[Mt-blind] NFB Convention Reports

[Jim Marks]

Hi All,

Thought it would be good to report on the NFB Convention that occurred last
week.  It was quite the convention, not the least of which was the fact that
it was cooler in Atlanta than it was back home.  Who would have thought
Montanans would have to go to Atlanta in July just to cool off?

Highlights included the March for Independence, Cody Greiser's scholarship,
new technologies, and changes in NFB leadership.  

The March was a lot of fun.  Seems like we do not often get the opportunity
to do something pro-active that's physical these days.  The March was loaded
with civil rights fervor, and we all felt stronger through the collective
action on changing what it means to be blind.

Cody Greiser won a scholarship for educators for $3,000 plus $1,000 from Ray
Kurzweil, Kurzweil 1000 software, and a K-NFB Reader.  That's quite a haul,
and all should know that Cody did us proud.

Two new technologies really caught my attention.  One is the new device
called the Stream.  The Stream is a digital book reader much like the
Book-Port.  The Stream plays MP3 files and several talking book and computer
file formats, including books from Bookshare, the Montana Talking Books
Library, and Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic.  It is a device jointly
produced by Humanware and the NFB.  The really nifty thing about the Stream
is that it uses high quality Eloquence and Real Speak voices for reading
computer files.  This one piece of technology to watch closely as I think it
will become a vital tool for anyone who likes to read books.  The other
interesting technology that came out was the proposed screen reader for
Blackberries.  Blackberries are cell phones and PDA devices that are often
used by government for its employees.  Previously, this common device was
inaccessible.  Now it looks as though Humanware will be working with the
maker of the Blackberry to make it work for blind people.  And there were
many other technological items to discover, too many to describe here.

Last thing to mention is leadership changes.  Dan Burke was elected to a 2
year term on the NFB Board.  Congrats, Dan, for this well deserved election
to a very important leadership position.  You are doing us proud!  Another
leadership change is that Peggy Elliott will be replaced by Anneal Lewis as
chairman of the NFB Scholarship Committee.  I am sad for this change, but
I'm sure Anneal will do fine.

It would be great if others would post their observations on the Convention
just past so that others can get a more rounded perspective of what the
Convention was like.  I sure had a great time, learned a lot, and came away
stronger as a result of my participation.  Bet others did as well.

Thanks much!




Jim Marks
blind.grizzly at GMail.com