desertstar84

@desertstar84@dragonscave.space

I live in beautiful, sunny southern California with my husband of over 16 years, and my retired guide, a yellow lab named Zappa. I am currently working on my Master's degree in special education, and I have a BA in English creative writing. I enjoy reading and writing, of course :), podcasting, mysteries of the mind and spirituality, dogs, baking whenever I feel like it, and chatting with people, having intellectual discussions and meeting old and new friends. So proud to be a part of this space

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

lynnskyi, to random

Look, I acknowledge I fail here often. I don't always point out unlabeled buttons to app developers and request they be labeled. Right or wrong, mostly what I do is try to figure out what an unlabeled button does, and quite often, I can and do figure it out. When that happens, my mind moves on, and I don't think about blaming the developer or rushing to publicly bring this to everyone's attention. Is this the right way or the best way to handle it? Perhaps not. But, on the other hand, I could probably spend a portion of each day contacting app developers and asking them to label buttons, so I don't feel like I want to be the button labeling patrol.

So here's what I suggest we all do. If unlabeled buttons are important to you in an app you use or you know others use, contact the developer and let them know about unlabeled buttons and how that impacts the use of that app. But please do so in a non-accusatory and respectful way. Don't assume the lack of labeling is a deliberate act designed to exclude. Please make an effort to be respectful when engaging a developer or tech support person. I've seen too much negative behavior lately with respect to comments about Voice Dream Reader developers, and you know what, I've had dealings with their tech support three times over the last couple of days, and the response I've received has been gracious and helpful. I have gotten what I needed. And, oh yes, I also actually took the time to email them, after the fact, to say thank you for the assistance, and to let them know how much I appreciate it. So, hopefully, when they see an email from me in future, they'll think positively about me and positively about my past interaction with them, and they just might want to help.

I also have to say I have concerns about the upcoming podcast where Voice Dream Reader will be featured in a segment. I have great regard and respect for Jonathan Mosen, as a person and as an advocate, so I'm hopeful this podcast segment will be fair and balanced and will ultimately enhance the relationship between the blindness community and future development of Voice Dream Reader. I think it could go either way. I will be heart broken if this app, one I use every single day, is met, down the road, with the developers removing it from the app store because some in the blindness community, and you know who you are, are overly critical, feel entitled, and don't think a subscription cost is fair. Please don't use the opportunity to take this excellent app away from those of us who are happy and willing to pay to support it and its continued development simply because you may choose not to pay for a subscription or choose not to continue to use the app. Please don't spoil it for the rest of us who do want to support the app development and are willing to pay to continue to use it.

I really did start out writing this post about unlabeled buttons and how I personally handle them, but it obviously became something else as I wrote it. The reason for that is because the Voice Dream Reader app is one I use many hours a day because I love to read. Are there other apps I could use to read books? Of course there are. But in my personal experience as a person who is DeafBlind, there is no single app that does as much for me as Voice Dream Reader to enhance my reading pleasure and experience. There is no other single app that utilizes cloud integration in the way Voice Dream Reader does, so I am grateful for it and want to support its continued development, monetarily, and in whatever other ways I can. I wholeheartedly support consumer choice. What I don't support is consumer bullying, the my way or the high way mentality. So please, as a community, let us not support consumer bullying and use it as a mechanism, either overtly or covertly, to achieve an outcome. If you don't like the path developers are taking, respectfully share your thoughts and advocate for change and, ultimately, if you can't or won't do that, then don't use the app or software or piece of technology, but don't go on a crusade to spoil it for the rest of us. This is what I feel some in this community are doing, and that both saddens and angers me. I think, as a community we're better than this, and we should use this platform and other social media platforms to empower others to work for positive and meaningful outcomes, not bullying or shaming.

desertstar84,

@lynnskyi I agree with you wholeheartedly. I haven't found an experience that comes close to the functionality of Voice Dream Reader for college especially. I get people are frustrated. It's yet another expense to take on, and I understand it's hard. Bullying does not fix it, however. I'd like to hope that people will realize this, but it's also unsurprising to me that people are reacting this way. They're not the only app to endure such harsh criticism. I myself have only recently found a job, and know the situation of being on a government-issued income, but if something works and people are willing to continue to support the app and listen to feedback, I will support them in any way. I've had less than desireable support from a similar app, but I don't know what it is... Voice Dream Reader just works so well for me and I'm going to continue to benefit from its use as long as I can. That one-time purchase can only cover cost for so long, and reasonable people have to understand that it won't continue to pay for the opperation and maintenance. I hope there can soon be a conclusion that puts all this negativity to rest. No matter what people believe, and everyone has their right to an opinion, it really doesn't make us as a society better for having never learned from past disagreements.

desertstar84,

@lynnskyi I totally get that. I do think they owe the loyal users who have initially paid to use this app an appology, and if they are really interested in maintaining a good relationship with the blindness community, I'd hope they can ask for some of us to be testers and recruit feedback from us more often. After all, there are some of us who are willing to support them, and are investing in the app's future. If that's the case, they need to promise more solid communication and grant us a voice on how the app should be used, including addressing bugs that seem to affect a small set of users. I hope they'll be open to that.

desertstar84,

@evilcookies98 @lynnskyi Lolol. I don't think anyone should be arguing either. I have no problem supporting a developer, as long as they are willing to hear our feedback and work with us. :) Not sure how that would translate to duck quacks, but I don't have my duck translator with me today!

desertstar84,

@evilcookies98 @lynnskyi Hey I get it. You have your right to your own opinion. Please don't assume I'm arguing though, just because I've shared my own. I've honestly avoided speaking on this issue too much because it's already all over the place, and as a user of the app, I will say this was a total surprise. I'm not fond of how they handled things either, but I do have my right to discuss with others how I feel. I do hope that this will be put to rest soon. You can disengage from the discussion if you'd like. That is totally your right and your choice. I hope they can work toward a solution soon, and I'm sorry this has upset you greatly. I hope your day is a good one, despite the setback. Hugs.

desertstar84, to random

Just curious, how useful do people find the desktop version of Whats App?

desertstar84, to random

I am so thankful for the AI in the app Be My Eyes. I love the helpful descriptions, it provides, even when I’m just trying to gain information that’s not available to me about some thing I am interested in. I obsess over the show, unsolved mysteries, but I only like the version, hosted by Robert Stack. Anyway, as I watch the episodes, I noticed that update music would play sometimes on a case, but nothing would be read out loud verbally. I didn’t know until recently that text was being displayed on the screen with more recent updates on the case. Now, every time I hear that update music, I obsessively reach for my phone, because I just got to know. :-) Some of my pictures that I’ve captured have been successful, some with missing information and a little bit confusing. Still, this is super exciting. This is text on the screen that would never be available and accessible to people who are blind. Super thankful to have this in my life! :-) Hope everyone is having a great day.

desertstar84, to random

Here's a short clip of me playing with my coolest new gadget, a finger drum pad from Yamaha. I'm not a musical pro. I'm just getting back into it for fun. Hope you guys enjoy the sounds. :)

desertstar84, to random

I've only done this once, and while it may be a slight inconvenience, switching Mastodon instances should be easy, without you having to do all the work of regaining your followers and friends on your end. There's really absolutely no need to send a bunch of private messages to all of your friends to let them know you're switching accounts. If you do it right, your followers will follow you there automatically once you've imported your account. Personally, I'm not the biggest social media person and I'm happy at the instance I am, so I don't really see a need to move, but for those switching instances, your followers will be notified once you start following them on the new account. That's another less important reason why I choose not to switch. every time someone has switched, I get that notification, and I don't want to do the MastoHop from one instance to another, with my followers getting notifications for each time I've moved, and I'm sure that would get old after a while. Thing is, pick a place that makes you happy and stay in that place. Get used to it. Get comfortable. Slip under the covers and break in that new home for a while before making a hasty decision to move again unless absolutely necessary. Let your mastodon server take care of bringing your followers to you. Think of it as telling the post office you've switched addresses, and give them the new one. They'll just start forwarding your mail directly to you. It's really as easy as that. There's really no need to keep sending DMs for a person to follow you on a new instance because that can also get very old, especially when it's not necessary. Those are just my thoughts. I hope everyone is having a beautiful day! Hugs.

evilcookies98, to random
@evilcookies98@dragonscave.space avatar

Give me a song you think is 100% overplayed. You can be tortured with the results this weekend.

desertstar84,

@evilcookies98 Omg, overplayed? that would have to be the blasphomous Barbie girl! gags

jane_jordan, to random

Poor Marion. She gets her birthday and Christmas in the same month. so does Caroline, actually. Those two should get extra crackers, because they get birthday and Christmas all in one month and no more presents till next year.

desertstar84,

@jane_jordan I believe in giving birthday and Christmas presents separately. I get that people are on a budget these days, but for someone to give me a birthday present and say, “This is for Christmas also, enjoy…” I mean, not to sound ungrateful. I just think it’s important to make people feel special as many times as possible, instead of just lumping someone’s gift into one event. I personally would rather buy cheap so I can buy someone both a birthday and Christmas present, unless it’s something they really want, then maybe buying that one birthday/Christmas gift for the year is worth it. I don’t tend to make that a habit though.

menelion, to random
@menelion@dragonscave.space avatar

Hi hi, I'm here!

desertstar84,

@Clio09 @menelion I believe I am at Prancer as well. Hello Table mates. :)

desertstar84,

@menelion @Clio09 Thank you. Nice to meet you as well. :)

simon, to random

"Telus Mobile: We wanted to inform you that there seems to have been an issue processing your recent payment.
To ensure uninterrupted service please update here…

That's interesting, I've never heard of a company called Telus Mobile. Are they talking about Telus Mobility? I suppose it's perfectly normal for a company to get their own name wrong; I'm sure this link sent to me from an unknown number hosted on a domain called payment-app-online.tld is perfectly legit.

I feel like scammers are getting more incompetent by the day.

desertstar84,

@simon I think the more appropriate term to describe this nonsensical scammer behavior is that they're getting desperate. The economy isn't the greatest these days, with two wars going on across the globe, inflation, the after effects of a pandemic which give scammers plenty of time to degenerate their brain cells over the lockdown to come up with ridiculous schemes. Some scams are getting scary, like the new AI grandchild scam that seniors are being harassed with, but most of them are so laughably stupid. :)

desertstar84,

@simon Oh I know right? The sad thing about the grand kid scam, as that's what they called it on my local news channel, is that they use tan AI generated voice of a grandchild who is somehow in trouble, and needs the grandparents to bail them out. I'm hoping the next generation of seniors will be even more tech smart so the scammers eventually go pout in a corner until they can think of their next dumb move.

TheQuinbox, to EyeHealth

To anyone who's played with an Olympus LS-P5, does it have voice guidance? If so, it looks like an absolutely amazing replacement for the impossible-to-find LS-P4.

desertstar84,

@TheQuinbox I recently inquired when I noticed a tweet, or post, from them a couple of months ago. They've chosen to change their name to Om System now, and when I saw them post about the new recorder with a review article, I asked about the voice guidance, and sadly, it is not available in this model. The poster suggested that I purchase a DM 720, as it's still obtainable through Amazon. It's a shame they have no trouble recommending such a dated model, but no surprise I guess. Hugs.

FreakyFwoof, (edited ) to random

Right. There's been a lot of talk about and it's place here on the fediverse of late.
Whether you're blind, deaf or sighted, I'd be curious to not only have you fill out the relevant choice, but feel free to respond to this with more detail if you like.
Do you make use of, benefit from or even find alt-text useful, whether for images or audio?

desertstar84,

@FreakyFwoof I do appreciate the use of Alt-Text. It enhances my experience and I can enjoy the photographs people use to express themselves when words can't quite describe the feeling. :)

desertstar84, to random

Just out of curiosity, does anyone know of a way where you can remove yourself from a conversation thread on mastodon? Thanks. :-) Hope everyone’s doing well.

lunar_fang, to random

Other than me having green eyes be my AI got me right.
The picture is a close-up of a person's face. The person has fair skin and curly dark hair. They are looking slightly to the side and have green eyes. They are wearing a light green shirt. The background shows a room with a window that has blinds, and there is an air conditioner installed in the window. The lighting in the room seems to be natural daylight.@JesseF8693

desertstar84,

@lunar_fang @JesseF8693 You did it. cheers! Good for you with pushing buttons and not letting others rain on the parade. :)

desertstar84,

@JesseF8693 @lunar_fang Yeah, they removed that restriction. I know this because I was able to take pics of my husband as well. I think they kept the privacy thing in place because it was in beta. :)

desertstar84, to random

I am really loving Be My AI, and as a writer who fears what AI can do to some jobs, that's really saying something. Still, the enormous amount of detail in a picture that I'm receiving from the ai is amazing. Yesterday, I took a picture of my shampoo and conditioner bottles that I ordered online, because both of them feel the same and I wanted to find out which was which. In the picture of the shampoo bottle, I was holding it in my hand and just happened to be wearing my apple watch. Not only did it tell me what was on the label, but I guess my watch showed in the background of the picture, and it actually read my step counter on the display. I have pedometer Plus Plus as a complication on my watch face. I took a picture of my husband, and it was pleasant to know he had a smile on his face.
When I had an issue with my computer the other day, the AI helped me by analyzing many pictures and telling me what was dark, was was detectable, and really helped me understand how the lighting and angle of the camera will determine the sharpness of the image. Whenever I have extra time as I run errands, I take pictures of buildings and outdoor scenery to help me practice taking pictures even further, and I'm amazed by the detailed descriptions.
Everyone is certainly entitled to their opinion about AI, and while I know we must be mindful about its inaccuracies sometimes, I appreciate that there's only so much time in the world and so many people who need visual assistance. I'm hoping ai will help lighten the load. The big take-away is that I'm actually enjoying taking photos again. I probably have about 140 photos on my phone, most of them being screen shots or pictures other family members took.
Holidays or other ocassions and events don't have a lot of pictures from them because I just never seemed to bother. Now, I'm loving the assistance AI has given me, and enjoying the descriptions that help me appreciate the world around me.

desertstar84, to random

Hello everyone,
I hope all are well. I'm having an issue with the zoom IOS app when it comes to connecting to meetings via a join link. I click on the link either from a webpage or an email, and the app launches. It sits there and just says, "In progress, waiting." After a while, the app says that I'm unable to connect. It doesn't matter where the link comes from. It won't allow me to join any zoom meeting. JOining via the link on a computer works as normal. Are any of my followers having this issue? Thanks in advance.

desertstar84, to random

I'm trying to type things to search for in the start menu, but nothing I type is getting recognized. Instead, the pinned tiles list shows up with all the apps. Furthermore, I'm noticing as of about a month ago, I can search for a folder, when the start menu is actually working, and I'll hit enter on the folder I want. It still sits there in the start menu, but the folder does open in the background. Does anyone know why these things are happening? I use NVDA, by the way. Thanks. :)
Hope everyone's having a good day.

desertstar84, to random

I experimented with the AI-generated transcripts on Castos today. I think it it's awesome! I'm going to be using this for every episode from here on out1
follow the link if you want to check out the episode, read the show notes and the AI-generated Transcript. I think it did a remarkable job!
https://mels-podtastic-life-1.castos.com/episodes/mpl-episode-16-making-an-origami-sailboat?_gl=1.

talon, to random
@talon@dragonscave.space avatar

You've been traveling for a while as a soft rain wanders in from far away. You've been looking for an excuse to take a rest, and this seems like a perfect opportunity. Finding a secluded part of a gentle stream, you sit down and relax into the small, yet inexplicably large, natural phenomenon. You've always wondered why they call this place the elementals delight as, just in that moment, a sound and a water spirit appear out of the storm and momentarily join forces, surrounding and shielding you from the water from overhead. They share this moment with you for a while before parting ways with you, floating off into the cool afternoon.

desertstar84,

@talon Very, very beautiful. You are extremely talented. :)

kd6cae, to random

Good day everyone. I'm slowly configuring my just upgraded Verizon iPhone 14 pro max 1TB to my liking. This of course will be my last phone that will use Apple's lightning connector.

desertstar84,

@simon @kd6cae I thought it was helarious when verizon sent me an email last month, telling me I could upgrade my IPhone from a 13 Pro to a 14 Pro, "On us!" They say, but I know well and good these companies are just desperate to get rid of their old stock of lightning devices. Do they really think we're all as dumb as they think we are? Why would I upgrade my phone to the 14 Pro when the 15's literally coming out? They might as well offer these devices to extraterrestrials. :)

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • •
  • JUstTest
  • kavyap
  • DreamBathrooms
  • thenastyranch
  • magazineikmin
  • osvaldo12
  • khanakhh
  • Youngstown
  • mdbf
  • slotface
  • rosin
  • everett
  • ngwrru68w68
  • Durango
  • anitta
  • InstantRegret
  • GTA5RPClips
  • cubers
  • ethstaker
  • normalnudes
  • tacticalgear
  • cisconetworking
  • tester
  • Leos
  • modclub
  • megavids
  • provamag3
  • lostlight
  • All magazines
    •