[access-uk] Re: Accessible Internet Radio
- From: "Ray's Home" <rays-home@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 18 Jan 2008 12:57:42 -0000
Interesting reflections John and Jackie. I wonder if you might get
some sort of discussion going on Vi-gen around this issue of help and
assistance in the home from the kids. Mind you, it does bring back
the memory of that Channel 4 programme, doesn't it?
By the way, I'm in the position of never having had any help to call
on, from a spouse, or off-spring! (Do I hear a chorus of, "Oh, what a
shame!" LOL!
Cheers,
From Ray
I can be contacted off-list at:
mailto:ray-48@xxxxxxxx
-----Original Message-----
John Land
Subject: [access-uk] Re: Accessible Internet Radio
Absolute right Jackie; emmotionally blackmailing our sighted
offspring is
totally unacceptible, but deprressingly prevalent in the vi community
as a
whole.
John
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jackie Cairns" <cairnsplace@xxxxxxx>
To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, January 18, 2008 12:29 PM
Subject: [access-uk] Re: Accessible Internet Radio
> John, I've always been told that "It'll get better." I hear myself
cry,
> when? (smiles).
>
> I had to give it up as a bad job. Ian just tutted and he moaned
each time
> we asked him about the display and what the sequence for programming
the
> radio was. So we just held our hands up quietly and said: "No
problem it
> doesn't matter." I suppose, in the light of my recent adventure, it
isn't
> important anyway. I wouldn't ever insist he does anything for us on
the
> basis of him being sighted and us being totals. We've stood firm on
it
> all his life, and won't change now. There are blind parents who
make
> their children, whatever their age, do things for them, but we
aren't in
> that mould. But there are things he does of his own volition, and
that's
> different because they come from him.
>
> So back to the drawing board (smile).
>
> Jackie
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "John Land" <john.land@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Friday, January 18, 2008 12:13 PM
> Subject: [access-uk] Re: Accessible Internet Radio
>
>
>> Jackie,
>> I have the exact same problem with my son! it seems difficult for
him to
>> grasp the fact that he Must read everything on a display, rather
than
>> what he, in his infinite lack of wisdom, thinks is important.. I'm
just
>> clinging to the hope that, in the fullness of time, when he grows
up, his
>> abbility for latteral thinking may increase. After all, he's only
>> thirty!!!
>>
>> John
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Jackie Cairns" <cairnsplace@xxxxxxx>
>> To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>> Sent: Thursday, January 17, 2008 2:02 PM
>> Subject: [access-uk] Re: Accessible Internet Radio
>>
>>
>>> Ray, an interesting thought. The lady who served Ian in Argos was
fine
>>> about returning both radios, but she did say - though of course
she
>>> would anyway - that she had never had an Internet radio returned,
and
>>> was sorry we couldn't overcome the problem.
>>>
>>> In truth, our big problem here is lack of sighted assistance.
Young Ian
>>> works apart from Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and he isn't the most
>>> forthcoming person in the world by any stretch of the imagination
in
>>> giving us assistance with reading displays or destructions. In
fact,
>>> though he's my boy and I love him to death, he's the worst sighted
>>> person for help I've ever come across. It's one of the reasons
why this
>>> is so difficult to make sense of, because there could be a message
on
>>> the radio when it jumps and cuts out, but by the time we ask him
to look
>>> at the screen, it's playing again. We've always both been
extremely
>>> independent people in not allowing the eyes of a child to be ours,
and
>>> have stood firm against asking for more than the odd thing.
There's a
>>> topic for the VI-Gen list perhaps: what do you classify as help
from
>>> your children, and what is excessive?
>>>
>>> Anyway, for now, we are just listening to the radio over the
Internet.
>>> It's annoying that there is so much out there that would have been
>>> tremendous to tap into, but I can't afford to spend money on a
device
>>> that doesn't even play a station properly when we've got as far as
>>> presetting it into the unit. It isn't worth the hassle. A real
pity
>>> but there it is.
>>>
>>> Jackie
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: "Ray's Home" <rays-home@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>>> To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>>> Sent: Thursday, January 17, 2008 1:40 PM
>>> Subject: [access-uk] Re: Accessible Internet Radio
>>>
>>>
>>>>A real head scratcher this one Jackie!
>>>>
>>>> I wonder though exactly what or where the connection is that the
>>>> internet radio itself connects to. My reasoning being there's a
fault
>>>> alright but if there is some special server these things connect
to,
>>>> then could the problem be there rather than in the radio itself?
>>>> Admitedly that doesn't get you very far as the anoyance is still
>>>> there. Still, my reasoning is that if the problem is out in
>>>> siberspace somewhere and all these radio's are actually using
this
>>>> sort of dedicated feed, then maybe that's where the problem lies.
>>>>
>>>> Might be that connecting via your PC to Sky Radio bypasses this
rogue
>>>> speculative server. Might make sense too for there to be a
server
>>>> these radios connect to for collecting listening stats.
>>>>
>>>> Could be interesting to do a Google on user groups and support,
and
>>>> the Google Blogg search too, which I may do out of interest if
I've
>>>> got the time.
>>>>
>>>> Cheers,
>>>>
>>>> From Ray
>>>> I can be contacted off-list at:
>>>> mailto:ray-48@xxxxxxxx
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> : 17 January 2008 1:11PM
>>>> Subject: [access-uk] Re: Accessible Internet Radio
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I didn't keep the scanned destructions George. They were very
>>>> straightforward, and didn't refer to anything remotely like we
wanted
>>>> to
>>>> know. I had a quick look on the Internet for the Intempo manual,
but
>>>> couldn't come up with it.
>>>>
>>>> I see that John Lewis has a sophisticated Roberts Internet radio,
and
>>>> I've
>>>> managed to download the manual for that. But John Lewis nearest
to us
>>>> is in
>>>> Edinburgh, so I haven't done anything about looking at that radio
yet.
>>>>
>>>> Shame eh?
>>>>
>>>> Jackie
>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>> From: "George Bell" <george@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>>>> To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>>>> Sent: Thursday, January 17, 2008 12:49 PM
>>>> Subject: [access-uk] Re: Accessible Internet Radio
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> Hi Jackie,
>>>>>
>>>>> Sounds like you've tried most things so far.
>>>>>
>>>>> Is there an electronic version of the destructions you can
>>>>> perhaps send me off list? I'm hoping somewhere there might
>>>>> be a clue where to find a user's support list or similar.
>>>>>
>>>>> It may even some technical bumf about accessing the unit via
>>>>> it's network port. It will doubtless have an IP address,
>>>>> but I suspect that may be allocated by a DNS server
>>>>> somewhere out in cyberspace. However without seeing any
>>>>> documentation, this is pure speculation.
>>>>>
>>>>> George.
>>>>>
>>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>>> From: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>>>> [mailto:access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Jackie Cairns
>>>>> Sent: Thursday, January 17, 2008 12:39 PM
>>>>> To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>>>> Subject: [access-uk] Re: Accessible Internet Radio
>>>>>
>>>>> Hi George
>>>>>
>>>>> We tried every combination we could think of. We logged
>>>>> onto the radio
>>>>> stations we had tried on the Internet radio, and they were
>>>>> very static and
>>>>> didn't cut out on the PC. Then we tried powering down all
>>>>> the PCs so that
>>>>> the Internet radio ran wirelessly on its own, which made no
>>>>> difference.
>>>>> Then we tried the Intempo Internet radio with an RJ45, and
>>>>> it still did it.
>>>>>
>>>>> Young Ian is always complaining about a high Ping rate, but
>>>>> he says a lot of
>>>>> his fellow gamers get that with their ISPs as well. We've
>>>>> also just had Sky
>>>>> supply a new modem as the other one's power supply packed
>>>>> in. The new modem
>>>>> seems to be fine, and everything else is working except this
>>>>> terrible
>>>>> cutting out and spluttering of the Internet radio. I'm
>>>>> quite happy to
>>>>> accept that given we've tried two different makes, with
>>>>> exactly the same
>>>>> result, there is a conflict. But because we can't access
>>>>> the radio without
>>>>> sighted assistance - which is limited even on a good day -
>>>>> it is difficult
>>>>> to know how to get round the problem.
>>>>>
>>>>> The destructions don't give any indication of what Steve
>>>>> suggested we try,
>>>>> so we are kind of stuck. It's very disappointing and
>>>>> frustrating.
>>>>>
>>>>> If anybody has any suggestions, I'd gladly like to hear
>>>>> them.
>>>>>
>>>>> Jackie
>>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>>> From: "George Bell" <george@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>>>>> To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>>>>> Sent: Thursday, January 17, 2008 12:25 PM
>>>>> Subject: [access-uk] Re: Accessible Internet Radio
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>> Hi Jackie,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Have you totally ruled out your Internet connection here?
>>>>>> You did say recently that young Ian was complaining his
>>>>> that
>>>>>> games performance was affected by a bad Ping Rate.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Are you by any chance able to access that radio station on
>>>>>> your normal PC? If it coughs and splutters there too,
>>>>> then
>>>>>> at least you know it's not the box's fault.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> George.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>>>> From: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>>>>> [mailto:access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Jackie
>>>>> Cairns
>>>>>> Sent: Wednesday, January 16, 2008 8:18 PM
>>>>>> To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>>>>> Subject: [access-uk] Re: Accessible Internet Radio
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Hi Steve
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Ian has scanned the destructions of the Bush, and there
>>>>>> appears to be
>>>>>> nothing in the manual about connecting via a PC, nor
>>>>>> suggestions in the
>>>>>> trouble-shooting section for any such problems we are
>>>>>> experiencing.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I really don't want to give up with this radio thing
>>>>> because
>>>>>> I'm getting
>>>>>> sound out of it, though I preferred the Intempo to the
>>>>> Bush.
>>>>>> But I can't
>>>>>> have it keep cutting out and jumping about like a
>>>>> scratched
>>>>>> record. The
>>>>>> longer it is on, the more it does it, which is why I
>>>>> didn't
>>>>>> notice it for a
>>>>>> little while yesterday. Everything else on our network is
>>>>>> working ok, apart
>>>>>> from young Ian's Ping when he plays Counter Strike online,
>>>>>> but that's a
>>>>>> different issue relating to the gaming server he is using
>>>>> I
>>>>>> think.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Hmmm. Will have to keep plodding away and see what I can
>>>>>> come up with.
>>>>>> This getting older stuff is a bad thing (smile).
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Jackie
>>>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>>>> From: "Steve Nutt" <steve@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>>>>>> To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>>>>>> Sent: Wednesday, January 16, 2008 6:08 PM
>>>>>> Subject: [access-uk] Re: Accessible Internet Radio
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Hi Jackie,
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Are you sure these radios don't have a browser interface
>>>>>> from a PC? They
>>>>>>> will have an IP address, so you might be able to log into
>>>>>> them as you can
>>>>>>> with a router. You may be able for example, to plug in
>>>>>> your radio using
>>>>>>> an
>>>>>>> RJ45, configure it, then unplug it. I am certain it will
>>>>>> have an IP
>>>>>>> address, as all networking devices do have, but do they
>>>>>> have a web-based
>>>>>>> interface? Check out the instruction bookie with young
>>>>>> Ian, and you may
>>>>>>> find you can configure using a PC.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> All the best
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Steve
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>>>>> From: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>>>>> [mailto:access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf
>>>>>>> Of
>>>>>>> Jackie Cairns
>>>>>>> Sent: 16 January 2008 17:46
>>>>>>> To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>>>>>> Subject: [access-uk] Re: Accessible Internet Radio
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Hi All
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Right, here is the latest on the accessibility of
>>>>> Internet
>>>>>> radio. I've
>>>>>>> been
>>>>>>> messing around for over a day and have come up against
>>>>>> some problems that
>>>>>>> I'll share with you now so you know the score.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Firstly, we picked the Intempo Internet radio from Argos
>>>>>> at £119.99. As
>>>>>>> it
>>>>>>> happened, it was one of the only choices of five they had
>>>>>> in stock, but it
>>>>>>> was my first pick anyway.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> The Intempo came with wireless capability, and an
>>>>> ethernet
>>>>>> port. More
>>>>>>> importantly, it had 99 presets and a remote control to
>>>>>> allow you to key in
>>>>>>> those presets directly. When Ian turned it on, he told
>>>>> us
>>>>>> that the
>>>>>>> display
>>>>>>> came up with the welcome logo, and then found the
>>>>> network.
>>>>>> Of course it
>>>>>>> came up with Sky, and asked for our security key. Now in
>>>>>> answer to
>>>>>>> Marie's
>>>>>>> question, you have to use the dial to spin it round for
>>>>>> each letter or
>>>>>>> number you want to key in, then select it. This is
>>>>>> totally useless for us
>>>>>>> by the way.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Once it accepted the security key and proceeded to log
>>>>>> onto our network,
>>>>>>> it
>>>>>>> asked whether we wanted Windows Media Player or stations.
>>>>>> We selected the
>>>>>>> latter. Then it wanted to know if we wanted genre or
>>>>>> locations, and we
>>>>>>> again chose the latter. There was a massive list of
>>>>>> countries, with
>>>>>>> Afghanistan at the top of the alphabetical list. Ian
>>>>>> chose the
>>>>>>> Netherlands,
>>>>>>> and found Sky Radio, which came on after a few minutes of
>>>>>> waiting. If you
>>>>>>> turned off the radio and turned it back on again, it
>>>>>> defaulted to the last
>>>>>>> station we were listening to, so that was helpful.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> But after initially listening to the station, we started
>>>>>> to notice it
>>>>>>> cutting off altogether for maybe 30 seconds or so, then
>>>>>> coming back on.
>>>>>>> Then whatever was playing began to jump like the arm on a
>>>>>> record being
>>>>>>> moved
>>>>>>> over it at random.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Senior Ian checked that this was not happening on Sky
>>>>>> Radio using the
>>>>>>> Internet on the PC, and it stayed completely steady. So
>>>>>> we tried the
>>>>>>> radio
>>>>>>> directly using the RJ45, and got the same results. We
>>>>>> turned all the PCs
>>>>>>> off and just had the radio running, with the same
>>>>> outcome.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> We decided today that we would have to try another radio
>>>>>> in case the
>>>>>>> Intempo
>>>>>>> had a fault. We knew it couldn't be our connection to
>>>>> the
>>>>>> Internet
>>>>>>> because
>>>>>>> everything else has been working normally. So the only
>>>>>> other radio Argos
>>>>>>> had was a Bush at £89.99. They couldn't give us another
>>>>>> Intempo as it was
>>>>>>> the only one they had, but were happy about refunding us
>>>>>> our money.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> When we brought the Bush home and Ian went through the
>>>>>> same procedure, the
>>>>>>> exact same thing started to occur. This radio has 10
>>>>>> presets and is
>>>>>>> wireless only.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> So now we have a dilemma. For some unknown reason, both
>>>>>> radios, bearing
>>>>>>> in
>>>>>>> mind they are different models altogether, do the same
>>>>>> thing when they are
>>>>>>> connected to a radio station, whatever that station
>>>>>> happens to be. We
>>>>>>> tried
>>>>>>> Capital FM and the BBC, but it still did the same with
>>>>>> both sets.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I have to be honest and say that these radios are
>>>>>> completely inaccessible
>>>>>>> for a non-sighted person to navigate. Even if you
>>>>>> remember that the radio
>>>>>>> asks you for genre or locations, and you manage to
>>>>>> remember how many times
>>>>>>> to go up and down the massive list in each category, you
>>>>>> are on a hiding
>>>>>>> to
>>>>>>> nothing because you don't know any of the stations
>>>>>> available. We knew
>>>>>>> this
>>>>>>> when we started out, so aren't so much frustrated about
>>>>>> that. What we had
>>>>>>> planned to do is pick a few of our favourites and store
>>>>>> them into the
>>>>>>> presets. But if the radios don't have fast enough
>>>>>> processors, and keep
>>>>>>> dropping out or jumping, I don't know what the pleasure
>>>>> is
>>>>>> in all honesty.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Carol asked why it would not be simpler to just use a PC.
>>>>>> I just wanted
>>>>>>> an
>>>>>>> Internet radio to be able to move it anywhere away from
>>>>>> the computer
>>>>>>> without
>>>>>>> having it switched on all the time. For example, lying
>>>>> in
>>>>>> bed and
>>>>>>> listening
>>>>>>> to something without being tied to a laptop would have
>>>>>> been nice.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Now guys, the positive thing is that I am currently
>>>>>> talking to TNAUK about
>>>>>>> their talking Internet radio. I can't say anything else
>>>>>> at the moment,
>>>>>>> but
>>>>>>> I'm in the process of bending their ear and arm (smile).
>>>>>> When I know
>>>>>>> more,
>>>>>>> I'll certainly post it because I've no intention of being
>>>>>> involved in any
>>>>>>> trial and then not compiling some sort of evaluation
>>>>>> review that be for
>>>>>>> all
>>>>>>> to read.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> If anyone has any ideas why these radios do this, I would
>>>>>> be fascinated to
>>>>>>> know. I wonder if the processors aren't as fast, so
>>>>>> therefore have
>>>>>>> smaller
>>>>>>> memory buffers. But how they sell on that basis, I don't
>>>>>> know.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Any comments welcome, on or off list.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Jackie
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