@Freedom Scientific Newsletter
America’s Last World War I Veteran Turns 109
|
Frank Woodruff Buckles, the last surviving US veteran of World War I, turned 109 last February 1st and read his birthday cards using a TOPAZ® Video Magnifier from Freedom Scientific. Buckles, whose eyesight has dimmed but not his love of reading, says, “When I get a card or picture from someone, we put it under the TOPAZ, and I can see it just fine. I’ve gotten a lot of enjoyment I otherwise would have missed because of this product.” |
 AP/Charlie Riedel |
Buckles has not missed much in a life filled with variety and more than a few historical milestones. Born on the family farm in Harrison County, Missouri, in 1901, he loaded the family horses onto a boxcar at age 15 and traveled to Oakwood, Oklahoma. He lived in a hotel, went to high school, and worked as a banker until 1917, when the United States entered World War I. An adventurous spirit, Buckles enlisted at age 16 in the United States Army. He trained at Fort Riley, Kansas, and deployed from Hoboken, New Jersey, on the Carpathia, the ship that rescued the only survivors of the Titanic. After arriving in Scotland, he served as a motorcycle driver for dignitaries, an ambulance driver, and prison guard in England, France, and Germany. He served with the American Expeditionary Forces and helped escort German prisoners back at the end of the war. Buckles returned to the United States in 1920 as a corporal.
|
After the war, while employed as assistant purser of the steamship Western World, his travels brought him to Manila, where he was captured by the Japanese and became a prisoner of war in World War II. For 39 months, until his rescue by the 11th Airborne Division of the United States Army on February 23, 1945, Buckles survived on rice, worm-filled mush, and a small tin cup of beans. He still has the cup, which serves as an inspirational reminder for Buckles to never give up. |
After witnessing the horrors of two wars, Buckles returned to a peaceful life of farming in West Virginia. He worked his farm, and drove the family tractor until he was 102.
Buckles watched as the number of World War I survivors dwindled, and now reflects, “I knew I would be one of the last ones but never expected to be the last.” Now, his story is followed by millions through frequent coverage by national and international media. His remembrances impart the past 100 years of American history from an intimate and personal perspective.
“I’ve always loved to read,” says Buckles. “I never really picked up the TV habit. I collected a lot of books, a lot of history, through the years and I always thought that when I got older I would have plenty of time to read them.” Now he has the time, but his eyesight is failing and he cannot see well enough to read his cherished books, many of which are out of print.
A little over two years ago he acquired a Freedom Scientific TOPAZ Video Magnifier so he could read again. “The TOPAZ shows my books in large letters on a bright screen,” says Buckles. “I have arthritis, so I really appreciate how smooth and easy the table movement is. I treasure these books and it’s wonderful to be able to read them once again. Now, I’m in front of my TOPAZ for a while every day. I get a lot of pleasure that way.”
You can read more about Frank Buckles and the National WWI Memorial at www.frankbuckles.org.
New Additions to the TOPAZ Product Line
Our customers frequently send us their stories of how the TOPAZ has helped them increase their independence and productivity at home, in school, and on the job. They also offer suggestions that would make the products even more useful.
In response to that feedback, Freedom Scientific is pleased to announce significant additions to this product line.
TOPAZ with Swivel Monitor
|
Three new models in the TOPAZ line feature monitors that swing to either side and swivel to provide viewing up to 90 degrees to the right and left. This adds flexibility when working between a document and your PC, collaborating with others, or working on projects while reading instructions with the TOPAZ. These new models also offer a benefit not found on any other desktop video magnifier – Image Freeze. Just push a button to lock any magnified image on the screen. You’ll find so many uses for this unique feature: for instance, use your finger as a place keeper on a magnified phone number, and freeze the image to free up both hands for dialing the phone. Freeze a magnified image of cooking instructions on a food package, and then take the package away to prepare it. The three new models are attractively priced:
|
We also have reduced the prices for our other TOPAZ LCD models:
- TOPAZ 17-inch LCD $2,495
- TOPAZ 19-inch LCD $2,795
- TOPAZ 22-inch LCD $3,095
All models of the TOPAZ Swivel Monitor are currently shipping.
New Lower Price for the RUBY® Handheld Video Magnifier
Owners of the RUBY have been telling their friends about our handheld video magnifier and the hundreds of ways it helps them be more independent every day.
We are pleased to announce that the RUBY has a new lower price of $695.
Read all about the RUBY on the RUBY product page.
Freedom Scientific Reduces Price of Focus 40 Blue Braille Display by 38% to Support Drive for Braille Literacy
Freedom Scientific has reduced the US list price of its Focus 40 Blue Braille Display from $4,495 to $2,795, a $1,700 reduction, in a move to support Braille literacy.
The National Federation of the Blind, in their report from the Jernigan Institute, has declared that there is a "Braille Literacy Crisis in America," citing such statistics as:
- Fewer than 10 percent of the 1.3 million people who are legally blind in the United States are Braille readers
- Only 10 percent of blind children in the US are learning Braille
- Over 70 percent of blind adults are unemployed, and as many as 50 percent of blind high school students drop out of high school
The factors that contribute to a low Braille literacy rate in the US are many, among them a shortage of qualified Braille teachers and an increasing reliance on recorded audio and text-to-speech technologies.
"We believe that technology should be supporting Braille literacy, not replacing it," states Dr. Lee Hamilton, President and CEO of Freedom Scientific. "The combination of JAWS® and a Braille display makes learning and using Braille easy. JAWS can translate almost any electronic document or Web page into Braille and then display them on the Focus 40 Blue. JAWS also has a built-in Braille tutor that works with the Focus 40 Blue to provide immediate spoken help when the reader encounters an unfamiliar Braille symbol. This makes independent Braille study easier as it can be used with any document of interest to the student. With a computer and a Braille display, a person who is Braille literate can carry hundreds of books on a single memory card or USB thumb drive.
"Unfortunately, Braille displays have always been expensive, which has meant that not everyone who wanted a Braille display could get one. Freedom Scientific wants to open the world of Braille to as many blind people as possible. We first drastically reduced the cost of Braille displays in 2004, when we introduced models 40% below the average price of currently available Braille displays. We are pleased that the manufacturing efficiencies inherent in our latest product design make it possible for us to reduce prices once again and hope this will make Braille accessible to many more people."
The Focus 40 Blue is a compact portable Braille display that is the perfect companion to a desktop, laptop, or netbook PC. It connects via USB or Bluetooth® and has a Braille keyboard. The 40 Braille cells are constructed without seams between characters, so the user experience is like reading Braille on paper. The Focus 40 Blue works with Apple® computers and cell phones as well as with JAWS for Windows®.
Freedom Scientific's Braille displays are the most reliable in the industry and are backed by technical support and service teams based in St. Petersburg, Florida.
The new US/Canada list price for the Focus 40 Blue is USD 2,795 and includes a two-year manufacturer's warranty.
For more information, please visit the Freedom Scientific Web site or call 800-444-4443.
Join Freedom Scientific at the 2010 CSUN Conference
We’re looking forward to seeing you at the 2010 CSUN 25th Annual International Technology & Persons with Disabilities Conference (CSUN). This year it’s taking place at a new time and venue:
March 22-27, 2010
Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego
One Market Place
San Diego, California, USA 92101
Exhibit Hall
At Freedom Scientific Booth # 405, you’ll find all of our products on display, so you can get a hands-on experience with their features. Our experts will also be on hand to answer your questions.
We will conduct drawings for some great prizes too, so be sure to visit us and register for your chance to win a RUBY handheld video magnifier each day, a copy of MAGic® Pro 12 with speech, or a copy of OpenBook™ 9. The Freedom Scientific Learning Systems Group will also award copies of WYNN® Reader in daily drawings.
The Exhibit Hall will be open:
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
4:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Thursday, March 25, 2010
9:30 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday, March 26, 2010
9:30 AM - 5:00 PM
Saturday, March 27, 2010
9:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Freedom Scientific Product Sessions
Be sure to register online for your seat at these Freedom Scientific sessions:
Friday, March 26, 3:10 PM - 4:10 PM – Focus 40 Blue Bluetooth Braille Display
Presenter: Jonathan Mosen
Room: Emma C
Friday, March 26, 4:20 PM - 5:20 PM – Toolbelt Theory 2.0: Universal Design through Student Tech Choice - (WYNN)
Presenter: Ira Socol, Michigan State University College of Education
Room: Ford AB
Friday, March 26, 4:20 PM - 5:20 PM – JAWS for Windows® 11 New Features
Presenter: Eric Damery
Room: Annie AB
Saturday, March 27, 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM – AIM High: Motivating Students and Staff to Use Accessible Instructional Materials (WYNN)
Presenter: Gathy Hoesterey, Bellevue, Washington School District
Room: Betsy AB
Saturday, March 27, 9:20 AM - 10:20 AM – PAC Mate Omni™, Improving Educational Outcomes – A Professional’s Perspective
Presenter: Gloria Stuart
Room: Ford C
Save Money in Freedom Scientific’s Online Store
Freedom Scientific’s online store has two new categories. Now, you can purchase new overstocked and factory reconditioned items at substantial discounts.
Whether brand new or reconditioned, all items in the Freedom Scientific store come with the standard warranty applicable to the product. So why not click through and take a look at what’s on offer? Supplies are limited.
From the Training Department
Script Writing Workshops in St. Petersburg Begin Again for 2010
The dates for the year’s first script writing workshops in St. Petersburg have been scheduled:
- Basics of Script Writing, four-day hands on, March 16-19, $999
- Script Development with JAWS and MAGic, five-day hands on, May 3-7, $1,249
Need to brush up on your script writing skills? The number of JAWS functions available to you grows larger with each new version of JAWS. The script manager in JAWS 11 features over 1300 different functions. The next update to JAWS 11, also will introduce new scripting enhancements. If it has been a while since you took a script writing workshop, you should consider enrolling for a refresher course
Visit the training workshop page for more information on these and other training workshops.
How to Create Research It Lookups, a New Free Webinar
The Freedom Scientific Training Department has just conducted the first free Webinar on what it takes to create custom rule sets and lookup modules for Research It. A lookup module is a dynamic link library (DLL) that encapsulates a particular search technology that supports one or more sources.
You can access the free archive of this Webinar to learn about:
- Creating a custom rule set
- File naming and file folder location for naming and saving rule set files
- Testing a rule set with JAWS
- Making a rule set discoverable
We also share a brand new Research It lookup for this Webinar and examine the code that makes it work.
Access this and our other Webinar archives at our e-learning entrance page.
From the Technical Support Department
Application Specific Voice Settings
You can define voice settings so that JAWS uses a particular synthesizer, voice, and language for any application on your computer. These settings are saved as voice profiles, which you can easily select on the fly for any application by pressing INSERT+CTRL+S. JAWS ships with several factory voice profiles based on the synthesizers installed on your computer. (At a minimum, the Eloquence speech synthesizer will always be available.) This makes it easy for you to use these settings as a template for future voice profiles that you create and save for JAWS and other applications.
Selecting a Voice Profile for an Application
To select a voice profile for an application, do the following:
- Make sure that JAWS focus is in the application and then press INSERT+CTRL+S to open the Select a Voice Profile dialog box. It contains a combo box labeled Default, which assigns a voice profile that is used globally by JAWS, and the For
combo box, which assigns a voice profile for a specific application. - If JAWS focus is in the Default combo box, press TAB to move to the For combo box.
- Press UP ARROW or DOWN ARROW to scroll through the list of voice profiles, and then press ENTER to select a voice profile. The dialog box closes and JAWS now uses the selected profile for the open application.
Creating a New Voice Profile
To create a new voice profile using a factory template, do the following:
- Press INSERT+J to make the JAWS window active.
- Press ALT+O to choose the Options menu.
- Press V, and then press ENTER to open the Voice Adjustment dialog box.
- In the Profile Name combo box, select a factory template voice profile, for example, Eloquence - (factory), SAPI 5 - (factory), and RealSpeak Solo Direct - (factory) voice profiles.
- Press TAB to move through and change voice settings. For additional information about voice settings, see Voice Adjustment.
- When finished, do one of the following:
- Press ALT+S to open the Save Voice Profile dialog box, type a unique name that can easily be identified with the voice profile, and then press ENTER, or
- Press ALT+S to open the Save Voice Profile dialog box, and press ENTER to save the profile using the factory template name. This action will create a new voice profile using the same template name, for example, Eloquence, but will not overwrite the original factory template, for example, Eloquence - (factory).
- Select Yes to make the new voice profile the JAWS default, or select No to continue.
- Press ENTER to close the Voice Adjustment dialog box.
Deleting a Voice Profile
To delete a voice profile, do the following:
- Press INSERT+J to make the JAWS window active.
- Press ALT+O to choose the Options menu.
- Press V, and then press ENTER to open the Voice Adjustment dialog box.
- In the Profile Name combo box, select the voice profile that you want to delete.
- Press TAB to move to the Delete button and then press SPACEBAR twice to delete the profile. Eloquence - (factory) now becomes the voice profile.
Note: You cannot delete factory voice profile templates. - Select another voice profile in the Profile Name combo box, or press ENTER to close the Select a Voice Profile dialog box.
February FSCast Features Updates from T and T Consultancy, Creating iTunes Account
In our February edition of FSCast, Jonathan Mosen speaks with Brian Hartgen of T and T Consultancy about what’s new with the company’s popular J-Tools and J-Tunes scripts for JAWS.
In response to many requests, Jonathan then demonstrates how to create an iTunes account with JAWS.
You won’t want to miss any of these interviews, and you won’t if you subscribe to FSCast. The subscription is free, and delivers notification right to your computer when new FSCasts are released. If you did miss a previous FSCast, catch up by visiting the FSCast archives to download FSCast episodes in MP3.
Reminder: With JAWS now providing excellent support for iTunes, you can subscribe to FSCast through the iTunes Store.
Freedom Scientific's Mission
To develop, manufacture, and market technology-based products that provide equal access to information and computing for those with vision impairments or learning disabilities.
