SY.FDC@CU20B.COLUMBIA.EDU (Frank da Cruz) (10/19/85)
Info-Kermit Digest Fri, 18 Oct 1985 Volume 3 : Number 25
Departments:
KERMIT (ETC) FOR THE BLIND -
Equipment for the Blind
Use of Kermit by the Blind
VM/CMS KERMIT -
CMS Kermit V2.01
CMS KERMIT bugs
Kermit-CMS Fixes
Bug Fixes for CMS-Kermit 2.01
MISCELLANY -
Dropping DTR on VMS
Victor/Sirus Support on the Way for MS-Kermit 2.28
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Date: Wednesday, 9 Oct 85 07:59:43 PDT
From: Robert Jaquiss <robertj%tektronix.csnet@CSNET-RELAY.ARPA>
Subject: Equipment for the Blind
[Ed. - Some people have complained that this discussion is inappropriate
to Info-Kermit (and/or Info-IBMPC, Info-Micro, etc), but there's no
mailing list specifically for this topic. And a lot of useful information
is coming in. So please tolerate this digression for a while. I'll also be
archiving all of these messages into a special file, KER:AABLIND.HLP.]
I am a blind programmer at Tektronix Inc. I have used Kermit on
several occations. For my work I use a Thiel braille printer from Maryland
Computer Services. To the computer it looks like a teletype that can send
and receive upper and lowercase. Of course graphics are useless cursor
movement is impossible. It is possible to deal with numbered or lettered
menus where you select the item you want by entering some character. I have
a Versabraille as a backup terminal on which I have also used kermit it
worked fine. The micro I am using runs CP/M so I don't have to contend with
menus.
Here are some equipment sources that have reliable hardware. Maryland
Computer Services sells a very good braille printer. They have a specially
modified HP150 that talks and a accessory for a PC that will allow users to
use screen oriened software. Telesensory Systems Inc. sells the
Versabraille (a refreshable braille display) and the Optacon (a hand held
scanner that will show you the shape of letters). Vtek sells a tactile
display device for use on a ibm PC or Apple.
Maryland Computer Services Inc.
2010 rock Springs Road
Forest Hills, Md. 21050
Phone (301) 879-3366
Telesensory Systems Inc.
455 N. Bernardo
Mountainview, Ca. 94039
Phone (415) 960-0920
Vtek
1610 26th
Santa Monica, Ca. 90404
Phone (213) 829-6841
If you need moe help call me at (503) 627-6346 (work).
Robert S. Jaquiss
ucbvax!tektronix!robertj (uucp)
robert jaquiss@tektronix (csnet)
robert jaquiss.tektronix@rand-relay (arpanet)
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 11 Oct 85 9:34:53 EDT
From: Robert I. Isakower (IMD-SEAD) <isakower@Ardc.ARPA>
Subject: Use of Kermit by the Blind
The following letter was sent to Kennith Reed 10/10/85 at your request.
9 October 1985
Dear Mr. Reed,
Recently a request was forwarded to me from Frank da Cruz asking if I
had any information on the use of Kermit or the MS-DOS system by the Blind.
Perhaps this request was directed to me because I have tunnel vision (Retinitis
Pigmentosa). I also have a degenerative hearing problem which places very
demanding requirements on any voice synthesizers used with visual aids for my
eyesight problems. I have found SMOOTHTALKER on the Mac difficult to
understand. DECTALK provides, for my personal use, the best voice output.
Please realize that I am not a judge of what constitutes good speech because
everything sounds to me as if it were coming from a distorted radio receiver.
The following information that I am including in my letter are my notes and
results of my own findings of a computer show that I attended in Ewing, New
Jersey this past September. I have no corporate nor financial interest in any
of the company products and the information and comments that I am offering is
my personal opinion.
I sincerely hope that my enclosure will be of some assistance to you in your
research. If I can be of any further assistance, please feel free to contact
me.
Robert I. Isakower
C, Technical Systems Division
Four vendors featuring "talking computers" were at the show for aids for the
blind and the visually impaired. I was unable to get prices for all the
equipment.
VTEK (formerly VISUALTEK)
1625 Olympic Boulevard
Santa Monica, CA 90404
1-800-345-2256
VOYAGER Electronic Magnifiers: $2,395 to $2,895
Large Print Display Processor (*) : $2,695
(This device magnifies, up to 16X, whatever is on the screen, with
character enhancement. It recognizes the ASCII code and redraws it as
a solid line vector, instead of an enlarged matrix of dots and spaces.)
MBOSS-1 Braille Printer: $3,225
Braille Display Processor (*): $3,495
This is a neat paperless braille output with a 20 cell tactile refreshable
braille readout. It will provide the braille equivalent of 20 contiguous
character spaces on the computer display. Audio signals indicate the
"position" of the 20 cell braille window on the video display.
(*) for APPLE II, II+, IIe and IBM PC, PC-XT, PC-AT
COMPUTER CONVERSATIONS
2350 N. Fourth St.
Columbus, Ohio 43202
(614) 263-4324 (after 6 PM)
ENHANCED PC TALKING PROGRAM: $500
Written by a blind programmer, (Ronald Hutchinson), this is interfacing
software only, and requires the user's own computer, voice synthesizer, and
application progams. Application programs are the programs that you wish to
use in a speaking mode and would be an additional expense with all talking
computers. This company's program interfaces with the most used computers,
speech synthesizers and application software in the marketplace. The company
will offer to recommend the configuration best suited to your needs and budget.
MARYLAND COMPUTER SERVICES
2010 Rock Spring Rd
Forest Hill, Maryland 21050
(301) 879-3366
TOTAL TALK PC (microcomputer, display, speech synthesizer, keyboard)
AUDIODATA/IBM PC KEYBOARD (2 slider keys, speech synthesizer, speaker, and
display magnification with optional low cost monitor)-provides audio output
from your IBM PC. The vertical slider key locates the desired line and the
horizontal key locates the character on the line. In this manner, the user can
hear the screen, one line at a time, character by character.
THIEL BRAILLE (high speed-120 cps) EMBOSSER
CRANMER-PERKINS BRAILLER (4000 character memory typewriter, braille
printer, plotter, smart terminal, portable): $2,350.
READY READER optical character reader (typewritten material to braille
or voice): $11,500.
MCS computer systems are based upon Hewlett-Packard computers which are
very well constructed. Unfortunately, none of the above equipment was
demonstrated to me, for one reason or another.
A fourth vendor was demonstrating a speech synthesizer that works with
the APPLE II. I wasn't stirred by it and left early, not being offerred
any literature.
COMMENTS: VTEK and MCS have been around a long time, know the business of
electronic visual aids, have the most varied product line and are probably
my best bet for the future. They have equipment for both the visually
impaired and the totally blind. MCS's AUDIODATA/IBM KEYBOARD promises the
simplest, cheapest and quickest fix for IBM PC users. Although it is a very
competitive computer marketplace, a small software manufacturer and system
iterfacing company such as Computer Conversations, probably with lower
production costs and more self-motivating talent, cannot be discounted.
Another company that should be investigated is the one that manufactures a
portable tactile (pins) readout device called the OPTICON. I've watched
this used with great success and speed on printouts and teletypewriters (on
line), and I heard of some sort of adaptation to a computer display. Note
that the OPTICON is difficult to learn to use.
------------------------------
Date: 9 October 1985, 13:36:52 EDT
From: Philip Murton (416) 978-5271 MURTON at UTORONTO
Subject: CMS Kermit V2.01
I think I found a small bug that is related to your edit [25],
if you have FILE set to BINARY and have compression ON. Here's the fix:
[Ed. - Thanks! Code omitted, but included in KER:CMSMIT.BWR.]
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 9 Oct 85 23:04 CDT
From: Brick Verser <BAV@KSUVM>
Subject: CMS KERMIT bugs
Here is another small CMS KERMIT problem. If running on the 7171 (or
Series/1, I think), CMS KERMIT 2.x doesn't work if the virtual machine
console is not at address 9. While all of the diagnoses know to use
the dynamically determined console address, the HNDINT SET has address
9 hard coded. The fix is simple and obvious, except that HNDINT doesn't
allow a register for the console address field, so the HNDINT macro
has to be replaced by the hand coded equivalent.
[Ed. - See below.]
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 15 Oct 85 09:13 EST
From: Dave Elbon <SYSDAVE%UKCC.BITNET@WISCVM.ARPA>
Subject: Kermit-CMS Fixes
I have some fixes for Kermit-CMS 2.01.
1) Kermit-CMS is confused when TERMINAL LINESIZE is set to OFF.
2) The actual virtual console address is not used in a call to HNDINT,
which prevents Kermit-CMS from working if the address is not 009.
(Many, many thanks to Brick Verser of KSU for this.)
3) CP SET ACNT should be turned OFF along with MSG, WNG, and IMSG.
When Series/1 mode is on it might be possible to set TERMINAL BREAKIN to
GUESTCTL rather than changing all of the message settings.
Acknowledge-To: Dave Elbon <SYSDAVE@UKCC>
[Ed. - Thanks, the code that was included with this message has been added
to KER:CMSMIT.BWR.]
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 16 Oct 85 14:25:24 pdt
From: gts@ucbopal.Berkeley.EDU
Subject: Bug Fixes for CMS-Kermit 2.01
[Ed. - Each of these paragraphs came with code to correct the reported
problem. The code has been omitted here, but has been added to
KER:CMSMIT.BWR.]
Fix bug at RPACK4. Calculation of crck (block=3) must begin at the first
actual packet character not at RECPKT+1. Leading pad or junk characters move
it further down. Use pointer RECPKTP.
Fix confusion and conflicts in use of MAXOUT and LRECL. MAXOUT controls the
amount of data collected for a write and LRECL is used only during padding
of recfm F records. During SET FILE BIN, MAXOUT was set to LRECL and during
SET FILE TEXT it was set to MAXTXT! This is clearly wrong. Also, MAXOUT
was set to LRECL during SET LRECL which causes recfm V writes to be blocked
to LRECL.
This fix removes the MAXOUT change during SET FILE. SET LRECL is changed to
set MAXOUT to MAXTXT for recfm V or to LRECL for recfm F. SET RECFM is
changed to do the same.
Fix maximum LRECL to 65535 not 65536. CMS allows only 65535 (64k-1). CMS
aborts the write if lrecl 65536 for recfm V. And although CMS allows the
write if lrecl 65536 for recfm F, most products cannot handle such records.
Fix MAXTXT to be 65535 not 64536 (typo)! Remove unused MAXBIN.
Change receive to expand tabs each 8 spaces (unix,cp/m,pcdos) for text file
receives.
Redisplay the send or receive command at completion, followed by the status
message, then the completed or failed message. This gives the user
everything they need to know at one glance. Initial status is "No send /
receive done yet".
Fix recfm f to pad lines with spaces not nulls.
Change DECODE to interpret CR and LF from the EBCDIC after translation with
ATOE instead of from the seven bit ASCII. This allows receive of text files
that contain characters with the eight bit set with the normal ATOE table,
or by altering the the ATOE table allows receipt of text in any eight-bit
code. Also CR LF LF gives two lines based on CR LF then LF.
Fix receive to discard the trailing control-Z for text files This catches
all cases except where the control-Z has already been written to disk, e.g.
the 65535th character of the last recfm V record or the lreclth character of
the last recfm F.
Greg Small (415)642-5979
Microcomputer Networking & Communications gts@ucbopal.Berkeley.ARPA
214 Evans Hall CFC ucbvax!ucbjade!ucbopal!gts
University of California SPGGTS@UCBCMSA.BITNET
Berkeley, Ca 94720
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 17 Oct 85 21:53:16 edt
From: faron!sidney@mitre-bedford.ARPA
Subject: Dropping DTR on VMS
We have the latest VMS Kermit running under VMS 4.whatever, talking to
an autodial modem through a DMF-32 mux. The only way the VAX can get
the modem to hang up the phone is by dopping DTR. Can anyone help with
a way to do that, perhaps with a little program like the one that was
in the last info-kermit digest for MSDOS? Are there any VMS SET TERM
parameters that are involved?
Sidney Markowitz
------------------------------
Date: 18-OCT-1985 13:58:48
From:SYSKERMIT%vax1.central.lancaster.ac.uk@ucl-cs.arpa
Subject: Victor/Sirus Support on the Way for MS-Kermit 2.28
Brian Steel of Logic Programming Associates (UK) is doing an MSXSIR.ASM at the
moment - no idea when it will be ready though. Will let you know as soon as I
hear from him.
Alan
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End of Info-Kermit Digest
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