Potentially Useful Info

Posted on September 2, 2012 by John

From the good folks at Applevis, there was recently a podcast explaining how one can remap the keys on their Mac to enable one to use the caps lock key as the VoiceOver (control-option) key combination. I have read some people ask about this on the various Mac user lists, so it caught my attention.

I will say, and this is personal opinion only, that it’s a bit of a hack and a little too much effort to accomplish for me to really use it, but it does work and I felt it was something worth bringing attention to it.

I would highly recommend all of the podcasts Applevis has available, but for this one, please go
here.

New episodes for the Audio Demonstration series are coming. I will be adding a 3 part series over the next few weeks or month in regard to using the Finder on the Mac. Hopefully, it will walk you through Finder basics and understanding the folder and file system on the Mac by the time it is finished.

Posted in Accessibility, General, OS Mountain Lion | Leave a comment

Updates, 8/25/12

Posted on August 25, 2012 by John

I have added a few more times to the
Documentation page
of the site. This includes a couple of contributions from Michael Gerwat, who edited a version of the VoiceOver Getting Started with Mountain Lion and the Macbook Pro User Guide in a format conducive for those who read with a Braille display.

In addition, I added some new links to podcasts in the
Links page
of the site. This includes the Tech Doctor podcast hosted by Dr. Robert Carter, and the iBlindtech podcast, hosted by Garth Humphreys.

Posted in Accessibility, General, OS Mountain Lion, Updates | Leave a comment

Updates, 8/14/12

Posted on August 14, 2012 by John

Here are some updates for the site:

1. Episode 17 of the Audio Demonstration Series is now available through iTunes or on the
Demonstrations page.
I do a brief demonstration on how the Dictation feature works in Mountain Lion and explain how it is set up. It is not a detailed demo, but it should help you get started and to understand how you can use the new feature.

2. In the
documentation page
of the site, I have added an RTF version of the VoiceOver Getting Started with Mountain Lion guide. I will be putting a better version of this document up in the near future.

3. Lastly, I was, once again, invited to co-host the Triple Click Home podcast. It was just as much fun as the first time, and I am very humbled and thankful that Serotek asked me to join the gang another time. It is episode 9, for those of you keeping track, and it can be found
here.

Posted in Accessibility, General, OS Mountain Lion, Updates | Leave a comment

Updates, 7/27/12

Posted on July 27, 2012 by John

My first audio demonstration series podcast about Mountain Lion is now up. It is on selecting text on the web and the new ways one can do this in VoiceOver. You can find episode #16
here.

Posted in General, OS Mountain Lion, Safari, Updates | Leave a comment

Mountain Lion is Here

Posted on July 25, 2012 by John

The Big Cat Has Arrived

Well, the day has arrived. Yes, folks, OS Mountain Lion is now here. It was released by Apple as of this morning. You can purchase it through the Mac App Store for $19.99 and upgrade over both Snow Leopard or Lion.

I will be putting a few podcasts up in regard to Mountain Lion as the days pass. I have one done and am just waiting for my webmaster to upload it. Also, I added some new material to the
How to for the Mac and OS X pages for Mountain Lion

I am, so far, quite impressed. I always love installing a new operating system and exploring it and messing around for the first time. I am, when it comes to this stuff, like a big kid at Christmas time opening my presents.

I will mention a few of the features and additions that I have noticed. By no means is this a detailed description, but you will find a lot of information already all over the internet. The great folks at Applevis are already putting up a bunch of podcasts on Mountain Lion
here.

Also, there are 3 books in the Take Control series from Tidbids Publishing that will be very helpful and useful to you. They are, “Take Control of Upgrading to Mountain Lion 1.1”, “Take Control of Using Mountain Lion 1.1”, and, “Take Control of Mail in Mountain Lion”. You can find these books
here.

Alternatively, my good friends at Mac-access.net also have the entire series of take control books available. Please give them a look. Continue reading →

Posted in Accessibility, Apple Mail, General, iCal, iChat, OS Mountain Lion, Updates | Leave a comment

Preparing for Mountain Lion

Posted on July 6, 2012 by John

With Mountain Lion said to be released later this month, it’s good idea to prepare oneself for the upgrade. At least, it’s best to get your system ready and to be aware of all the things that you should consider before you actually upgrade.

With that said, I am highly recommending the book, Take Control of Upgrading to Mountain Lion, by Joe Kissel. This is a book published by TidBids Publishing, and there are a lot of very useful and helpful books they have released over the years.

Although you can get it through their website
here,
I would also highly recommend the services to purchase any of the Take Control series of books from
these guys.
Please contact them for specific details.

Posted in Accessibility, General, OS Mountain Lion, Updates | Leave a comment

Updates, 6/30/12

Posted on June 30, 2012 by John

I was recently honored and privileged and humbled to have been invited to be a guest host for the Serotek Triple Click Home podcast. It was a great deal of fun, and we discussed the World Wide Developer Conference and all of the Apple news that was released during the keynote address. I highly recommend that you subscribe to the podcast, as it is both quite entertaining and informative. I don’t know what I actually added to it, but I thank Serotek for inviting me to be a part of Episode #8. I certainly had a great time, and it has been one of my personal highlights of this Mac for the Blind adventure for me.

You can find the Triple Click Home podcast
here.

Posted in Accessibility, General, iOS Devices, OS Mountain Lion, Updates | Leave a comment

Updates, 6/24/12

Posted on June 24, 2012 by John

Anyone who knows me personally knows my personal feelings about the whole Twitter and social networking explosion. No, I am not a fan of Twitter and Tweeting, and I grudgingly use Facebook.

However, with this kind of a resource and business, I have finally put aside my personal feelings and have added a Twitter account for macfortheblind. It is simply, @macfortheblind. Feel free to follow us.

I will do my best to tweet information, news and any updates to the site, as well as new audio demonstrations. At this point, I still am going to try to get another podcast up before Mountain Lion, but we will see how time permits.

There is also some news in regard to me having been given the distinct honor and privilege of joining forces on a tech podcast as a guest host. I will post the news about the podcast and the date of the release when I have it.

As always, I thank you for your continued support and for viewing this site. I have gotten a lot of positive feedback from folks learning the Mac and iDevices particularly over the last few months, and I truly am humbled and flattered by the kind words and compliments. I must point out, though, that the bast majority of the material here has come from the community, and I cannot take responsibility for it beyond making it available for you.

Posted in General, Updates | Leave a comment

Thoughts about WWDC

Posted on June 16, 2012 by John

I have had a few days to digest everything that Apple announced at the WWDC keynote, as well as having read a lot of the reactions from various Mac and Apple related websites. To me, Tim Cook and company did a fantastic job, and from the opening part of the keynote using SIRI to tell jokes, it was an entertaining and grand display only Apple seems to be able to do so well. I really wish I had been present.

The new Mac Book Pro with the retina display is a truly awesome machine. I think Apple hit the ball out of the park again. It will be amazing and amusing to see how the PC laptop makers scramble to come out with the “Mac Book Pro” killers and badly fail as they have tried in attempting to match the Mac Book Air. The only “downside” to the model is that it is pricy and, to me, is a bit out of my range for my purposes of upgrading my current MBP.
Read all about the new Mac Book Pro here.

The standard Mac Book Pro line and the Mac Book Airs have been updated as well. They now all use the Intel Ivy Bridge processors, and I believe I will be getting a 13 inch MBP some time soon. From a practicality standpoint for my situation, this is the best choice, though I will be opting for the SSD storage instead of physical hard drive. I found it interesting that some folks were surprised that Apple retired the 17 inch Mac Book Pro model, as this was a very strong rumor sited in a number of places over the last month or two. Continue reading →

Posted in Accessibility, General, iOS Devices, OS Mountain Lion, Updates | Leave a comment

What to Expect at WWDC from Apple?

Posted on June 9, 2012 by John

On Monday, Apple will be holding their yearly World Wide Developer Conference, and as usual, there is a lot of speculation and excitement surrounding the event. At 1 O’clock Eastern time, the keynote address will take place, and what will be announced and highlighted are the topics of countless rumors and guessing.

For me, I am particularly interested. I don’t normally buy into the rumor mill and all of the talk that goes on about what Apple will or will not do because people tend to be wrong in many of the cases. However, this year, I really have been paying attention, and I really can’t wait until Monday afternoon. I think there are some good educated guesses, and based on the banners that are already up, it appears that we can expect a few obvious items to show up during the keynote address. Continue reading →

Posted in Accessibility, General, iOS Devices, OS Mountain Lion | Leave a comment