Kestrell

and it requires a serial number to do things like file a request for tech support service, it would be a really really super-spiffy keen idea to put that number on the device in an *accessible* format, like braille, though one might beg the question that if the info is so friggin' important why it was not put in the accessible status information menu on the device itself.

Now, see, who says I don't have self-restraint I didn't even scream that in caps, although I believe some developers really need to have the point brought home to them in a forceful manner that might actually make an impact, or a dent, or a permanent impression (or do I mean depression?).

Positive points to GW Micro that despite that fact, the tech support person was polite and mostly efficient--although whether the service needed to repair a known hardware issue will be covered under warranty he couldn't say, because see above about not having the serial number in an accessible format----and he didn't ask that question that makes blind people actually see the color red: "Don't you have a sighted person who can do that for you?".

The company was witty, gracious, and, at the table at which I sat, spent about half the time it took to consume the amazing feast talking about books. My friends know how to keep Christmas if anybody ever did.

I mentioned that I had been listening to the best Internet radio station ever, and it had been playing the best holiday music ever, and a couple of people asked for me to mention the URL so here it is: http://wwoz.com WWOZ out of New Orleans. It's a jazz and blues station, community supported there is only a quick mention of sponsors. And the N.O. definition of blues and jazz includes all flavors of both genres, plus, amongst other things, funk, Cajun, regga, Brazilian, and on occasion, burlesque, with gospel on Sunday mornings--a true gumbo. This is the place to be in a couple of months for Mardi Gras.

I received many warm black sweaters/polar fleece, and many many books.

The big present was the BookSense that LJ user alexx_kay gave me. This is the cutting-edge accessible ebook reader for blind users. I actually got the BookSense XT, which is the more deluxe model and has 4GB of built-in storage space (to allow data, music, and other files to be saved without using an external memory card), built-in FM radio, and the option of using wireless Bluetooth headphones.

The BookSense can read these Formats: digital audiobooks, text files, brl and brf (digital braille), doc, docx, html, rtf, xml, and Daisy (an accessible format with XML tags for increased functionality), .
There is also a digital recorder and a media player which plays MP3, WAV, WMA, FLAC, OGG, MP4, and M4A, podcasts, and files recorded from the FM radio.
Note: It does not play PDF or any proprietary ebook formats, and to play the audiobooks from the libraries for the blind such as RFBD, one must install the proper patch/DRM, although I have no intention of installing any DRM on my BookSense.
Size: 4.25 in (L) x 1.85 in (W) x 0.75 in (H)
Weight: 0.25 lbs.
It has a 12-hour continuous use of battery charge
2) 2 -hour charging time using AC adapter, 5-hour charging time using USB

I've decided to name the BookSense Alexandria, Lexi for short (Alexx would just be too confusing, plus lexi has the Greek for book or "of words" or "to speak").

BooksI received for Christmas:
Grimoires by Owen Davies (Oxford University Press, 2009) - a cultural history of grimoires
The Edgar Allan Poe Collection: 20 of Poe's chilling stories and poems
Caedmon unabridged 5 CDs 6 hours performed by Vincent Price and Basil Rathbone
Anne Rice Angel Time read by Paul Michael unabridged 7 discs 9 hours
Shakespeare Stories edited by Giles Gordon (1982) - stories based on Shakespeare works incl stories by Salman Rushdie, Angela Carter, and Kingsley Amis
The Friar and the Cipher : Roger Bacon and the unsolved mystery of the most unusual manuscript in the world by Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone (2005)
The Paper Thunderbolt by Michael Innes
But Darling, I'm Your Auntie Mame! The Amazing History of the World's Favorite Madcap Aunt by Richard Tyler Jordan