 Memoirs by musicians.

A listener recommends a podcast called American Elections, wicked game.

27:56 In this high tech age, do you leave your wallet at home?

30:35 The new Microsoft Edge is released, and it's excellent. I've been using it with the alternative search engine DuckDuckGo, which promises not to track you.

35:26. Software to help with family organisation and security including Apple's Reminder's app. 1Password and AnyList.

42:23 A listener inquires about starting a podcast. We talk about Backpack Studio,Anchor,Libsyn,Pinecast and the Mosen Consulting Unleash your Inner Podcast series.

49:04 I bought a Zoom H6 portable digital recorder. I wish I hadn't taken so long to do it.

54:53 It's been the week from hell for Sonos and the drama will continue. But I still bought a new Sonos Port.

65:06 Gary O'Donoghue shares some useful Zoom H6 tips.

70:47 The Bonnie bulletin. Bonnie gets all controversial about Harry and Megan, we have an air fryer in our lives, and more of a moving story.

Episode 18:Castro Podcast Player, the best podcast app for iOS I've ever used Jan 24, 2020

Show notes

In this special edition of Mosen At Large, I want to introduce you to the new podcast app in my life.

For years, I've been a happy user of Overcast, but a podcast app for iOS named Castro Podcast Player kept being mentioned by people who consume a lot of podcasts. Some time ago, I checked it out and found significant accessibility issues for blind people like me who use the VoiceOver screen reader built into iOS. That's no longer the case, and it's by far the best iOS podcast app I've ever come across.

Key features include:

Easily import your podcasts from many other third-party apps.
By default, all your podcast episodes are placed in an email-like inbox, so it's easy to see what new content you have and get to the stuff you want to hear.
Exclude certain podcasts from your Inbox while staying subscribed.
Features Overcast listeners have come to love, like compressing pauses and improving speech quality.
The best chapter support in any podcast app I've used, including the ability to deselect certain chapters to skip the parts of episodes that don't interest you.
Copy any audio file into a special folder on your computer and it appears in Castro.
Convert video to audio and play it from your podcast app.
A raft of Siri shortcuts.
Many more really slick features.

Castro is free but it's quite limited in the free state. To unlock its full potential, you'll need to make an in-app purchase but there is a free trial, so it costs you nothing to give it a try.

Visit Castro's website, and find Castro in the App Store.

Follow Castro Podcast Player on Twitter.

Episode 17:Create podcasts and even broadcast live with the Backpack Studio app for iOS Jan 16, 2020

Show notes

I hope the final year of the decade has begun well for you.

This special episode of the podcast is devoted to Backpack Studio, a recording app that with an in-app purchase will also let you create live Internet radio right from your iPhone or iPad.

Additionally, the app will create video files out of audio, which is a great feature for people who'd like to post audio content to social media services that require video.

The support for VoiceOver, Apple's built-in screen reader that makes iOS devices usable by blind people, is brilliant. It's not just that it complies with Apple's best practice guidelines for accessibility, there are features specifically to make the app rock from a blindness perspective.

Get Backpack Studio from the App Store.

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