[optacon-l] Re: Hi, Optaconers

  • From: Judy Jones <Judy.Jones@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: "optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Sat, 28 Feb 2015 02:00:47 +0000

Very  fascinating and makes sense.

Judy

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S5 Mini smartphone.


-------- Original message --------
From: "C. Pond" <cpond@xxxxxxxxx>
Date:02/27/2015 6:26 PM (GMT-07:00)
To: optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc:
Subject: [optacon-l] Re: Hi, Optaconers

As we all are, I am an avvid optacon user in many areas.  I don't know what
I'd do without it.  I tend to use them in pairs: an R1D and an optacon II;
the version II is great for reading computer screen ans filtering out the
mains signal, and it is excellent for other tasks as well.  For just one
thing, is it easy to write a small bit of code which actually allows one to
use the mouse as an optacon camera and interface the serial-port of the R2
with a Windows computer.  In brief, simply have the numbers pertaining to
the pixcels around the mouse returned to the "main" of the program.  This is
great.  The Windows world is amazingly and annoyingly fluid, almost
capricious from my Luddite point of view..

What I have noticed is that although I can read diagrams which are either
obviously laid out like a flow chart, or a spreadsheet whereby its designer
has gone overboard with her columns and boxes and fancy nonessentials,or
symbolic representation such as with electronics schematics, I can not
understand diagrams where by a three-dimensinal object or design is
represented in a two-dimensinal medium, even if I understand the physics of
the intended written optacal trickery.  The more I try, and if someone is
there to coach me, I at times perceive sudden flashes of insight, and
perhaps it is possible that the cognitive dots might slowly connect over
time.  I suspect that the key to this type of learning (visualizing) is to
teach little ones while their brains are still in flux and formation, and
their learning flexibility is readily apparent.  It is possible, I believe,
for blind optacon users to learn to read and to properly interpret these
perspective diagrams with a lot of training and re-enforcement.
The key here is not only optacon use, but wise and specific forms and
methods of education.  If an optacon-like product were to take off, these
educational challenges would have to me squarely understood and met,
especially at a young age.

Charles
Ottawa

-----Original Message-----
From: Robert Feinstein
Sent: Friday, February 27, 2015 6:51 PM
To: optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [optacon-l] Hi, Optaconers

Hi, Optaconers!

It's Robert.  First of all, I am truly so happy about the
wonderful emails
sent to the list.  We have quite a group of talented, bright optacon users
who do all sorts of things, including sorting laundry and reading cans and
CD cases!  I must say I never thought of using the optacon to see the
differences in patterns on clothing!  And I want to thank the person who
described the CD cases in such detail.

I wanted to mention something I did with my optacon yesterday.  I had
received a letter from Meals on Wheels, but when I tried to read it on my
Sara, the machine was reading the members of the board which were at the
left hand side of the page, plus the actual letter, which was confusing.
I looked at the letter with the optacon and noticed a space between the
board members and the letter.  I folded the page where this space was,
then checked with the optacon to make sure I had the actual text without
the board members.  I did, and put the letter back on the Sara, and
the Sara read
it fine.  This really amazed me that, with the optacon, I could tell where
to fold the paper to get my machine to read just what I wanted.

I am using the optacon that Richard made work on electricity.  My other
one stopped working and is being repaired: all I got was a horizontal line
across the array, but no print.  Richard assured me it can be fixed.

Please, share your uses of the optacon.  A friend of mine used to use the
optacon at work to read the computer screen, and she had the screen lying
flat so it was easier to read, and some tape put on different parts of
the screen so she knew what part of the
screen to go to, as she was in customer service.

Some have complained about the buzzing, but I kinda like it.  Also, just
by the sound, I can sometimes tell if I need to turn up the threshold to
make the print sharper.

As someone once said on this list, I'd put the optacon up with the
invention of braille.  It brings a print book to our fingers, which is
quite amazing!

Warmest regards,
Robert in Brooklyn, NY


to view the list archives, go to:

www.freelists.org/archives/optacon-l<//www.freelists.org/archives/optacon-l>

To unsubscribe at any time, just send a message to:

optacon-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "unsubscribe" (without the
quotes) in the message subject.

Tell your friends about the list.  They can subscribe by sending a message
to:

optacon-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "subscribe" (without the
quotes) in the message subject.




-----

Checked by AVG - www.avg.com<http://www.avg.com>
Version: 10.0.1434 / Virus Database: 4257/8688 - Release Date: 02/27/15


to view the list archives, go to:

www.freelists.org/archives/optacon-l<//www.freelists.org/archives/optacon-l>

To unsubscribe at any time, just send a message to:

optacon-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "unsubscribe" (without the 
quotes) in the message subject.

Tell your friends about the list.  They can subscribe by sending a message to:

optacon-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "subscribe" (without the quotes) 
in the message subject.


to view the list archives, go to:

www.freelists.org/archives/optacon-l 

To unsubscribe at any time, just send a message to:

optacon-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "unsubscribe" (without the 
quotes) in the message subject.  

Tell your friends about the list.  They can subscribe by sending a message to:

optacon-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "subscribe" (without the quotes) 
in the message subject.

Other related posts:

  1. Home
  2. optacon-l
  3. Archive
  4. 02-2015