Living Blindfully

Latest Episodes:

Episode 16:Hark, and lo, voting in our holiday countdown will soon close Dec 15, 2019

Show notes

Hi Mosen at largers. Hark! Hark closely! Verily I say unto you, it's Christmas, so lo, time is running out to vote in the Mushroom FM holiday countdown. It's so easy, and participating on the day is such a fun experience. Get your top 10 holiday songs into us today! Otherwise, a song you really like might be low. And lo, that would not be good. Then you might say, "oh, hark!"

You know, having a birthday on or close to Christmas day has the potential to be quite blah. We have a chat about this.

iOS 13.3 is out and while there might be a few accessibility improvements for some, the bugs persist with several listeners chiming in on this.

When you vote in the Mushroom FM holiday countdown, you get an invitation to our Christmas party where you have a chance to win virtual Christmas crackers for your table. Since Christmas crackers aren't very common in the US, I explain what they are.

A listener points out how to get some very useful visual assistance from Apple if you have two devices.

Aira has a shopping promotion on right now if you need some help with in-person or online shopping.

We have an extremely glowing listener review of Disney Plus, and another from a listener who won't be subscribing now their trial is up.

It just became much easier to play and sync podcasts between Spotify or Apple Music and Amazon Echo.

Boris Johnson is flying high after the British general election, but it's interesting to contemplate how different the outcome would have been under proportional representation.

The tension mounts at Mosen Towers as, finally, with the Apple Watch Cellular being supported by a New Zealand carrier, mine is about to arrive at Mosen Towers.

Bonnie is here with her bulletin as we look ahead to the big New Zealand close-down and provide an update on the great Mosen carrier migration. She also talks about how she's going with her new AirPods Pros.

I explain why as a blind person I find it handy to have a sound mixer on my desk in my office.

I've had a bad week with Uber who have refused to correct an error and flat out lied about a trip I took.

It's been a very tough week for us here in New Zealand following the eruption of White Island and the resulting loss of life.

Do you have any crazy Christmas musical or talking ornaments around the place? We have several, one of which scarily came back from the dead.

Could we be about to see the release of the iPhone 9?

This is the last Mosen At Large podcast of 2019. We'll see you back on 25 January 2020. You can tune into Mushroom FM throughout the holiday season for great programming, including our holiday countdown and my special shows for both Christmas day and new year's eve.

Episode 15:Christmas songs with crazy lyrics and themes, tech highs and lows of the week, and cast your vote in our Christmas countdown Dec 08, 2019

Show notes

Hi Mosen at largers. 'Tis the season and all that. And it seems I'm not the only one who finds the line in the Christmas song Silent Night, "holy infant so tender and mild", quite bizarre. This week we look at other odd Christmas songs and lines, including the most bizarre one of all, Little Drummer Boy.

We discuss salutations at the beginning of emails. Do we need them, and what should we use?

We remember mainstream games, some of them quite old now, that have been accessible.

With the gift season upon us, a listener asks for advice on mechanical keyboards.

Have we become more disrespectful over time? Is it now OK that people don't seem to have a problem with kids calling adults by their first names?

Sometimes, doing something as simple as changing mobile phone providers is such a mission! I recount my adventures trying to do that this week.

I am looking forward with considerable anticipation to the UK election later in the week.

Bonnie is here with her bulletin.

Tile stickers have arrived in our house. I describe what they are and why you might use them.

There are rumours that Apple will introduce an iPhone with no ports at all. How do you feel about that?

A listener asks about ProTools accessibility with JAWS.

A listener asks about US TV streaming.

With the end of 2019 fast approaching, we have to put up with annoying people who can't count and think that the decade is about to end.

Twitter has had to abandon for now an initiative that would have freed up old usernames.

There's a warning about a new Samsung Galaxy update affecting dictation with Voice Assistant.

And in a shameless self-promotion, I play the Christmas song I recorded in the hope that when you vote in our holiday countdown, you might send it to number one!

Episode 14:ACB Radio turns 20, vote for your top 10 holiday songs, and the Ulysses word processor for iOS reviewed Dec 01, 2019

Show notes

Hi Mosen At largers. Wow, where did that time go? It was 20 years ago today that I pushed the button to launch ACB Radio and begin working with some great Internet radio pioneers. If you'd like to read an account of how ACB Radio got started and some memories of the building of the station in those early days, you can download my free ebook on The Mosen Consulting site.

People have been buying up tiles in black Friday sales, so we talk about the accessibility of the Tile app.

I hope you, your friends, your family and even your enemies will cast your vote for the top 10 holiday songs. You can vote here and I explain this cool tradition in the podcast. Voting gets you an exclusive invitation to our Christmas party.

Are you frustrated by focus issues after deleting mail in iOS 13? Well if it's any comfort, you're not alone.

A listener shares his experience of MFI cochlea implants in iOS 13, and asks how other blind cochlea implants are getting on in general.

What's the most memorable Christmas gift you've ever been given and why?

I tell you about a cool app I recently learned about called Music Harbour, and is nothing sacred? Pentatonix and the London Symphony Orchestra, by the miracle of digital technology, are working with Bing Crosby on one of the most iconic Christmas songs.

I bring you a review of Ulysses, a word processor app which in conjunction with all the new content creation features for VoiceOver in iOS 13 has radically changed the way I create content.

Bonnie is here with her bulletin.

A listener is looking for recommendations of exercise equipment with accessible iOS apps.

A listener reports on how well Microsoft Soundscape now works with Bose Frames.

All this and much more.

Episode 13:Ride share refusals and other guide dog discrimination, more grammatical pet peeves, and do you say please to your virtual assistant? Nov 24, 2019

Show notes

Hi Mosen at Largers. We've made the big time at last and are now on Spotify, so welcome if you're listening to us there. Speaking of which, Spotify has introduced a new daily playlist to help you discover new podcast content.

During the week, Bonnie and I were refused an Uber ride because of her Seeing Eye dog. I recount the experience and how Uber handled it, and seek your own experiences like this. Do you think it's better for blind people to disclose when they are travelling with a guide dog, or should we simply expect any driver to follow the law?

Aira has released an update taking advantage of dual and triple cameras in newer iPhones.

More listeners chime in on grammatical and linguistic pet peeves.

Apple is apparently rethinking the way it tests iOS builds for quality following multiple serious bugs with iOS 13. It's not before time, but will it really make any difference?

A listener asks for help selecting text with VoiceOver in iOS.

There's a bit of enthusiasm for a book I recommended on The Mosen Explosion last week, "Get Back, Imagine, Saving John Lennon" by Donovan Day.

Are you still watching See on Apple TV Plus. A listener suggests it's worth persevering with.

More thoughts on using an iPhone or iPad as your notetaker versus using a dedicated blindness-specific product.

Bonnie is here once again with her bulletin.

Do you ever say "please" to your virtual assistant, such as Siri of soup drinker? We have some interesting data on who does and does not.

If the big juicy batteries of the new iPhone aren't enough for you, Apple has released battery cases for its latest iPhone range with an interesting user interface enhancement.

Google has just announced a cool new parenting feature called My Storytime.

And there is every indication that those two new Abba songs we were promised last year could be about to turn into a full new Abba album! Dude!

Episode 12:Grammatical and linguistic pet peeves, Disney Plus launches, there's a new MacBook Pro and much more Nov 17, 2019

Show notes

Hi again Mosen At Largers. Today the listening audience bonds over linguistic and grammatical pet peeves. So, like, um, totally listen irregardless? You know?

We hear some more about MFI hearing aids and their co-existence with the latest version of iOS.

The Brave Browser, which touts super security and privacy, is officially released with version 1.0 now available, and it works again with NVDA.

A listener is getting some more helpful information about compatibility issues with Sendero GPS and iOS 13.

Disney+ is now out and had a bit of a rocky start. We hear a few thoughts on whether it's worthwhile.

Makers of Twitterrific, The Icon Factory, have released a new radio app called Triode. Does it add enough value beyond what Siri in iOS 13 can already offer?

Do live audio described performances adequately accommodate the hearing impaired? Bonnie and I discuss and a couple of listeners chime in, and we celebrate the arrival of our latest gadget, the light and fluffy omelette maker. Yum.

If you're in the UK and missing access to most BBC streams on TuneIn, you'll be pleased to know that the BBC Sounds app supports Siri Shortcuts.

Apple has unveiled a new MacBook Pro, with plenty of attention being paid to the input and output side of the audio. Is your mouth watering?

We solve the mystery raised last week of how to get out of the add task screen in the latest version of my task manager of choice, Todoist. And it's very simple. Bah!

Episode 11:A fix for the iOS 13.2 MFI hearing aid issue, hope for LinkedIn improvements, auto-speak on Apple Watch, a big week for Microsoft and more Nov 10, 2019

Show notes

Hi Mosen At Largers. We begin this episode with a fix for the issue where MFI hearing aid wearers have been hearing VoiceOver sounds played over their device's speaker rather than through the aids.

Twitterific has already come out with a bug fix for a VoiceOver problem that began over the last week, but maybe we should have just embraced the null?

We hear some listener advice on making a Reaper Bleeper and I'm inspired to delve into the archives for my favourite piece of audio production that I've done that uses bleeping.

I enjoy the quality of discourse on LinkedIn, but have been frustrated for a long time by how cumbersome it is to use on iOS, so I wrote an article detailing my concerns on LinkedIn, which has received a response from LinkedIn's head of accessibility. It sounds like good times are ahead, and I applaud Microsoft for their willingness to engage with our community.

A listener reports problems with the Sendero GPS app in iOS 13.2 and asks for others' recommendations on good GPS apps.

Has your Google Home been bricked by a recent software update that went badly wrong? A listener advises the best process for getting it sorted.

A listener talks about her excellent experience with a Hims QBrailleXL in conjunction with a Microsoft Surface pro.

New gadgets are arriving for listeners including Echo Buds, Echo Studio and of course AirPods Pro.

I give a quick demonstration of auto-speak on the Apple Watch, how it works and why it's useful.

In the US, there've been reactions ranging from amusement to perplexity to grief as hundreds of thousands of texts from Valentine's Day have just turned up.

What would you recommend for someone who wants a no frills, no touch screen computer that's reliable and good to type on?

I mention the new podcast from Workbridge here in New Zealand called Mahi, which talks about what the organisation is doing and issues around disability employment. Search for Mahi in all good podcast apps.

I share some ideas for items Apple might like to add for customisation by way of VoiceOver activities in iOS in future.

We here from a listener who is happy with my recommendation of Todoist as a brilliant task manager for iOS, apart from one bug.

Microsoft has had a big week with their Ignite conference making several exciting announcements.

Good news for those who use Google Assistant and Sirius XM in the US. They have now partnered.

Netflix wants to give you the chance to speed up playback, but some content creators says this violates their copyright. What on earth is up with that?

Brit Box is coming to the UK with a grand total of 0 audio described titles.

Episode 10:iOS 13.2 has new bugs, audio issues on various devices, Apple TV Plus and more Nov 02, 2019

Show notes

Hi again Mosen at Largers. In this bigger than huge, bumper episode, iOS 13.2 is out. There are still serious bugs, one in particular of high impact that is new to this release affecting Made for iPhone hearing aid users who also use VoiceOver. We deserve better.

Clocks have been going forward and back depending on where in the world you are. Is daylight saving a failed experiment we should abandon, or do you appreciate that extra daylight at the end of a summer's day?

A listener talks about one of his favourite games for iOS, Timecrestc.

We discuss guide dogs. A listener asks how much difference do they make really, and are they too much hassle for what you get back?

Apple TV+ has arrived. There was plenty of interest in the blind community in See. I talk about my initial impressions of the service and some of the shows including See.

We talk some more about the Brave Browser, based on the Chromium engine, also accessible in iOS.

Various listeners have a chat about mechanical keyboards and why you might want one.

In the Bonnie bulletin, it's time for me to feel the fear and do it anyway, get back on the virtual bike, and go to a cricket match. Bonnie also talks about snoring. It's something not often discussed, but it can cause a bit of friction. We ask if anyone's found any good techniques for managing it.

A listener asks why I stick with Focus Braille displays and whether I have looked at others.

We revisit the question of dodgy audio in Windows. All this, and so much more.

Episode 9:bleeping personal assistants, is Apple losing its accessibility edge, password managers, blind face and more Oct 27, 2019

Show notes

Hi again Mosen at Largers. This week, we ask if our personal assistant devices are just going a bit too far in trying to protect our delicate ears. I provide some examples of famous songs that have now incurred the wrath of the Siri and Alexa censors.

More listeners talk about their food loves and hates.

There's yet more discussion about whether Braille should always begin with an uppercase B. I say, let's put it to a global vote. I have no doubt which way it would go.

A listener chimes in on the concerning state of Catalyst apps on the Mac, and I highlight the difference in the frequency and quality of engagement Apple has with our community compared with other mainstream companies.

We look at the Apple TV app for Fire TVs and discuss what it can do.

A listener asks a question about iCloud keychain versus 1Password.

The Apple Radio Directory appears to be removing some smaller stations. Its days are probably numbered.

Bonnie and I talk about a concept I have dubbed "blind face". Should we speak up more about people who think they know what it's like to be blind because they have been under blindfold? And should there be Government funding of guide dog schools?

The BBC has released a new news skill for Alexa that has some awesome new features.

Research has proven definitively that dark mode has a massive positive impact on your phone's battery life, particularly if you have a phone with an OLED display.

We discuss some linguistic differences in the show this week, including whether companies are singular or plural, and the way Americans use the word "fix" to mean prepare, when most people only use it to mean "repair".

Episode 8:Food glorious food, new tiles, Uber Pet, the awesome Microsoft Edge Chromium beta and more Oct 20, 2019

Show notes

Hi Mosen at Largers. Thanks for joining me again. Are you as enthralled by the Brexit drama as me? Before putting the show together, I pulled an all-nighter watching coverage of the unusual and dramatic Saturday session of the UK House of Commons. I offer a few thoughts.

We talk about food you absolutely adore, and food you detest. Even though the answer to this question should be blatantly obvious, at a listener's request I outline just a few of the things that make soup an abomination.

I review and highly recommend "A Day Like Today", an autobiography by British journalist and recently-retired BBC interviewer John Humphrys.

Shawn calls in to recommend a book called the ABCs of UEB. You can find it here.

We hear a listener's perspective on running Windows on a virtual machine on the Mac.

Keeping with our food theme, Bonnie joins me to discuss some of her most and least favourite food as well as her first taste of a New Zealand culinary institution.

We look at a few items of tech news, including announcements around Disney Plus, Uber Pet, Google's Pixel event and the cool new recorder in the new devices, the ability to easily move music and other audio between your Google Home devices, Tile has some new products including Tile Stickers.

I discuss how I have now made the Microsoft Edge Chromium beta my web browser of choice.

Episode 7:Google's big reveal is coming, Apple Music vs Spotify, WeWalk smart cane and more Oct 13, 2019

Show notes

Hi Mosen at Largers. Many will be tuning in for Google's big event. They'll reveal the Pixel 4 this coming week and there'll be other things unveiled too. A listener asks me to talk about anything I'd like to see announced.

Are you a Mac user looking forward to a greater variety of apps? It appears Apple may have seriously dropped the accessibility ball with its new Catalyst project.

We hear some inside information on Apple's new series about a world full of blind people called "See", and get confirmation that all Apple TV Plus series will contain audio description.

I give you my recommendation for the BBC Radio 4 Feedback podcast and tell you why I find it so entertaining.

Change in something as fundamental as the way you read can be disconcerting. A listener questions whether the Unified English Braille code is advancing the cause of Braille.

A listener seeks advice, is it safe to upgrade an iPhone 6s to iOS 13? Is speed faster, slower or roughly the same?

We're not shy of tackling the controversial questions on this show. Oh boy! A listener wants to know which is better, Apple Music or Spotify? I give you my take and you're welcome to share yours.

We hear from a listener who owns a WeWalk Smart Cane. I'd love to hear from others who have one of these to find out how it's working out for you.

Google Maps has enhanced walking directions for blind people who live in the US or Japan, and BlindSquare now has tight Aira integration.

We discuss techniques for keeping your new phone battery in top shape.

Now I know I have a hearing impairment, but I think I heard via Twitter that October is meet the blond month. I think that's right. So my favourite blonde, Bonnie Mosen, is on the show. Bonnie and I have a good old rant about the insulting inappropriateness of postal ballots in elections without any accessible alternative.

And just how lucky am I really?

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