In 1990 I had a conversation with my friend Aaron Levinthal about phones and we thought it would be cool if we could just take our phone put it on our belts and go out into public. Neither of us had seen a cell phone at that point yet. On a college trip the assistant … Continue reading How for blind people, the iPhone significantly changed the world of cell phones even more than for the sighted
Author: kevinrenatojones
How I hacked my apartment building’s security system
When I first moved into my apartment after college in 1994, my Mom said she would feel better if I lived in a secure-locked building. I asked the police, and was told it wasn't really that significantly more secure than buildings that were not secure-locked; so until 2007 the building where I lived was not, … Continue reading How I hacked my apartment building’s security system
How that modern technology is a life changer for the blind in educational settings cannot be overstated
I have written before about how for people with disabilities, a smartphone is way more than something cool, or a convenience, but a real life changer in how people can interact with the world, be productive, and live their lives. For me, technology truly narrows the gap caused by blindness between me and the sighted … Continue reading How that modern technology is a life changer for the blind in educational settings cannot be overstated
How back in 2014 I pulled some April fools pranks on my FourSquare followers
Back in 2013 I learned about and began to use the Foursquare social network. It was cool, you could check in to your current physical location, and your friends would see where you were. Although there are some very potentially significant problems with doing that, some times it was actually very helpful. If you saw … Continue reading How back in 2014 I pulled some April fools pranks on my FourSquare followers
How using Apple watch processors which only have wifi N in HomePods is not a step backwards.
When I heard people on a podcast recently bash the new Apple HomePod second generation, I decided a rebuttal was needed. They thought that the new HomePod was a step backward because it used an Apple watch processor instead of an iPhone processor, and only had wifi N instead of wifi 6 or 6E. … Continue reading How using Apple watch processors which only have wifi N in HomePods is not a step backwards.
How the abacus, though low tech, became and still remains a very useful tool for those who are blind doing math
The abacus has had a rich history lasting over two thousand years. Ancient merchants needed a way to count things and make calculations. The Asian abaci are the most well known today, both Chinese and Japanese models still exist. The Japanese model has one row of beads with a separation bar and then four more … Continue reading How the abacus, though low tech, became and still remains a very useful tool for those who are blind doing math
Challenges and frustrations I experience being totally blind, dealing with statuses of devices with LEDs
Because most devices are designed by sighted people, for other sighted people, lights are used to tell the person statuses like on/off etc. For those who can see, it's super easy, quick and efficient. For those who are totally blind, it's only frustrating at best. The device most frustrating for blind users are the … Continue reading Challenges and frustrations I experience being totally blind, dealing with statuses of devices with LEDs
My experience watching the 2017 solar eclipse with the BrainPort
The February 1979 solar eclipse, the last total eclipse in North America during the twentieth century, happened during my third grade year. Of course a good teacher would use it as a learning opportunity, explaining what an eclipse was etc. Mrs. Love was definitely one of those cool teachers, and also taught the class never … Continue reading My experience watching the 2017 solar eclipse with the BrainPort
How trying to find a lunar eclipse totally blind without sighted help got close but didn’t quite work out
About a month ago, I wrote a blog post about experiences I had watching 3 lunar eclipses with the BrainPort artificial vision device. After that the next two eclipses came in the winter, so I played chicken and stayed inside. Last year, there was an eclipse in May and it was the last one for … Continue reading How trying to find a lunar eclipse totally blind without sighted help got close but didn’t quite work out
How current more modern technology, Youtube, helped restore and strengthen a Christmas memory I had from my childhood around 1980
Mom died at age 97 in July 2020, so that Christmas 5 months later during the worst of the covid pandemic found me more nostalgic than usual. I remembered that when I was a kid in late grade school, Mom had an album on vinyl of Christmas songs played on what sounded like large music … Continue reading How current more modern technology, Youtube, helped restore and strengthen a Christmas memory I had from my childhood around 1980
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