From hzo at arcor.de Thu Apr 21 12:42:36 2005 From: hzo at arcor.de (Hans Zoebelein) Date: Thu, 21 Apr 2005 14:42:36 +0200 (CEST) Subject: [ Speakup 2.0 release announcement] (fwd) Message-ID: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Wed, 20 Apr 2005 08:24:49 -0500 From: Kenny Hitt Reply-To: Linux for blind general discussion To: blinux-list at redhat.com Subject: [ Speakup 2.0 release announcement] Hi. Thought this might be useful for people who aren't on the speakup list. Kenny At last! Speakup 2.0 is finally here! The speakup-2.0.tar.gz file is now available on http://linux-speakup.org/ in the Speakup area. Speakup is a screen reader for Linux. It allows a blind person to have complete text console access to Linux from the time the kernel is loaded until shutdown. Speakup is a set of patches to the standard Linux kernel source, and is distributed under the GPL (GNU Public License) version II or later. See the file "copying" in the Linux source tree for further details. Speakup 2.0 was written by Kirk Reiser, David Borowski and Andy Berdan. The Speakup User's Guide is distributed under the GFDL (GNU Free Documentation License) version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation. See the file "spkguide.txt" either on the web at http://linux-speakup.org, or in the speakup-2.0.tar.gz file for further details. This version is greatly enhanced over the previous Speakup 1.5 release. Some of Speakup's new features include: * New and improved documentation, including a User's Guide. * A rearranged /proc/speakup system. * Support for Speakup as modules. * Hot keys for controlling such things as rate, pitch and volume. * Support for the DECPC DecTalk synthesizer card. * Support for software synthesizers used by speech-dispatcher. * An online help system. * Better cursor tracking. * A windowing facility for silencing or keeping track of a specified area of the screen. There are probably other things I'm forgetting, but these are the major new features. Many thanks to Kirk, David, Andy and all those who participated in the development and testing of Speakup 2.0. It's been a long haul, but it's finally here. Enjoy. _______________________________________________ Speakup mailing list Speakup at braille.uwo.ca http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup ----- End forwarded message ----- From hzo at arcor.de Sat Apr 30 21:12:42 2005 From: hzo at arcor.de (Hans Zoebelein) Date: Sat, 30 Apr 2005 23:12:42 +0200 (CEST) Subject: Emacspeak-22.0 (GuideDog) Unleashed! (fwd) Message-ID: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Sat, 30 Apr 2005 10:57:14 -0700 From: T. V. Raman To: blinux-list at redhat.com Subject: Emacspeak-22.0 (GuideDog) Unleashed! Emacspeak-22.0 (GuideDog) Unleashed! ---------------------------------- For Immediate Release: San Jose, Calif., (May 1, 2005) Emacspeak-2005: Guiding Enlightened Users --Zero cost of ownership makes priceless software affordable! Emacspeak Inc (NASDOG: ESPK) --http://emacspeak.sf.net-- announces the immediate world-wide availability of Emacspeak 22.0 --a powerful audio desktop for leveraging today's evolving service-oriented semantic Web. Investors Note: --------------- With several prominent analysts expanding coverage, NASDOG: ESPK has now been consistently trading over the net at levels close to that once attained by DogCom high-fliers. What Is It? ----------- Emacspeak is a fully functional audio desktop that provides complete eyes-free access to all major 32 and 64 bit operating environments. By seamlessly blending all aspects of the Internet such as Web Services, Web-surfing and electronic messaging into the audio desktop, Emacspeak enables speech access to local and remote information with a consistent and well-integrated user interface. A rich suite of task-oriented tools provides efficient speech-enabled access to the evolving service-oriented semantic Web. Major Enhancements: ------------------- 0) Alsa-powered speech server for software synthesis. 1) Speech-enables AlsaPlayer. 2) Speech-enabled MP3 player using madplay. 3) EmapSpeak for spoken access to Google Maps. 4) Updated smart URLs. 5) Updated search wizards. See the NEWS file for additional details. Establishing Liberty, Equality And Freedom: --------------------- Never a toy system, Emacspeak is now voluntarily bundled with all major Linux distributions. Though designed to be modular, distributors have freely chosen to bundle the fully integrated system without any undue pressure --- a documented success for the integrated innovation embodied by the system. The integrity of the Emacspeak codebase is ensured by the reliable and secure Linux platform used to develop and distribute the software. Extensive studies have shown that thanks to these features, users consider Emacspeak to be absolutely priceless. Thanks to this wide-spread user demand, the present version is being made available at the same zero-cost as earlier releases. At the same time, Emacspeak-2005 continues to innovate in the area of speech and multimodal interaction and carries forward the well-established Open Source tradition of introducing user interface features that eventually show up in luser environments. On this theme, when once challenged by a proponent of a crash-prone but well-marketed windowing system with the assertion "Emacs is a system from the 70's", the creator of Emacspeak evinced surprise at the unusual candor manifest in the assertion that it would take popular idiot-proven interfaces until the year 2070 to catch up to where the Emacspeak audio desktop is today. Industry experts welcomed this refreshing breath of Courage Certainty and Clarity (CCC) at a time when users are reeling from the Fear Uncertainty and Doubt (FUD) unleashed by complex software systems backed by even more convoluted press releases. Independent Test Results: ------------------------- Independent test results have proven that unlike some modern (and not so modern) software, Emacspeak can be safely uninstalled without adversely affecting the continued performance of the computer. These same tests also revealed that once uninstalled, the user stopped functioning altogether. Speaking with Aster Labrador, the creator of Emacspeak once pointed out that these results re-emphasize the user-centric design of Emacspeak; "It is the user --and not the computer-- that stops functioning when Emacspeak is uninstalled!". Note from Aster and Bubbles: ---------------------------- UnDoctored Videos Inc. is currently looking for volunteers to star in a video demonstrating such complete user failure. Obtaining Emacspeak: -------------------- Emacspeak can be downloaded from sourceforge --see http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/emacspeak/ You can visit Emacspeak on the WWW at http://emacspeak.sf.net. You can subscribe to the emacspeak mailing list emacspeak at cs.vassar.edu by sending mail to the list request address emacspeak-request at cs.vassar.edu. The latest development snapshot of Emacspeak is available via anonymous CVS from sourceforge. History: -------- Emacspeak 22.0 -- AKA GuideDog -- helps users navigate the Web more effectively than ever before. Emacspeak 21.0 -- AKA PlayDog -- continued the Emacspeak tradition of relying on enhanced productivity to liberate users. Emacspeak-20.0 -- AKA LeapDog -- continues the long established GNU/Emacs tradition of integrated innovation to create a pleasurable computing environment for eyes-free interaction. emacspeak-19.0 --AKA WorkDog-- is designed to enhance user productivity at work and leisure. Emacspeak-18.0 --code named GoodDog-- continued the Emacspeak tradition of enhancing user productivity and thereby reducing total cost of ownership. Emacspeak-17.0 --code named HappyDog-- enhances user productivity by exploiting today's evolving WWW standards. Emacspeak-16.0 --code named CleverDog-- the follow-up to SmartDog-- continued the tradition of working better, faster, smarter. Emacspeak-15.0 --code named SmartDog--followed up on TopDog as the next in a continuing a series of award-winning audio desktop releases from Emacspeak Inc. Emacspeak-14.0 --code named TopDog--was the first release of this millennium. Emacspeak-13.0 --codenamed YellowLab-- was the closing release of the 20th. century. Emacspeak-12.0 --code named GoldenDog-- began leveraging the evolving semantic WWW to provide task-oriented speech access to Webformation. Emacspeak-11.0 --code named Aster-- went the final step in making Linux a zero-cost Internet access solution for blind and visually impaired users. Emacspeak-10.0 --(AKA Emacspeak-2000) code named WonderDog-- continued the tradition of award-winning software releases designed to make eyes-free computing a productive and pleasurable experience. Emacspeak-9.0 --(AKA Emacspeak 99) code named BlackLab-- continued to innovate in the areas of speech interaction and interactive accessibility. Emacspeak-8.0 --(AKA Emacspeak-98++) code named BlackDog-- was a major upgrade to the speech output extension to Emacs. Emacspeak-95 (code named Illinois) was released as OpenSource on the Internet in May 1995 as the first complete speech interface to UNIX workstations. The subsequent release, Emacspeak-96 (code named Egypt) made available in May 1996 provided significant enhancements to the interface. Emacspeak-97 (Tennessee) went further in providing a true audio desktop. Emacspeak-98 integrated Internetworking into all aspects of the audio desktop to provide the first fully interactive speech-enabled WebTop. About Emacspeak: ---------------- Originally based at Cornell (NY) http://www.cs.cornell.edu/home/raman --home to Auditory User Interfaces (AUI) on the WWW-- Emacspeak is now maintained on SourceForge --http://emacspeak.sf.net-- and is mirrored world-wide by an international network of software archives and bundled voluntarily with all major Linux distributions. On Monday, April 12, 1999, Emacspeak became part of the Smithsonian's Permanent Research Collection on Information Technology at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. The Emacspeak mailing list is archived at Vassar --the home of the Emacspeak mailing list-- thanks to Greg Priest-Dorman, and provides a valuable knowledge base for new users. Press/Analyst Contact: Hubbell Labrador Going forward, BubbleDog acknowledges her exclusive monopoly on setting the direction of the Emacspeak Audio Desktop, and promises to exercise this freedom to innovate and her resulting power responsibly (as before) in the interest of all dogs. About This Release: ------------------ Windows-Free (WF) is a favorite battle-cry of The League Against Forced Fenestration (LAFF). --see http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/cases/f3800/msjudgex.htm for details on the ill-effects of Forced Fenestration. CopyWrite )C( Aster and Hubbell Labrador. All Writes Reserved. GoldenDog (DM), BlackDog (DM) etc., are Registered Dogmarks of Aster and Hubbell Labrador. All other dogs belong to their respective owners. -- Best Regards, --raman Email: raman at users.sf.net WWW: http://emacspeak.sf.net/raman/ AIM: emacspeak PGP: http://emacspeak.sf.net/raman/raman-almaden.asc