Date of Meeting: January 11, 2003
The meeting was called to order at 1:05 P.M. by President Maria Reuters. Following introductions, the minutes were read and approved as written.
Maria made these announcements: She thanked Jen Bose for allowing us to have the Christmas party at her house, stating that she was a gracious host and people had a good time. Maria also thanked all who brought food, and helped with the set up, and clean up.
Bill Kilroy will be demonstrating the Packmate at our next meeting on February 8, 2003. Please submit any questions you would like Bill to research to Maria by January 25, 2003.
In March Dave Bradburn from Kurzweil will demonstrate the Kurzweil 1000.
In May Maria is hoping to look at MIDI. She is hoping to give an overview, and to look at some of these musical Midi products to see which might be accessible. Tim suggested that someone demonstrate the scripts for Sonar, which is very accessible with Jaws. If anyone has a keyboard which can be borrowed for that meeting please contact Maria.
If you wish to renew your membership you may pay by check, cash, or credit card. You can find more information about paying dues by going to the link on the VIBUG website at www.vibug.org. Look for the link that states pay by credit card. Members are entitled to 3 free tapes of missed meetings, and are also eligible to borrow tutorials, and to vote. You may find the list of tutorials that can be borrowed on the website. Maria encouraged people to explore the website which provides much valuable information.
NBP does not know when the construction will be completed. Therefore, meetings have been booked at the library through June. On March 8th we will be meeting in the media studio. In April this room is only available on April 26th. We need to discuss whether we should have the meeting that day, skip the meeting, or meet somewhere else on the regularly scheduled Saturday, April 12, 2003. Tim will change the link on the VIBUG website "send questions or comments to President at VIBUG.ORG" so that people can use that link to send questions or comments to Maria; people can also leave ideas in the VIBUG mailbox at 617-266-6160, ext. 48. We agreed to discuss this issue next month and make a decision at that time.
In case of bad weather announcements about canceling the meeting will be placed in the VIBUG mailbox on the morning we will meet.
Amy would like to know if people who have a Braillenote would be interested in getting together for a workshop where they can learn from each other. If people are interested in this, send email to Amy at aruell@attbi.com.
Window-Eyes 4.2.1 is in beta. Don stated that another public beta of Window-Eyes will be released before the next meeting, so people should watch the website: www.gwmicro.com.
For those interested in learning more about talking cellphones, check out the main menu from December 18, 2003. The revival of the Optacon is also discussed on that same program.
Jeanette announced that people had approached her about finding an appropriate way to thank Jim for the tremendous amount of support he gave to VIBUG. The membership voted to have the officers attend to appropriately acknowledging Jim.
Following our question and answer period and our demonstration, the meeting was adjourned at 4:10 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Jeanette Kutash
Clerk