by Billie Jean Keith
The announcement of products and services in this column is not an endorsement by the American Council of the Blind, its staff, or elected officials. Products and services are listed free of charge for the benefit of our readers. "The Braille Forum" cannot be held responsible for the reliability of products and services mentioned.
To submit an item for "Here and There," send an e-mail message to [email protected]. You may call the ACB toll-free number, (800) 424-8666, and leave a message in mailbox 26. Please bear in mind that we need information two months ahead of actual publication dates.
Longtime Member Dies
We are saddened to report the death of longtime ACB member Beulah Flynn Brazell on July 28, 2002. She was a member of the National Association of Blind Teachers, the Braille Revival League, and the ACB of South Carolina.
White Cane Safety Awareness T-shirts
The Alachua County Council of the Blind has designed a T-shirt with a distinctive message just in time for White Cane Safety Day on October 15. On the front is the phrase "Support White Cane Safety -- It's the Law," picturing a white cane slanting across a highway, framed in a familiar diamond-shaped road sign. On the back is the phrase "Close your eyes ... Now Cross the Street," with a replica of another white cane.
Shirts are available in white or black premium-quality cotton with reverse color printing. Sizes are small, medium, large, X-large, 2X, and 3X at a cost of $10 plus shipping within the U.S. (10 percent of order, or $5 minimum). To order, phone (800) 380-2566, or write Alachua County Council of the Blind, P.O. Box 5094, Gainesville, FL 32627.
Explore. Dream. Discover!
Mark Twain once remarked: "Twenty years from now you'll be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do ... Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds on your sail. Explore. Dream. Discover."
And this is what the Campanian Society has been doing for six years: Providing travel tours for people who are visually impaired. Robert Wilhelm, who arranges the tours, has been coordinating academic tours for teachers for 30 years. One year a Latin teacher who was newly blind requested a tour with tactile experiences, and thus began the Campanian Society.
Here are the dates and deadlines for tours in early 2003:
- Saint Augustine: The Newport of the South (January 29 - February 3, 2003. Deadline: November 18, 2002.) The first permanent European settlement in the USA was St. Augustine. During this tour, visit Flagler's historic hotels, and the earlier Spanish architectural structures. When it's cold and snowy in the north, St. Augustine beckons visitors to its sunny, warm beaches.
- Big Band in the Land of Jazz: Mississippi River Cruise (February 19 - 27, 2003. Deadline: November 1, 2002.) Only from the deck of a steamboat like the magnificent Mississippi Queen can one truly discover travel during the golden age of steamboating. Sail to bustling river ports and beautiful plantations. Explore plantations and the Civil War battlefield of Vicksburg. And of course, there are shows and dancing every night to the big band sounds of the big band era.
- Cherry Blossom Time in Washington, DC (April 9 - 14, 2003. Deadline: February 7, 2003.) At the height of Cherry Blossom time, Washington offers a memorable mosaic of experiences. There are tours of the U.S. Capitol, the Supreme Court, the Library of Congress, the National Mall, and Kennedy's gravesite at Arlington National Cemetery.
Tours are tentatively being planned for later in 2003, for Cape Cod and Boston, Hawaii, and a New York City Gourmet Dining Program.
To obtain detailed information about specific tours, contact Robert Wilhelm, Box 167, Oxford, OH 45056, phone (513) 524-4846, fax (513) 523-0276, e-mail [email protected], or visit the web site, www.campanian.org.
RNIB Catalogs
The Royal National Institute for the Blind publishes several catalogs featuring its consumer products, books, exports for overseas buyers, children's fiction, toys, and videos and films on blindness. To obtain a catalog, contact RNIB at its new address: 105 Judd St., London WC1H 9NE, England, or visit the web site, www.rnib.org.
New York Tribute from NBP
The New York Times has chosen "Here Is New York" as one of the 10 best books ever written about the grand metropolis, and The New Yorker calls it "the wittiest essay, and one of the most perceptive, ever done on the city." In the summer of 1949, E.B. White sat in a New York City hotel room and, sweltering in the summer heat, wrote this remarkable, pristine love letter to the city. The essay is a monument to a city that is changeless and constantly changing.
National Braille Press has produced this tribute in one braille volume for $6.95.
Also available from NBP are books on CD. NBP sells The Super CD, containing the full ASCII text of more than 600 books from its American literature and children's book CDs. This CD features the complete works of Shakespeare, the King James Bible, and the 2000 World Factbook by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, at a price of $39.
To order from NBP, write to 88 St. Stephen Street, Boston, MA 02115-4302, call toll-free (800) 548-7323, or (617) 266-6160 extension 20, or e-mail your order to [email protected].
Internet Dating Service
Two ACB members have recommended a dating service called Eharmony. They told me that blindness is not necessarily included as part of the profile developed by the service unless a participant wants it to be.
If interested, go to the web site, www.eharmony.com, and fill out a 2,000-question survey. There is no charge for this portion of the service. However, if you sign up, fees may be $20 per month for a year's participation. Fees vary according to length of service desired. If a person commits to a year's service and does not receive at least 12 matches in his/her geographical area, fees paid are refunded.
For information via U.S. mail, write Eharmony, 300 N. Lake Ave., Suite 1111, Pasadena, CA 91101.
Windows XP Tutorial
Verbal View of Windows XP, written by Peter Duran, is a comprehensive tutorial designed for beginner and intermediate computer users who are blind or visually impaired. The braille edition, 900 braille pages, is transcribed by Hotkey Systems in the Computer Braille Code. The audio edition, ten tone-indexed, 2-track tapes with album, is recorded by the Cutting Corporation. The e-mail tutorial, 500+ print pages with 37 chapters, is usable with any screen reader. A complete table of contents is available by e-mail upon request. Send an e-mail message with the following subject line: table of contents for windows xp, to [email protected].
Prices are: braille edition $120; audio version $95; and the e-mail edition is $55.
To order, call toll-free (877) 993-4994. Credit cards are accepted, and purchase orders are accepted from local, state, and federal entities.
DVS TV Daily Schedule by E-mail
Cathy Anne Murtha has created an e-mail list that provides a daily notice of audio described TV programming airing on networks in the USA. To sign up for this free service, send a blank e-mail to [email protected]. You will receive only one message each morning from Cathy Anne. If you have comments, suggestions, programming additions or feedback, please contact Cathy Anne by e-mail at [email protected], or check the web site, www.accesstechnologyinstitute.com.
New Recorded Periodicals
Recorded Periodicals announces two new titles in its list of recorded magazines: Bloomberg Personal Finance and Gardening How-To. Both magazines are $36 for a year's subscription. For a list of recorded magazines, visit the web site, www.asb.org. If preferred, request a free large print list and order form. Phone (215) 627-0600, ext 3206. Leave your name and address on the voice mail message.