Hello our tired little elves, and welcome to the BGC Christmas Quiz 2023 Extravaganza Special! We hope you are managing to get through the festive season unscathed, and are enjoying lots of time to relax, play, walk, run, jog, swim, or just lay about the house and chill. This show is devoted to our Christmas Quiz which we recorded with some of our most loyal listeners just before Santa started delivering goodies around the world. We have teams from as far west as Saint Louis and as far east as Italy. Who will win the coveted prize of a pre-loved 1982 BMW 3 Series complete with fluffy dice hanging from the rear-view mirror? Listen to find out!

So, why not strip down to your sleigh bells in front of the roaring fire, cuddle into your purring pussy, polish off your second box of chocolates, and settle in for the only quiz worth listening to this crimbo: The Blind Guys Chat Christmas Quiz 2023 Extravaganza Special! 9 out of 10 New Year’s resolutions prefer it to turning over a new leaf.

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Hello our little blown away leaves and welcome to episode 86 of the show. Are you sorted for Christmas? Well, in case you’re not, we've got the perfect festive gift for you. Why not join us for the Blind Guys Chat Christmas Quiz which we are broadcasting live on December 21st at 8pm Irish time? That's 3pm in the EST, 10pm in South Africa and 11am in the North Pole!

If you want to be part of a quiz team and answer some easy but fun questions, then let us know by no later than end of day on Monday December 18th. (Clodagh says that deadline is too tight, so you can tell us by end of day on Tuesday December 19th!) Click on this link which will take you to a simple Microsoft form to fill out: http://tinyurl.com/BGC-Quiz-2022-entry-form. Even if you just want to listen to the show live, but not compete, please complete the form, otherwise you won’t get a special link for the show.

Go on - give it a go!! You never know, you might win a prize and be crowned Quiziest Blind Guys Chatter 2023!

Our guest this week is the wonderful Veronika Hyks. Veronika is here to talk to us about her 7 years of audio describing Netflix's The Crown. It has been a mammoth task and an admirable body of work that Veronika has created, so why not sit back and listen to her story. She might even divulge some secrets.

Has Jan gone over to the Dark Side? Has he just purchased an Android device!! Let's fine out, eh?

It seems Sky Stream is not going to well for Stuart and for blindies in general. It looks like a software update has broken audio description playout. Is this an action for Dave Nason?

Óran is not wild about the AI service Microsoft are now providing within Be My Eyes app. Have you used it? What do you think? Also, what do you think of Chat GPT Voice? Let us know: send an email to [email protected].

Have you been watching All The Light We Cannot See on Netflix? Well Veronika Hyks and the Blind Guys would like to hear from you if you have. What is your view on the audio description for the show, and what do you think of Aria Mia Loberti’s introduction to the show? Have a listen here: https://web-anycast.prod.ftl.netflix.com/tudum/articles/all-the-light-we-cannot-see-aria-mia-lorbeti-audio-introduction We also want to know what you think of the AD level on the show Obliterated, which is also on Netflix. And it seems Óran has gone potty for the 2 cockney brothers on Amazon Prime's 007 Road to a Million, not to mention Gary Oldman in the new series of Slow Horses on Apple TV.

So, put down that bottle of Baileys. Throw your Android phones in the fire, start brushing up on your general knowledge and don't forget to sign up to the Christmas quiz for the best podcast this side of cold turkey: Blind Guys Chat.

7 out of 10 Squid game viewers prefer it to Jeopardy

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Hello our little frozen icicles, and welcome to Part 2 of Sight Village South East. This week we have more interviews with product manufacturers and developers from the recent Sight Village event which took place in London a few weeks ago.

We are talking to: Bruno Vollmer from biped.ai who tells us about his great product that straps over your shoulders and helps detect obstacles in the area so you can avoid collisions. The harness uses autonomous driving technology to detect obstacles in the wearer's path. You can read more about the product here: https://www.biped.ai/

Ben Andrews tells us about his book “Nicky and Candy's Street (Better Places)”. Ben wrote this book to highlight the issues disabled people currently face so that children, parents and educators can raise awareness of these issues while providing an outlet to take positive action. Ben believes introducing these concepts at an early age will increase these children’s understanding of the difficulties encountered by people with vision impairments so that they grow into adults who are better able to build a more accessible and inclusive future. You can read more about Ben’s book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nicky-Candys-Street-Better-Places/dp/1913230325

Daniel from Sensotec talks to us about their magnification tool for smartboards in the classroom. Read more about this product here: https://www.pro.sensotec.com/my-board-buddy-air.

Óran catches up with Mike Page from Touchpoint Vision to talk about the latest developments in OrCam and OrCam Read. These wireless smart cameras which, when attached outside eyeglass frames, can read and verbalize text, and also product barcodes. This information is converted to spoken words and entered " into the user’s ear". Face-recognition is also part of OrCam's feature set. You can read more about OrCam here:  https://touchpointvision.co.uk/

Clodagh chats with Alex Ward from Seeing Solutions who tells her about MiniGuide, a smart navigation aid and also an update to the wearable headset Mercury ViewPoint SmartVisor which you can use for magnification or text to speech. Read more about Seeing Solutions products here: https://pamtrad.co.uk/seeing-solutions/.

Alan Davis from Humanware talks to Óran about Annie, a new product for teaching young children Braille in a fun way. Humanware also have the Monarch coming out in 2024. This is a multi-line Braille display. Is this the future of Braille displays? We discuss. You can read more about Humanware products here: https://www.humanware.com, and watch a video about the Monarch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=I5JLDkWGkF0&ab_channel=HumanWare.

Julie Davis and Geoff Madge talk to us about the Ultracane, which uses ultrasound to detect obstacles in your path, enabling you to navigate around them. Find out more about Ultracane here: https://www.ultracane.com

..and finally we speak to 2 of the sighted guide volunteers about their experiences at the event.

It's a packed show folks, so load some paper into your Perkins, type in that email address and start writing your letter to Santa, cos we have no doubt there is something here for everyone’s list.

Blind Guys Chat: 12 out of 14 British royals prefer it to The Crown TV series

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Hello our little winter snowflakes and welcome to a very special show. The Blind Guys have just returned from London where 2 major events happened... well, 3 if you count the King opening parliament! Yes, all 3 Blind Guys were in the same room for the first time since the dinosaurs walked the earth. Ironically, Jan, Stuart and Óran lined up their wormholes to coincide with the opening day (only day really) of Sight Village South East. It was a momentous occasion with streamers, fireworks, a 29-gun salute, and cake, although it seems only Jan knew about the cake 😮.

Anyway, on with the show. We wanted to provide our listeners with as much information on Sight Village as we could, and because we can't count; have decided to spend the next 335 shows on the event in London. So, settle in folks.

You are going to hear from: Glenn Tookey (Sight and Sound Technologies) https://www.sightandsoundtechnology.ie/.

Ellis Ellis from Vision Aid https://www.visionaid.co.uk/ who will be speaking about magnifiers and Braille displays, including products from Help Tech and Sightcare.

Jean Marc from WeWalk https://wewalk.io/en/ talks to us about the WeWalk cane.

Adi Kushnir from AccessMind https://accessmind.io/optima.php who shows us the new Optima - the all-in-one Braille laptop computer.

Clodagh speaks to Molemisi Kono of Visual Eyes Africa International https://www.facebook.com/people/Visual-EYES-Afrika-international/100079083263922/, and Brad Pilkington from the official Turn a Blind Eye TikTok channel: @theofficialturnablindeye

Then the Guys will give their views on Sight Village South East Part 1.

So strip off your cloaking device, check the warp core is online, set shields to maximum, enhance the deflector array and engage to the fantastic world of Blind Guys Chat

19 out of 25 town halls prefer it to town hall meetings.

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Hello our little hibernating hedgehogs. We hope you are well and remembered to put the clocks back last Sunday. We start this week's show off with some exercise, as after the recording our own Jonas Vingegaard A.K.A., Jan was setting off cycling in preparation for his participation in the first ever Tour de Underwater Volcanos. Let's hope he can find Nemo, eh?! Stuart has news about the new Windows 11 update. Apparently one of the cool new things will be the ability to set audio levels per application and there is also a new feature called Windows co-pilot. It seems this pilot can fly you anywhere it wants to go. Sadly, that might not be the location where you actually want to go, but hey, it's the thought that counts. Also, there’s a new update to Chat GPT which means that it should be capable of integration into Siri, which could mean you can pretty much replace Siri on iPhone if you desire. You can read more about it by clicking on this link: https://bgr.com/tech/you-can-replace-siri-with-chatgpt-on-your-iphone-heres-how/ Will you be upgrading to JAWS 2024? Jan has news on the latest version which includes a new cool feature called "Face in View" which means people will no longer see your bald patch or the dirty laundry behind you during an online meeting. To activate Face in View (only for Jaws 2024 users), press the layered keystroke, INSERT+SPACEBAR, followed by F, and then O. We continue our series on guide dogs this week and are joined by Cliodhna Ni Laoghaire from Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind. Cliodhna (pronounced Cliona) has been a guide dog instructor and trainer in IGD for 17 years so there is very little she doesn't know about training guide dogs. Cliodhna talks us through the process of training these little superheroes from puppies through to adulthood. Sjef & Larry, listen up: Cliodhna might have some tips for you. No TIPS not TREATS silly billies! ..and don't forget you can make a donation here: https://www.guidedogs.ie/ways-to-help/donate and find out more about guide dogs at : https://www.guidedogs.ie/ In TV corner we are recommending ‘Lessons in Chemistry’ on Apple TV, and Clodagh has become rather fond of 'Bodies' on Netflix. And in a change to our scheduled programming, Mr Jan Bloem is recommending 'Beckham'. Can you believe that! Jan actually watched a TV programme! We also have news on the upcoming last series of ‘The Crown’, part 1 of season 6 will air on Netflix on November 16 with part 2 publishing on December 14. Finally, if you are heading to Sight Village South East on November 7, keep a lookout, or should that be an ear out!?! for Blind Guys Chat – the whole cast will be there, and Óran or Clodagh might point a microphone in your general direction for a quick word. So, finish up your bath and shake yourself off like a wet dog of a Thursday evening. Head down to the fire and get nice and toastie - ready for the number one podcast on Wimbledon Common: Blind Guys Chat. 38 out of 40 chopper bikes prefer it to wheelies.

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Hello, our favourite little squirrels, and welcome to Episode 82 of Blind Guys Chat. We begin this week with tales from Nairobi. Our own travelling wilbury, Jan, has just returned from South Africa where he was introduced to every person living on the continent - because he's so famous don't ya know! Yes, Jan has been in the region for the last week selling his wares and wearables, and is very impressed with how much knowledge blind and low vision people in Nairobi have about assistive technology, especially compared to 15 years ago. But it wasn't all work and no play for Jan. No, no, folks. He managed a little play time with some of the local pets in the surrounding areas of this modern city.

Do you take taxis? It appears that Óran has had some trouble recently with taxis refusing to collect himself and Larry (the very best guide dog in the world ever). And before you say it’s because Óran is so grumpy, it isn’t that, we promise. We want to hear from you: have you had any bad experiences recently and more importantly, did you report the incident to your local taxi regulator? Let us know: [email protected]. Tell us all your taxi-related stories!

Before Clodagh gets readin' those emails, she wants to tell you about RNIB's campaign. It's called ‘See the person not the sightloss’, and apparently it is very good. You can check it out here: https://www.rnib.org.uk/our-campaigns/see-differently-see-the-person/.

In emails this week, it appears that Dave Nason and Sky are potty for Stuart’s latest parody song, much to Jan and Óran's astonishment. Dave also wants to know if you can help him with his upcoming trip to London. The Blind Guys are recommending he avails himself of an Access Card which, among other things, offers discounts on some of the main attractions in London. You can check it out here: www.accesscard.online. You can even skip some queues if you have one of these – yay!

We have an audio message from Tim Dixon. Tim has recorded a wonderful report on navigating Sight Village where he recently met Stuart and lived to tell the tale.

So, stop lighting fireworks and bangers. Strip down to your "I hate halloween sox, Throw on your "I got married in Vegas" dressing gown and settle in for the best entertainment this side of a bread roll: Blind Guys Chat. 12 out of 16 Unicorns prefer it to being imaginary!

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Hello our little autumn leaves and welcome to the show. Have you been watching or listening to the Rugby World Cup matches? Óran is delighted that Ireland managed to win victory over South Africa, aka The Springboks (sorry Gary Hough like cough). Óran is also hoping that the Scots cry like little girls once Ireland trash them this coming Saturday (sorry Blind Gordon).

…Anyway on with the show:

U2 are back on the scene folks! And instead of losing their money on the slots in Las Vegas like normal people they apparently found a huge football, called it The Sphere, set up the band gear and started playing some of their ancient songs. But! Here is Óran’s question: did they even think about accessibility? Or read his guidelines for sign language and audio description at rock events? Well let’s find out.

Our guest this week is Jakoline from the Netherlands. Jakoline is a guide dog puppy raiser and was the first person to introduce Jan to a guide dog. She talks to us about the puppy raising process in The Netherlands and why she does it. Perhaps after listening to Deirdre from episode 79 and Jakoline on this show, some of you might consider puppy raising a guide dog, even if just for a short while.

Clodagh’s email inbox is full to the brim and this week she has pulled out some gems for us. We have a query from Patty Murphy about accessing the podcast now that Google podcasts are shutting up shop; Pete Torkington has some lovely comments about the show (thanks Pete!) and he even gets a special blessing from Fr Stuart; Dave Nason has some comments and corrections about the new iPhone 15 and Sky Stream; and we find out if Derry Lawlor has written to Santa asking for a new iPhone.

Finally, Stuart has a little treat he would like to share with the whole world and he can find no better way, literally no better way 😢 to communicate this with the world other than through the medium of song, so stay tuned until the end.

So, put away the suntan lotion because summer is definitely gone. Take your thermals out of the airing cupboard, find a snuggle buddy to cling onto as the nights draw in, and hit play on the most ultimatish, supremeness, bigliest podcast this side of a bird dropping: Blind Guys Chat. 12 out of 16 gas stoves prefer it to electricity.

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Hello our little ducklings and welcome. First things first: Some of you did not believe that Stuart did in fact climb Mount Kilimanjaro. Well... we have proof! For those of you who have not seen this picture of Stuart standing at the top click on this link and you will have your proof. (Before you scold us – there is alt text, don’t worry!) Now, on with the show. Yes, it is number 80 which in numerology terms is a symbol of abundance and prosperity. “If you have been working hard towards your goals, the universe is letting you know that your efforts will be rewarded.” So that means the Blind Guys are stuffed, because as you know, we’re a bunch of slackers. Jan and Óran have recently experienced some issues with taxis - we want to know if there is government legislation in your country which prevents a taxi driver from refusing you and your guide dog? Let us know: [email protected] Do you look forward to autumn? Well, someone on the team thinks Óran is too cynical, and especially about autumn. Yes he hates autumn and winter almost as much as he hates the fact that iPhones have the best screen reader available for smartphones. Talking about poxy iPhones, will you be purchasing a new iPhone 15 or are you like the Blind Guys and are completely fed up with the lack of innovation from Apple lately? Stuart has ordered a Sky Stream box, but will it live up to all the hype? And how does Stuart feel about not being able to record content? Mr Cynical is querying if Stuart will be able to watch the content he wants with audio description via the 'on demand' section. Stuart has also hinted that he might record a demo of setting up the box etc but Jan and Óran reckon he will make some excuse for not doing this for the next show, probably something like having to sack his pool boy for not cleaning the pool correctly... BTW, don't forget that you can now use the Be My Eyes app to get in direct contact with a Sky rep to get real time video assistance if you ever need help. Our guests this week are Peter O'Toole and Eleanor Martha Burke who are here to talk about “forest bathing”. Peter is Head of Counselling at NCBI and has recently started this “Role of Nature in Health and Wellbeing Series” so that people with vision impairments can get the benefits of being outdoors and bonding with nature. Eleanor gives us her views on a recent event that Peter hosted in Co. Wicklow. Mr Cynical-pants was not overly enthusiastic, but Clodagh highly recommends it. If you are interested in attending the next event in October you can find out more, and register your place here: www.ncbi.ie/event/the-role-of-nature-in-health-and-wellbeing-series-final-in-person-event-for-2023/ We have emails from Ana Cody who thinks our guest from ep 73 has a yummy voice and also has strong opinions on beer slushies at the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro. We have Axel in Sweden (cool name, Axel!) who liked our chat with Tim Dixon, and would like to know about any upcoming assistive technology events. Well Axel, you can check out www.qac.ac.uk - you can find all the info within the “exhibitions” and “news/events” sections; and you never know, you might see the Blind Guys at some of these events. Also, Ms Cavendish sends in a request/threat to spank Óran. Ooh la la! So, strip down to your birthday suit and lie on the forest bath floor, ignore the swarm of midges going to town on your nether regions, and bask in the petrichor that is: Blind Guys Chat. 4 out of 5 trees prefer it to bark.

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Hello our little sweltering lemmings and welcome to this episode of the podcast. We begin this week’s show with very special birthday wishes to Rosalie Bloem; Jan’s wonderful princess daughter, which is swiftly followed by a hook up with Sherpa Radi, one of the 2 very patient Sherpas who helped Stuart to summit Mount Kilimanjaro recently. Radi gives us a blow-by-blow account of his journey and explains the extreme difficulties in not only carrying Mr “big-bottomed” Lawler, but also his beer. Jan and Óran were not afraid to ask the hard questions, which included:

1. How do you open a bottle of beer when the temperature is 5 gazillion degrees below freezing?
2. Did Stuart eat the yellow snow?
3. Did Stuart make the yellow snow?
4. Were Stuart and Radi snuggle buddies?

After hearing these answers, Jan and Óran visited their psychiatrist and hypnotist to erase those images from their brains, we continued with the show. It seems here in Ireland we are experiencing a heatwave but not so much in The Netherlands, but fear not dear Jan, we are sure very soon the cold weather will bite our butts.

Have you subscribed to the JAWS beta program? Jan is telling us about a nice new feature called “Face in View” which should help all of us ensure your laptop camera is not pointing at the ceiling when you are in an online meeting. This new feature tells you about key visual details like: Is my face centred in the view? Am I looking directly at the camera? Is the lighting adequate? Are there additional people or items in the picture? Unfortunately, it won’t tell you if you’ve spinach in your teeth.

We’ve decided we’re going to devote some shows over the next few months to learning more about guide dogs. We’ll talk to a variety of guests about the whole process which might help you understand more about being a guide dog user, and maybe help you decide if you would like a guide dog. Our first guest for this series is the wonderful Deirdre Fahy. Deirdre has puppy raised more than 10 dogs for Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind, and is also a brood holder. We’re big fans of Deirdre around here. Listen to find out why. We reckon you’ll love her too after listening to our chat.

Clodagh has emails from Roisin Lenehan who has a question for Jan about trains in the Netherlands, and Blind Gordon has raised a complaint for which the Blind Guys need to apologise, but not Clodagh for some reason…

So, strip down to your odd socks, slather on your out-of-date suntan lotion and let yourself melt into that wobbly plastic garden chair while listening to the only podcast still audible after a nuclear attack: Blind Guys Chat. 6.8 out of 10 guide dog puppies prefer it to going to the vets.

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Hello our little butterflies and thank you for tuning into this week’s show. At long last we are a family again as Stuart managed to bribe his sherpas to come back up the mountain and rescue him from the flagpole. They then drop kicked him all the way over to the BGC studio just in time to record this episode with us. As usual the guys are talking about the weather and in particular storm ‘Betty’ which roared through Ireland over the weekend. Have you any weather stories? Let us know by emailing [email protected]. Stuart has purchased a new iPhone 12 SE and is loving the return of a home button. But is it an upgrade or downgrade and is Jan tempted to make a purchase also? Are passwords about to become a thing of the past? Apparently, Microsoft, Apple and Google are all working together on an alternative to pesky passwords. What do you think? Will it ever happen? Óran really hopes so, cos he hates Microsoft Authenticator for its lack of proper accessibility. Does your guide doggy get distracted? Well Jade McCormack, Jan and Óran have a chat about this topic and would be very interested to hear from anyone who is having similar problems. It would be great to hear any good ideas around how to deal with distracted doggies, and the people/things who distract them. Share your stories here: [email protected]. In TV corner, Stuart and Óran are talking about ‘Hijack’ on Apple TV and ‘The 6th Commandment’ on BBC. Clodagh has news on Braille gift cards available from Marks and Spencers: https://corporate.marksandspencer.com/media/press-releases/ms-rolls-out-braille-range-including-industry-first-gift-card. The guys are in trouble with a new listener, as we forgot to post the link to Nora Casey’s Van de Graaff yokey in the last episode’s show notes, so here it is: https://www.mos.org/live-presentations/lightning. Sorry listeners, but better late than never, right?! Kevin Farrell is wondering if the Blind Guys are being head hunted by RTÉ? In case you didn’t hear there was a bit of trouble recently involving a presenter and it seems the Blind Guys could be taking over a radio slot, and maybe even a major chat show -  woohoo! Finally, do you want a laugh? Have a listen to this very funny air traffic controller’s after dinner speech that Óran mentioned during the show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqm73DLtwD0&ab_channel=twan1945 So, strip off your radioactive suit; stop pumping plutonium into the Yellow Sea; and get ready for the most listened to podcast on the moon: Blind Guys Chat! 17 out of 20 Russian space probes prefer it to crashing and burning on the moon’s surface.

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