Saturday, November 8, 2014

Review: Kindle Ap With Voice-Over

The world of literature is bigger and better for the blind; thanks to the wonderful invention of technology. Voice-over helps Blindy's do things just as easily as a seer. Today we are going to take a look at the Kindle Ap for IOS.

If you are like me and love to read, you should totally give the Kindle ap ashot on your Iphone, Ipod, Ipad, or Mac. Thanks to voice-over, this application is fully functional for the blind.

Confession: Since I discovered this ap worked with voice-over I have been a bit obsessed with Ebooks. In all fairness however, there are countless books available for free on Amazon. You can't go wrong with free baby.

It is easy to move from screens throughout the application. Menus are easily toggled through. The ability to adjust the reading speed makes for further enjoyment as well.

Another nice function is the bookmark function. When you are on the reading page, fully engrossed in book pleasure mode, simply tap the screen twice to make the menu screen pop up. One of the very first options is bookmark. Directly under that, is the "Return to Book" button that will take you back into your book.

The menu screen gives you options such as bookmark and return to book as previously mentioned. It also lets you see how far you have gotten into you book by both precentage and page number if available. When you push the menu button again, it brings up other options. First is the option to go back to your book library, which is a list of books you've downloaded. It also allows you to check out other bonuses that your particular book has to offer. This can include book extras, table of contents, about the author, and other extras.

For those with low vision, there is also a feautre that may interest you. Kindle allows you to highlight text. This can be useful if reading text for school. It can also be nice for recreational reading as well. Once highlighted, said text can be saved. It can also be shared on your desired social media platform.

Lastly, when you are finished reading a book, a screen pops up called, "Before You Go". This screen is cool because it lets you check out other books relted to what you just read. It also lets you share you have finished with your friends on Twitter and Facebook. Cooler still, you can review the book directly in this section.

All in all, this is a really cool ap. You don't have to have an actual Kindle tablet to enjoy the functionality of Kindle books.

Happy reading guys....

As always, thanks for reading... and remember... look before you leap

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Got To Love Spam... Not!

Got To Love Spam... Not!

It is completely possible that spammers are what make the internet go round...

Or, that's a bunch of bull and I am simply using sarcasm to break into your mind... Hmm... It's a thinker really. If I were you, I don't know exactly what I would choose.

Before you make your decision hear me out. Let me give you my vast pearls of wisdom in the terrifying world of spam. If I haven't convinced you that my motives are pure, you have the right to burn this post... Okay, well maybe that's a figurative reference, but you get the point right?

A long time ago, in the land of blogging, A wonderful Princess started something amazing called Playing The Blind Card. It was probably her greatest idea yet.

Imagine, a place where an actual blind person could talk about what? You guessed it... blindness.

And not just any old blindness my fiend... the bright side of blindness.

I know what you're thinking... the bright side to blindness? It can't be done. Well, it hs been done my friends, this I can assure you.

The Princess thought she could bridge the gap between the lands of the seers and the blindy's through not only good old fashioned information, but through some humor along the way too.

Now because this wonderful place is targeted to both communities of seers and blindy's, the PRincess wanted her enchanted world to be available for all, no atter their limitations.

Then, along came the big bad antagonist... a bully if you will. This horrible onster is called Captcha. Like most bad guys Captcha is really just missunderstood. It was created with the purpose of illiminating the internal struggles between well intentioned bloggers and their evil counter parts, the dredded spammer.

The problem that hasn't apparently yet been considered, is that blindy's have their own struggles going on behind the scenes with poor Captcha. The two of them just don't workf well together, as it is that poor missunderstood Captch was created with primarily seers in mind.

"I'll illiminate this problem all together," Princess thought. "I will not enforces the obsticle that is Captch in my enchanted orld of Playing The Blind Card.

You would think that would be that right?

Well think again my poor little friends.

Now don't get me wrong. This was a marvelous idea in theory. Blindy's everyhere cheered the forward thinking blogger for her efforts. They loved how much easier it was to leave comments on their favorite postings.

Blogger Princess thought she had it all figured out. She was horribly mistaken however. She did not take into consideration the horrible underhanded sneak that is... the spammer.

Thespammer preys on kind hearted, equal opptunists such as this particular blogger from Playing The Blind Card. They search high and low, devouring pages of the world wide interweb, seeking places like Playing the BLind Card.

Why would they do such things you ask?

The answer is simple my friends. Are you sitting down? Wait for it... wait for it... Because they can.

That's right, it's truly as simple as that. They have a purpose too. That purpose is to litter as many places on the web as humanly possible with their advertising and propoganda. Even worse, many of them will leave missleading comments on blog posts. Posing as well intentions readers, before eventually leaving their true evil behind... links to whatever crap they are selling, pushing, or pursuading.

Please know my faithful readers, this garbage has not gone unseen. It hasn't escaped the notice of anyone. The problem is, what to do about it? If Captcha is reinstated, blindy's will again have difficulty leaving their thoughts on postings. If left disabled, spammers are able to run free all over every beautiful surface of Playing The Blind Card. Thus, making it almost pointless for a reader to leave a comment as well, because it is next to impossible to swim through all the trash left behind by spammers.

It is being considered that Captch will be disabled as per-usual. It is also possible that comments will be disabled all together. This would in turn mean that readers could only be heard in private through email. I'm not sure exactuly which is the right way to go. Any suggestions on this would be appreciated.

As always... Thanks for reading, and remember... Look Before you Leap