The Accessible World and Beyond
I’ve had an amazing few weeks! At the end of April I gave the technology track keynote speech at the Accessible World, a conference about accessibility which...
iPhone
RubyMotion, the Apple Watch, and Accessibility
Check out this talk I gave at Philly Cocoa, a meetup for Mac and iOS programmers. It covers what we know about Apple Watch’s accessibility (not much) and sho...
CocoaLove
Last month I spoke at CocoaLove, a conference about people, not tech. After traveling so much it felt wonderful to speak at a local conference. It had the fe...
TEDx Philadelphia 2014
In late January I received an email inviting me to speak at TEDx Philadelphia, the local version of the famous TED talks. At first I mistook it for spam, but...
Proof that the Apple Watch has Accessibility
In October, Apple announced the Apple Watch. The blind all wondered if it would have some version of VoiceOver, the screen reader which they have on all thei...
EuruCamp 2014
This summer I spoke at EuruCamp. It took place in Potsdam, Germany. I spoke twice, participated on a panel, and made some new friends. Watch the video. I als...
#inspect 2014
I just spoke at #inspect2014, the second annual RubyMotion developer’s conference. The first one happened in Brussels. This year’s happened in San Francisco....
Asbury Park Adventure
While speaking at the RubyMotion conference in Belgium I met Bret Morgan, who runs a coworking space in New Jersey called Cowerks. Since we live near each ot...
#inspect 2013
This article makes up the second part in a little trilogy about going to #inspect, the first RubyMotion conference. I expect a few updates as more content co...
RubyMotion and Accessibility
I just gave a great talk at the Philly Cocoaheads group. We met at the life-transforming Indy Hall. I covered basic iOS accessibility, RubyMotion, and how th...
A Cranky Review of the Latest HIMS Note Takers
I feel cranky. I didn’t get a chance to meditate. My cleaning lady can’t speak english. My neighbor’s dog howls incessantly. I ate some old Indian food which...
Echolocating Sculpture: A Monument to Abstraction
About six months ago I learned a skill called echolocation. By making a tongue click, a blind person can learn to see with reflected sound. Read that article...
RubyMotion Rocks!
Ever since I started using an iPhone, I have wanted to learn how to write apps for it. I made several attempts to learn Objective C, but it never worked out....
Access Unlimited
I just appeared on the excellent show Access Unlimited, an award-winning show on KPFK in Las Angeles. I talked about my first experiences with computers, the...
The First Philadelphia VoiceOver Event
The Philadelphia regional chapter of thePennsylvania Council of the Blind partnered with Apple to put on the first VoiceOver event in this area. The event to...
Aftershokz!
I feel very excited to review the Aftershokz bone conducting headphones. These new headphones use bone conduction to deliver sound, leaving your ears open to...
The Death of Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs has died at age 56. Family said he passed peacefully in his sleep. This has sent shockwaves around the net, and I thought I’d throw in my own litt...
What Today’s Apple Event Means to the Blind
Today, Apple had their “Let’s Talk iPhone” announcement. As usual no one knew what to expect. Many hoped for a redesigned iPhone with a curved surface, much ...
How to Make a Million Dollars with an iPhone
Sorry for the spammy title. I wanted to get your attention, plus I figure it will draw a bunch of traffic from search engines. This article actually discusse...
Fixing a WaterDamaged iPhone with a Hairdryer
Today, we celebrated Mother’s day. As part of our dinner, Mom asked that I bring some tahini paste. I got a little on my finger, and when I went to send Mom ...
What Hath Goddess Wrought!
I have loved radios as long as I can remember. This caused me to become interested in amateur radio, which caused me to learn morse code. Recently, I thought...
Let there be Light Detectors
I feel glad to report that we can now add light probes to the list of blind technology now made obsolete by the iPhone. Recently, I received an email from a ...
Skiing for the Second Time, Howard Johnson for the Last Time
Before we begin, this piece has several companion files. You can see a picture of me and one of my instructors. You can hear for yourself how it sounds to sk...
On CBC’s Spark!
A few weeks ago, Dan Misener from the CBC contacted me, asking if I would like to do an interview for their weekly technology radio show Spark. Of course, I ...
Let’s Go Skywatching!
For years I have sought ways for me as a blind person to relate to the night sky, especially since sighted people cannot seem to describe it. “Oh no. It’s al...
Hearing Emoticons
As a programmer, it always amazes me when a simple feature makes a profound difference. Any programmer will know what I mean. In this case, I refer to VoiceO...
Why I do not Consider Myself an Apple Fanboy
The last two weeks have brought me a barrage of incredible and enthusiastic comments to my article about my first week with the iPhone. I have felt moved emo...
How to Sync your Emacs diary with your iPhone or iPad
Oh yes! I have wanted to do this for such a long time, and glancing through the iPad manual gave me the answer. I will now show you how to synchronize your...
My First Week with the iPhone
Last Wednesday, my life changed forever. I got an iPhone. I consider it the greatest thing to happen to the blind for a very long time, possibly ever. It off...