VIBUG MEETING MINUTES

Date of meeting: December 8, 2018

Where: MIT 77 Mass. Ave., Building 5, Room 134, Cambridge, Mass.

The meeting was called to order by President Jerry Berrier. Following introductions, Frank Ventura, Vice President, stated that he was going through the lists to make sure that all who had joined VIBUG thus far for 2019 were on both the support and announce lists. He also said anyone who had problems with being on the correct lists should contact him. He also stated that only Officers can post on the announce lists, and members only can post on the support list.

The minutes were read and accepted as written.

Jerry reported for Bob Resnick that our treasury balance is currently $7384.42.

Tim had no new website additions to report. He did announce the passing away of long-time VIBUG member Jeffrey Turner.

Jerry announced that PayPal is currently not working, but it will be fixed soon.

Jeanette Kutash announced that the membership committee is looking for people to be on that committee. Also, anyone wishing to be on the membership committee should contact the chairman, Jeanette Kutash at: 617-786-0003 or by email at: kutash-jm@comcast.net This will help with maintaining members' confidentiality and making certain that the committees' duties are correctly represented.

Also, Gretchen Thompson will describe the logo and then it and a braille description will be put on the website. We are looking for 4 to 5 members on this committee.

The Tech fare was very successful. We talked to 22 people, and 13 expressed interest in memberships.

Technology updates from Jerry and others include:

the Rivo Keyboard is used to operate an I-phone. It is $300.00.
You can buy an Ember Wave, a device you wear on your wrist and if you are too cold, you can turn up the temperature, to feel 5 degrees warmer. To feel five degrees cooler, turn it down. it is $300.00.
There is a store in Boston called Ministry of Supply which sells heated jackets.
There is a document on using Power Point with Jaws from Brian Hartgen.
There is an article which compares office 2019 with Office 365.
In January of 2019 Microsoft will conduct monthly Webinars Q&A's on accessibility topics: narrator, magnifier and low vision features, and navigating the new office ribbon.
If you are a user of the Blind Mart Movie Vault, television shows will no longer be on the site. They are looking for donations because the fees from send-space have increased.
152 useful voice commands for serie are available through Computer World.
There are some videos available to teach coding from Hadley School for the Blind.
Judy Dixon has written a book about Dropbox.
B&S is a good place for buying or selling used adaptive equipment. Send a blank message to Blind-BST+subscribe@groups.io.
Blind Alive is closing their doors, and their products will be available until the end of December, for computer users. The app will no longer be available after December 20th.
Jaws and Zoomtext now have annual license options. You can manage these by going on their website.
If you need new SMA's with Jaws, purchase before December 31, as the price to purchase will go up in January.
Mystic Access has updated their tutorial on how to set up and use Alexa.
A double tap on the side button on the iPhone will allow you to confirm on an applepay purchase.

The holiday party is January 12 at the Corrib Pub in West Roxbury. The sign-up date is not negotiable, but people will be put on a waiting list so that if there are cancellations we will contact those waiting.

Representatives from Mediate came to update us on the development of their app which will help locate various objects and people.

Steve Dresser demonstrated Q Braille, made by Hims.

David Kingsbury discussed the funding available for training for Social Rehab clients until the end of June. If interested, contact your counsellor who will refer you for training, which would take place at the Carroll Center.

Gary Bartos gave an overview of his goals in designing an assistive technology device to assist with orientation and mobility, and discussed his survey results.

Gretchen Thompson described our logo.

The meeting was adjourned at 4:00 p.m.

Respectfully submitted, Jeanette Kutash, Vibug Clerk