Blind Guys Chat
A place where the blind guys talk about the A to Z of life

#103: Hymne à l’amour,

4 months ago
Transcript
Music

Speaker4

Talk about the A to Z of life. Well, hello, ladies and gentlemen, and you're very welcome to episode 103 of Flying Guys Chat.

Speaker4

Now, thanks be to the Lord.

Speaker4

We're not on our own this week. Mr. Yablo was back to the Lord.

Speaker0

Hola, hola, hola, hola, hola.

Speaker4

And so is Mohamed Lachir, who we'll be trying to get back you on for a while.

Speaker4

But the problem is, and I really, we should have talked, Jan and I should have talked about this before we started recording, but you're getting a bit too familiar, Mo, on Freedom Scientific FS cast.

Speaker3

I mean, he

Speaker4

Was on again with the new presenter.

Speaker3

I was. I was. I was. Guilty as charged, but they pay me, guys. They pay me.

Speaker0

Oh, really? And who is the new presenter then? then who is the new it's oleg it's.

Speaker4

Oleg our presenter as well our cast

Speaker0

The host oh my god how is it oh my god how can we simulate his voice you know it's really he has a why he has a good voice oh yeah that's true it's cool we just.

Speaker3

Sound like trolls john we should hey money money

Speaker0

Money yeah it's not gonna work no that's true okay i.

Speaker4

I had to i had to give credit to uh to glenn uh glenn gordon when he was handing over and you know the way you you hear about a lot of politicians and when they say you know oh i won't be running in the next election because i want to spend more time with my family oh yeah i thought when glenn was saying that he was uh this is going to be his last FS cast, that he was going to say something similar.

Speaker4

But in fairness to him, he said, I want to spend more time developing Jaws.

Speaker0

Yeah, that's true. He wants to get more paid, you know, overwork.

Speaker3

But in fairness, Glenn did a fantastic job on FS cast, and I have no doubt that

Speaker3

Oleg is going to do justice.

Speaker4

Oh, sure he will.

Speaker0

Yeah, for sure. No, no, no, no. Yeah, that's true. No, we like them both, you know.

Speaker0

They're also a fan of our podcast. Yeah, we hate you being on the show. Yeah, that's true.

Speaker3

What did you just say?

Speaker0

He mentioned me, you know. He mentioned me.

Speaker3

I'm going to get Jan on the show too. Then you can...

Speaker0

I was there, you know, even in the old days when it was with Jonathan Mosen.

Speaker0

I was in that podcast. But then you were...

Speaker0

Yeah, back then I was still in school. Yeah, I think you were still sighted, you know, in those days.

Speaker3

I was still sighted. I was on the dark side.

Speaker0

Oh, yeah, the dark side. Oh, Voldemort, you know, the name we're not being mentioned.

Speaker0

Yeah, but Oren, you managed quite well with Madame Sidney May.

Speaker0

It was really a nice podcast.

Speaker4

Yeah, she was very good, wasn't she? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker0

But she needed to face more the microphone, you know, because she was not facing you all the time. You know, she was standing in the opposite side.

Speaker4

Her arse was facing me. Is that what you were trying to say?

Speaker0

Yeah.

Speaker0

I think that the MC was trying to manage, but she is not to be managed.

Speaker0

No, she is cool. Really cool.

Speaker4

She is very good.

Speaker0

Yeah.

Speaker4

I like her style of comedy. Yeah, she is brilliant.

Speaker0

But I think we can do a gig as well with Chef and with Larry, of course.

Speaker0

And then we don't compete who is smarter or whatever, you know.

Speaker4

Well you see that's what i reckon is you and i and chef and larry just go on stage and you and i need to say nothing yeah and larry and chef can just be you know messing around yeah but then after 40 minutes honestly guys

Speaker3

Why would you be on the stage then just to to

Speaker0

To give them sweeties you know you guys.

Speaker3

Should come to fs cast and then let larry and chef yeah that's

Speaker0

True that's true that's true yeah yeah yeah.

Speaker4

But uh you see you've missed lots uh yeah so jan both jan and muhammad have been away have been on well you've been both being on a kind of holidays yeah you definitely jan so we'll hear about yours uh for sure yeah you've missed the olympics

Speaker0

No, because Spain is also participating. And we were even watching a tennis game between Carlos Alcaraz and... What is his...

Speaker0

Nadal. Yeah, Nadal. Yeah, Nadal, yeah.

Speaker0

Against the Dutch team, you know. It was...

Speaker0

Koolhoof. Yeah, Koolhoof. And they managed... Well, they lost 2-1 in the tiebreak. but they was but it was a fair game and I must really compliment also the,

Speaker0

TV presenters they were of course in favor of their own I could not really face that too much but okay they were in favor of Alcaraz and Nadal but they did a nice job Kriegsport etc but yeah we watched something and we yeah internet is there so that's also quite you know young.

Speaker3

That duo got a nice name they were called nadal caras

Speaker0

Yeah but but but but caras he lost from djokovic that was uh he did he lost the the.

Speaker3

Olympic final but then djokovic is 37 and

Speaker0

He's yeah i.

Speaker3

Don't know seven or

Speaker0

Something so yeah he's still i i think he He just left primary school, you know.

Speaker4

Well, we're going to hear later on from our favorite lady, Lady Veronica Hicks, who is actually going to give us a little bit of an overview of what the feeling is like in Paris at the moment.

Speaker4

She did a little recording for us last week, so I'm going to play that later on. And she was actually at the Andy Murray. tennis match, which was an enthralling match.

Speaker4

And yeah, went right down to the wire. So, and Lady Veronica was actually on the TV as well because people were loving her green dress.

Speaker4

But tell me, Jan, so you drove in your hot, very hot Tesla.

Speaker0

Yeah, 65 degrees. 65. Yeah.

Speaker0

Bloody air conditioning. Bloody air conditioning didn't work now when it was mo i i just told them before the show when we were at the beach you know we parked the car and then it was in the in the sun and then we measured 65 degrees you know inside oh that's quite i mean.

Speaker3

I go to morocco pretty often and if you do that yes that'll happen

Speaker0

Your car will become an.

Speaker4

Oven i hope you're the chef in the car

Speaker0

No it is really a hot dog then, yes that.

Speaker3

Would be a hot dog

Speaker0

Yes yeah really and then the tesla has a dog mode you know that's really you can select the dog mode and then uh there is the anchor and conditioning will will keep the the the the car at a decent temperature so that is really yeah yeah yeah if you leave your dog in inside when you're out uh then you can switch on dog mode and then it will be displayed also in big characters on the screen so that people from outside don't try to break.

Speaker4

Into your car

Speaker0

And also that they can see that it is taken care of that he is not fainted or whatever that makes sense because.

Speaker3

In the US you've got a lot of hot places

Speaker0

Like Southern California.

Speaker3

Or something and you want to leave your dog in the car it's impossible

Speaker0

Then you have really ketchup chip, you know? Why don't you?

Speaker4

So see, so see the old, so the old cynical mind here.

Speaker4

Is that just an American thing that for Tesla or for electric cars, they've had to put in a thing called dog mode because you're too engrossed in your own life.

Speaker4

And if you have a dog in the back of the car and you get out of the car, you're not going to remember to open the windows for your little doggy.

Speaker3

You see, in Southern California, it might even be worse if you open the windows because the wind is so hot.

Speaker3

It really doesn't matter whether the windows are open or not. it can be 40 43 44 degrees celsius okay in the shade well

Speaker4

It is hot

Speaker3

Really really hot you

Speaker0

Have those fires in the in the summertime and the fire.

Speaker3

Won't help at all if you're in the fires yeah yeah don't park your car in a bush Oh,

Speaker0

Really? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker3

Air conditioning won't save you. A barbecue.

Speaker0

Then you have a barbecue with a dog inside.

Speaker3

That's the true hot dog.

Speaker0

Yeah, the true hot dog. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker4

So you drove all the way down to Spain.

Speaker0

All down, yeah. Yeah, but we did it in two days, Oren, so don't be nervous or whatever, you know.

Speaker0

Chantal, yeah, she drove on her own, although Tigo was, well, he was really excited to sit on the navigation seat, in a way.

Speaker0

And he was really doing well.

Speaker0

And then he said, it's cool that, you know, to drive the car.

Speaker0

Can I do it? I said, not yet, guy.

Speaker0

But he was there helping out Chantal.

Speaker0

That's really nice to see that kids are growing up in a way.

Speaker0

Because it was also a different experience from our side, from Chantal and me, with the kids.

Speaker0

And when you go to a camping, then in the past, you need to give them entertainment.

Speaker0

You need to bring them to the swimming pool and whatever.

Speaker0

But now they're all on their own. They're entertaining Jan.

Speaker0

In a way, well, no. Take me to the pool.

Speaker0

And that bullshit, you go on your own, dad. you know that is the downside mo i must really say nowadays because they are so independent and getting mature in that way and and especially also rosalie i don't want to be seen with you guys you know whatever you know and they don't go out in in daytime so much no No, when they go out, it's 11 p.m., of course.

Speaker0

And then we managed to get them out of it at 9 p.m. And then you'll be home at 11.

Speaker0

And then they call at 5 to 11. No, we cannot make it.

Speaker0

Can we stay a little bit longer? All the others one can go longer.

Speaker0

And we are the only one need to go home, you know.

Speaker4

Oh, sorry.

Speaker0

I don't make friends now here in the house. But, oh, you know, it is. And then Rosalie was really shopping also.

Speaker0

She had a wish list made on TikTok on the Sephora shops, you know, that is for makeup and all that stuff.

Speaker0

And in Barcelona, you have actually two shops. And one is even with a slide inside the shopping.

Speaker0

Oh, my God.

Speaker4

Is that a slide out of the shop when you bought so much makeup?

Speaker0

Inside. No, inside. Because you need to buy it first, of course.

Speaker0

But it was really, I don't know. Barcelona was really a nice place to be, to be honest.

Speaker4

Yeah, it's a beautiful city. What did you end up doing?

Speaker0

Hop on, hop off, boss. We did that for the first time.

Speaker0

And then we strolled around the Parc Güell on the beach.

Speaker0

And we managed to go, well, what I said, all the shopping.

Speaker0

The Saara and the Sephora and all the other stuff.

Speaker0

And what is this big street with all the entertainment alongside?

Speaker0

Ramlas. Ramlas, yeah. Ramlas. And the Barcelona stadium, because, and I, well, you don't see me now, but I am really, when I was, you know, I'm now, I'm wearing a Barcelona shirt, you know, that's really, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker0

So, so I'm really, yeah, it, there is much going on in that, that's really business, guys.

Speaker0

I'm, I was surprised. It is two or three stores, floors, big shopping. Oh, absolutely.

Speaker4

Aye, aye, aye. In the Barca stadium?

Speaker0

Yeah, the Barca stadium. The Barca stadium is under construction because they built a new ring on top of it.

Speaker0

So it was already the biggest stadium, I think, of Europe, 100,000 people.

Speaker0

But now they are building up one extra ring on top of it.

Speaker0

So it was not possible to do the tour of the stadium.

Speaker0

So we managed only to be in the fan shop and in the Barca cafe, of course.

Speaker0

You know, I bought a nice keyring with a really well, I show you to you,

Speaker0

Next time when when I meet you in the office Oh, it's really with a nice soccer ball and it's really yeah with a nice and blame of the Barcelona and as As I said, yeah, we we bought shirts and Tigo bought a real Barcelona soccer ball, of course so yeah, it was quite nice we went into the Barca cafe and

Speaker0

And then normally you'll buy a glass of Coke, of Coca-Cola.

Speaker0

But here you buy it with also the can.

Speaker0

So we have also a Barca.

Speaker4

Oh, you got to take the can home with you.

Speaker0

Exactly. Yeah. It's five euros. Otherwise you pay, you want to pay for the cup.

Speaker0

But now you buy it with Coca-Cola inside.

Speaker4

Four euros isn't bad. Yeah, that's all right. Exactly.

Speaker0

That's fair. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. So it was great. It was nice. It was warm.

Speaker0

It was every, and the tapas bars, you know, with the bocaronis, the patata brava, all the kind of meat, you know, the, the, the hams and et cetera, the fishes, you know, the, the, the, the small ones, the bocaronis and that.

Speaker0

Ah, it was lovely. It was really, really nice. Yeah.

Speaker0

But, but they were really, um, have a lot of warnings of, uh, um, uh, pickpockets, you know? So Chantal was our warning lady.

Speaker0

So every time, please watch your phone.

Speaker0

So yes, ma'am.

Speaker0

Chantal was doing a great job because we did not experience any damage.

Speaker4

And Kamir, did you experience any of what we have been reading here about protests for tourists? particularly in Spain.

Speaker0

You read it on the newspaper and also on the sign, but we were not thrown eggs on ourselves.

Speaker0

No, no, no. So that was...

Speaker3

Well, you didn't get an Airbnb in

Speaker3

Barcelona because that's one of the main problems. There's so many homes.

Speaker3

It's also in Malaga and other places. So many homes have become Airbnbs because they make more money that way. And people just can't get a home there.

Speaker0

And they go crazy.

Speaker3

The same happens in Amsterdam that's why they're not regulating it they're not allowing you to rent more than 30 days a year

Speaker3

Because it was just getting out of hand. People wouldn't be able to get a home anymore in the city.

Speaker4

So, Mo, you've just been in Morocco or come back from Morocco from a holiday there. I mean, it was at 65 degrees in the car.

Speaker3

Well, I mean, yeah, if you leave it out in the sun while going swimming, yes, it will get that hot.

Speaker3

You need to find some sort of tree or some sort of shade to put it under. there and if you can't what you have to do is open the doors and let it air out a little bit if you go sit in there oh yeah i mean you might not come out but is

Speaker4

Morocco uh much more of what i would imagine to be a dry heat rather than a humidity is there a huge large humidity in morocco or is it mainly dry heat

Speaker3

No it's dry heat it's the same as in spain spain is also not humid there's not a lot of humidity in spain either uh it's dry heat and that goes for morocco as well it's it's very dry heat so it's more bearable than because i've also been in florida for nfb and ecb conventions and that is that is muggy that's

Speaker4

Terrible yeah yeah

Speaker3

So the moment you get outside your your shirt sticks to your back and it just you become gross it's and

Speaker0

The crocodile that you see there in florida or not.

Speaker3

Yeah yeah yeah but they're my friends yeah

Speaker4

Yeah i remember being in florida myself and we were so it was our honeymoon and we went for breakfast to a place that we were told in the hotel was very good.

Speaker4

It was, it was very good. And then we rang, called a taxi to pick us up to bring us to the port because we were getting a boat.

Speaker4

And we were standing, like Irish, typically Irish, we were standing outside the restaurant that we'd just eaten in.

Speaker4

And as most literally, like 30 seconds, you're wringing wet.

Speaker4

And you kind of think, will we go back in? No, no, we're staying out here.

Speaker4

What kind of fools are we? It was air-conditioned and all that. But how did NFB go? Yeah.

Speaker3

It went pretty well. So one of the things you know intellectually when you're in the States is they bring you big portions of food.

Speaker3

And I knew this intellectually because I've been there pretty often.

Speaker3

But you sort of forget. get and so i went to eat the first day i went i went to eat breakfast and i sat down and and the guy came to me he said sir what would you like and i said i'll have a coffee and orange juice and a little bit of fruit and maybe an omelet and you know a vegetarian omelet and he said okay fine sir i'll bring it to you and so first he came over with the coffee and the and the orange juice and I tried to pick one up and I had to almost use two hands because the cups are so huge. They're massive.

Speaker3

And I'm like, oh, no. I remember then in my gut, I remember the sizes.

Speaker3

And I'm like, I asked for fruit and omelet. I don't know.

Speaker3

And then he came over with the fruit and omelet. And it was two humongous plates filled to the brim with fruit and omelets with potatoes.

Speaker3

And it's good, but it's so much. I couldn't eat it all. And that was my first taste.

Speaker0

So you get a doggy bag then? You get a doggy bag?

Speaker3

No because no you can't let that grow cold because i was i was busy all day uh we were we had just for the just

Speaker4

For the listeners who don't know what nfb is this is a national federation of the blind

Speaker3

So what nfb is is essentially consumer organization with a fairly powerful lobby and what they do is they uh they combine the two so you've got a you've got essentially some sort of show like CSUN almost with all the get-togethers and the big convention hall where you can go see things.

Speaker3

And then you've also got the consumer part of that, where the members of the

Speaker3

NFB will vote on resolutions and those resolutions will guide the organization.

Speaker3

So the organization behaves according to those resolutions.

Speaker3

So let's say There's a resolution that's not real, but there's a resolution that Apple really has to get its act together and make accessibility changes.

Speaker3

Or they want something from us, from Freedom Scientific.

Speaker3

So if they adopt such a resolution, then they will try to use their considerable resources to get Apple or us or any other company to move.

Speaker0

And a lawyer.

Speaker3

Yeah.

Speaker3

Well, yeah, lawyers, but also like getting meetings and all that stuff.

Speaker4

Yeah, I was going to say, how effective is it, Mo? Have you had any direct experience of this?

Speaker3

Well, no, not really direct experience, but they're relatively effective.

Speaker3

I mean, they are a voice and they're not afraid to let their voice be heard.

Speaker3

And so when the organization thinks something or decides something, then it does have some weight. Definitely.

Speaker0

I think that's also one of the reasons, Oren, that Apple has made an effort in creating voiceover, I think.

Speaker4

Yeah, one of the reasons.

Speaker0

Yes.

Speaker4

I love it from groups like the NFB. Yes.

Speaker0

And then based upon the Act 508, of course, that is really also very helpful.

Speaker3

And the ADA.

Speaker0

Yeah, the ADA. Yeah, that's true.

Speaker3

So, yeah, that's exactly true. And there is another organization. it's actually it's split off from nfb in the 60s and it's called acb it's the american council of the blind yeah and they sort of do the same thing but they are different in the sense that they have of course different initiatives they look at things slightly differently they're just a different consumer organization and they have the audio description project which lists all the shows that have audio description and where to find the audio description and all that stuff both of those organizations are are powerful in their own way and they do their own thing and they uh and they have conventions where companies come together and show off things to the members and we we are of course there but also google microsoft apple is there but there are also government organizations there lighthouses in the us that render services for the visually impaired and blind and so you've You've got all sorts of people there coming together and showing off things.

Speaker3

That's pretty cool to do because you see the impact directly of your work on people and you just see the excitement of things building up and people realizing what you can do with the software. So that's great.

Speaker4

What is the reaction? Because you were on that discussion, you were talking about the AI, JAWS AI.

Speaker4

What so far has been, I mean, you were talking there directly to people who may have used the service in the software.

Speaker3

Oh, it's overwhelmingly positive. So you've got two camps, essentially.

Speaker3

Well, three camps, I think. There's the blind people who've never seen and don't care much.

Speaker3

You've got those. Those are lukewarm. They're like, oh, yeah, pictures. Okay, great.

Speaker3

Sounds good. And then you've got blind people who are always deeply curious about the visual side of life.

Speaker3

And they are really, really interested in this stuff.

Speaker3

And they look at pictures on social media.

Speaker3

They look at pictures in news articles and all that sort of stuff.

Speaker3

And they're like, wow, I now have access to this stuff. And it opens my world.

Speaker3

And then you have people who were sighted once. and i think it has the biggest impact on those people because as i was talking to you guys pre show as well it just brings back um some abilities that you used to have when you were sighted yeah yeah and it's it's a little bit more clunky than being sighted yourself yes but it is loads better than what we used to have it's and and that's what you really makes a difference that's also what makes people emotional and make no mistake people are really emotional some people you know get get a little mushy but some people are extremely excited and it's just it's great to see this new tech coming on the scene well

Speaker4

I have to say it's only and this is only recently i have started using be my eyes now i'm not i'm sure joes i haven't tried the aip uh picture smart which shows and i'm but i'm sure it's just as good i was looking at a picture that a colleague had sent of himself on holidays he's been sending them all week and he's in greece and he's just trying to thwart us by sending these pictures and i said i just i'm gonna i'm gonna use be my eyes for one of these it was you know the sun is setting and there's table there's a table in the foreground and there's chairs and there's a glass of wine on the table and And the person in the picture looks, it's a happy occasion. They're very happy.

Speaker0

Yeah.

Speaker4

And this is the first time I'd really used Be My Eyes.

Speaker4

And I actually used Envision as well, just to see what the difference would be.

Speaker4

And I would say probably Be My Eyes was a little bit better in the actual description.

Speaker4

But forgetting about what apps I was using, the level of detail that was coming back for something, I just hope we keep going down this route and it doesn't stop and it just gets better and better.

Speaker3

Well, at the moment, I think we are still at the beginning and so it will get better and better.

Speaker3

And I think, and correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm hearing a little bit of emotion in your voice too.

Speaker3

And I have to say, yeah, right. Right. Because, and I mean, these are family settings and that's all very, very nice and great.

Speaker3

And you know, that it brings back all the times that you would be able to see a photograph, but in practical terms, what it can do for you is I,

Speaker3

I used to be my eyes too on my, on my iPhone and.

Speaker3

You know, when I'm trying to set a timer on my oven, when I'm trying to cook something, I'll just take pictures.

Speaker3

And it tells me, okay, it's now set to 24 minutes. It's now set to 27 minutes.

Speaker3

And so I now no longer need to call someone to look through the camera with me.

Speaker3

And that makes life so much easier because you'll call someone and they're not home or they're busy or they just don't hear the phone.

Speaker3

And you'll get progressively more frustrated. but now that's that's all gone you can just use the the oven independent you know like you you know like you like you can see it it will be wrong sometimes but that's fine i mean it still loads better than what what we used to have which is not yeah that's true yeah which

Speaker4

Is absolute absolute zero and and

Speaker3

It's the same as jaws like jaws can give you i mean you can look at the family pictures as well and that works great but what jaws also does is it gives you the ability to get pictures of a website or of, and it's, it's a lot easier than would be my eyes.

Speaker0

Shopping, you know, that's really nice. Yeah. Also nice for shopping that you can really ask, is this with HDMI or whatever, you know, or USB Z or USB B.

Speaker0

I use it in that way. Also very particular. Otherwise I would ask Tico, please come, you know, what is it?

Speaker0

Now I can, it is so strange. and you don't think about it, but you do know it and then you can do it, you know, that's really.

Speaker3

It's just amazing.

Speaker4

Is there any chance that AI might do away or push Braille out of the way because is it just quicker?

Speaker4

Will people say it's just quicker to use an AI tool to read something than to export it or have it on my Braille display?

Speaker4

Is there, is that, are we going to get to a point where Braille and AI are kind of very close together or will they always be separate?

Speaker3

I don't think so. And I'll tell you why. It will happen only if AI pushes reading out.

Speaker3

If not, and I mean text print reading, because the problem with AI is that you're now using your ears, which means that you can't listen to anything else.

Speaker3

And that will always remain a problem if you need to use your age for something else or you just want quiet i mean i don't know about you well i know i'm i'm fairly well trained on it now but listening to speech all the time can become a little tiring does

Speaker4

My head in

Speaker3

It's true exactly everybody around four

Speaker4

O'clock in the afternoon i want i really want quiet

Speaker3

Yeah and what about people with a migraine for example Oh,

Speaker4

God, yeah, yeah.

Speaker3

Are they going to listen to AI, read them an article, or are they going to read it themselves with Braille? Of course they're going to read it themselves with Braille.

Speaker3

Sound is not always the answer. It can't be.

Speaker3

And so Braille will stay very, very important, and we have to fight for it to stay very, very important because if we lose the skill of reading, in other words, putting something to paper and being able to read it back, we shoot ourselves in the foot. We cannot do that.

Speaker3

It will become an important tool.

Speaker3

But even me, and I'm a very basic braille reader, I just learned it and I'm very slow.

Speaker3

Even me, I would not willingly give up braille.

Speaker0

But Mo, you told me you experienced something as well on the exhibition floor.

Speaker0

Because you were hoovering, I think. You were hoovering.

Speaker3

Yes, I was hoovering.

Speaker4

Ah, meeting a girl.

Speaker0

Oh, la, la. No, that's a cliffhanger. That's a cliffhanger.

Speaker3

I did not meet a girl. Well, I met several girls, but.

Speaker3

None who were interested. I tried the Glidance.

Speaker4

Oh, the Hoover.

Speaker3

Yeah, the Hoover. And I think you guys heard about it at CSUN, where it was sort of being controlled by someone walking with you. Yeah.

Speaker3

And this time they had three demos. So they had one, indeed, where the guy was walking with me and he was steering the Glidance.

Speaker3

Right. And that felt very good and very smooth. but then he said okay i'm gonna now set it to a mode where it will follow me around the room and so he set it to this mode and he started walking in front of it and i pushed it and it followed him around and that was pretty cool that was so cool because you know you know if you're with someone and you want to walk quickly through the airport or something and it's too busy to you hold onto someone's shoulder and you can't be twins and so you can just use that thing and it will follow the person around them.

Speaker3

And then he had another mode, a third mode where they built a little obstacle course in the room and I don't know what he put there but just some boxes and stuff like that cardboard boxes.

Speaker3

And it went around those nicely as well although he did tell me to slow down, because if I walk too fast, I couldn't handle it yet.

Speaker0

It's annoying to walk with the cane, and I can really understand that, you know, but then with a guide dog, you also experience that freedom, you know, that you can easily walk.

Speaker3

Yes yes you can and and so a guide dog is fantastic for that no it's not about not want to feed it and

Speaker0

You don't need to pee you know you have the morning runs and well.

Speaker3

Yeah it's it's easy and the thing is about a guide dog also is you need to have enough work for it this machine will never forget its purpose a dog if you don't give it if you don't give it work it will yeah

Speaker0

You know it will.

Speaker3

Become a pet it will become a dog because that's what it is a dog yeah and so you know it that's one of the reasons why i don't have a guide dog because i work from home you

Speaker0

Told me and.

Speaker3

Yeah it just doesn't make sense for me to do that yeah but when you're using the

Speaker4

Glidens did you did the guy who's demoing it did he tell you to occasionally say good boy good boy straight on i

Speaker3

Would have been very awkward maybe maybe just maybe just to make him laugh i would have barked he did not say that oh

Speaker0

What kind of.

Speaker4

Did you buy yourself a blind barbie i

Speaker3

Did not buy myself a blind barbie no i did not uh you've heard that they weren't available yet i think no

Speaker0

No no so.

Speaker3

They did not so

Speaker4

They had they have just released a a new barbie doll yeah yeah yeah yeah

Speaker3

Yeah that's

Speaker0

That's true uh yeah for acb i think it was it or not.

Speaker3

No afb oh

Speaker0

Afb oh yeah another.

Speaker3

Organization but they they were together with the thermo maybe

Speaker4

She'd say yes

Speaker3

Yes, but she would sound suspiciously like me.

Speaker0

I think that would be a turnoff.

Speaker0

So I'm going to skip that one.

Speaker3

Well, that's true. But she also can't feed me, which is a problem.

Speaker3

I don't know. I'm not convinced.

Speaker0

No, no, no, no, no.

Speaker2

You can email blind.com.

Music

Speaker4

Who's in Paris?

Speaker1

Hello and welcome. Coming to you from the Ville of Light, the Ville of barricades, the Ville of charming young people wearing purple RATP tabards, guiding the confused masses from around the world, around the city, with the help of large pink fingers, not dissimilar to those we had back in 2012 in London.

Speaker1

Perhaps there were a lot left over, and the Olympic Committee asked to use them for these Olympic Games, which are the most sustainable ever.

Speaker1

What are my first impressions of coming to the city, despite all the dire warnings that I was given?

Speaker1

Everywhere there are security people, security personnel, not just the usual

Speaker1

CRS vans parked around every corner, but gendarmes and soldiers from everywhere.

Speaker1

For lovers of uniform, you would have had a field day.

Speaker1

There has been khaki, navy, black and blue, military caps worn this way and that, some flat on the head, others at a jaunty angle, and all of these young men, largely, carrying weapons close to their chests, most of which looked rather like black plastic, but of course they weren't.

Speaker1

Then, of course, there's the sound of sirens every few minutes, sirens blaring, police outriders escorting five police cars with blue flashing lights, escorting some terribly important person sitting in a vehicle with blackened windows from one Olympic location to another.

Speaker1

And then there are the Olympic volunteers, all 45,000 of them from 300,000 applicants, 50% men and 50% women, some young, some not so young, some slim, some not so slim.

Speaker1

Absolutely Mr. and Mrs. Average.

Speaker1

And each of them are allowed to keep the uniforms that they have been assigned.

Speaker1

Designed by Decathlon combining functionality and comfort to perfectly symbolize

Speaker1

France, starting with the idea of the iconic French Navy Sailor's striped T-shirt, and then reinterpreting it in a unique way.

Speaker1

It can be adjusted to all weather conditions, so shorts can become long trousers, long sleeves can become short sleeves, depending on the weather. there are 15 items that each volunteer is handed.

Speaker1

That includes one hat, which is pink with a wavy brim, but it's pink and a bit yellow with a bit few spots here and there.

Speaker1

Then the main colour is a turquoise, kind of jade turquoise shirt, of which they're given four.

Speaker1

And that's got this stripy matalo design on it.

Speaker1

And then there are dark green trousers, two pairs, four pairs of socks, and one pair of shoes, and that's to last them for the whole of the Games.

Speaker1

The colour scheme, and indeed all the Olympic colours, are interesting to see because they are such muted, soft colours, almost faded.

Speaker1

There's nothing of the bright cardinal colours that we know, red, white and blue and yellow and so forth.

Speaker1

These are all faded, gentle colours with no geographical, political, national associations.

Speaker1

They're colours that nobody really can identify with, which means that everybody can.

Speaker1

Everywhere you go, these lovely volunteers are here to help.

Speaker1

I went to Roland Garros because I'm a tennis fan, and I sat through a nail-biting match with Andy Murray,

Speaker1

Sir Andy, at his last Olympic Games, and true to form, he made us suffer, before pulling out of the hat a brilliant and victory in a doubles match with

Speaker1

Dan Evans, and I was there to see it.

Speaker1

As indeed I was seen by several networks because I was wearing a very bright green dress, which I'd only bought at Florence Market two days earlier.

Speaker1

So you see, the Gers comes to Paris.

Speaker4

Listen, I'm going to bring in Claudio, and I'm going to play, only for the second time in the history of the Blind Guys channel,

Speaker4

I'm going to play the new email jingle.

Speaker3

Oh!

Speaker0

Well, come on. Come on.

Speaker2

Oh, I forgot about this.

Speaker0

Yeah, I was also.

Speaker2

Oh, no. Hey, can you play it again? Because I wasn't prepared.

Speaker4

Okay.

Speaker0

Another time.

Speaker2

It's a bit sad, is it?

Speaker0

Yeah.

Speaker3

It's kind of a dirge.

Speaker0

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker2

We might need to unfit up.

Speaker0

A little bit more excitement in a way, you know, positive energy. in. Well, yeah, it's a good start, I would say.

Speaker3

It is, it is.

Speaker0

Yeah, it's a good start. But hi, Claudia, how are you? Hi. Long time.

Speaker3

Hello, Claudia.

Speaker2

Hi, Mo, how are you?

Speaker3

I'm doing very well. How are you doing?

Speaker2

I'm great. I'm in good form. I'm very jealous of Jan's trip because he got to go to Sephora and I've never been to Sephora in a really long time.

Speaker0

Oh, you know about it? Because I was not aware of anything, you know.

Speaker0

Yeah, it's a big American thing. Did I tell you about, you know, one nice story.

Speaker0

We were in, I think in May, we went to Germany, you know, Münster.

Speaker0

Did I tell you about this trip? Cheese.

Speaker0

Yeah, yeah. And then.

Speaker4

Oh, cheese, yeah.

Speaker0

Yeah, cheese, yeah. But there was also in Google Maps, there was a Sephora in Münster.

Speaker0

Oh, really? We went to the location.

Speaker2

It was not there.

Speaker0

And then they moved. amused we had a crying girl in our family oh the princess was not amused was.

Speaker2

It the little princess so the are the

Speaker0

Mommy princess no the little one yeah but but she can cry you know she can really my god and make a hell out of it and to be honest you know we we were later on you know a tennis competition one of the moms she said well i got two girls you know and we went to the same place and we had two crying girls you know can you imagine so but no rosalie was happy but but it um she had a budget and it was fully consumed you know there you.

Speaker2

Go yeah it's not cheap i believe i think it's quite fancy was it fully consumed

Speaker0

Yeah she only because she had a list pipettes, you know. Oh, a list, wow.

Speaker0

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, but only yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker2

She might do up a little wish list for me maybe sometime.

Speaker0

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker2

For when, if ever I get to a place that has a Sephora.

Speaker0

Lip thing and oil and whatever and, I don't know, it is really, it is, yeah, yeah.

Speaker0

It was big fun because you see all Rosalie people, you know, walking there.

Speaker3

You know.

Speaker0

Oh, yeah? They are all the same. They all look the same. Yeah, they wear the same clothes, you know, they wear the same sunglasses on their head, you know. No, I said, why are you not wearing your sunglasses, you know, normally?

Speaker0

Nah, that's not cool, you know, you need to wear...

Speaker4

Uh burn your eyes yeah yeah and

Speaker2

The other thing i was thinking when you were talking about the tesla was there's a woman on instagram and her her husband and her son have programmed her tesla so that it far it farts at her when when she walks away when she walks away it locks and when it locks it does this big fart noise and she's mortified she's really embarrassed doesn't know what to do with it so she begged for help and the the husband and the son then changed it so that now um instead of doing that when it the car locks when she uses her left indicator it does one kind of fart and then when she uses her right indicator it does a different kind of fart and so she really she isn't coping well with driving at the moment because it's so distracting with all this farting going on she's driving her tesla i thought it was very funny yeah

Speaker2

I think Tico should do

Speaker0

That we don't tell him I think hopefully.

Speaker2

He'll listen to this episode and he'll crack open the manual and work it out

Speaker0

Oh my god.

Speaker4

Give us one email we only got time for one oh that's a pity

Speaker2

Give us the gold email

Speaker4

Not the bronze or the silver I

Speaker2

Can't judge them and that's not fair, but I'm going to read the one that we've been holding for longest.

Speaker2

This one has been sitting here for three weeks, and I do apologize to John.

Speaker2

So the subject is missed you. oh oh yes and it says hey blind guys hope you're doing well i was outside in a site village in birmingham recently and was really looking forward to maybe bumping into you guys i know you're at the london one last november yeah um you're at the london one last november loved those episodes and hope and hoped to feature in your show this time i'm

Speaker4

Sorry john we didn't do my

Speaker2

To my my disappointment it didn't seem like you were there i was really hoping to have a chat and a laugh in person it would have been great to meet the voices behind the show ah

Speaker4

Hopefully november i think it's november december we're november yeah the one we were on last year in london yeah

Speaker0

It was november yes we'll.

Speaker4

Meet up there and then we'll go there again

Speaker2

He says i know he says i know you've got a lot going on but i just wanted to say your presence was definitely missed maybe you can come you can make it to the next one i'm sure loads of other fans would love a chance a chance to meet you no

Speaker0

That's good to keep.

Speaker2

Up the great work on the podcast uh looking forward to next episode cheers john harris so john thanks so much yeah um really appreciate that that's very kind of you sorry you would have heard us um i'm sure you would have recognized the voices as you passed yeah because that happened a few times uh last year in november a few people

Speaker0

Stopped us quite nice yeah.

Speaker2

It was nice yon's

Speaker3

Voice really fills the room we went to Sight City together.

Speaker3

To be fair, my voice also fills the room, so I can't really talk, but I'm still going to. When Jan talks, you hear him.

Speaker2

That's good. That's a feature, not a bug, Mo.

Speaker3

Especially for a sales guy, it's definitely a feature.

Speaker2

Yeah, for sure.

Speaker3

If you don't hear the sales guy, he can't sell anything. Exactly.

Speaker0

Then you're in the whispering mode, you know.

Speaker2

Tell us, is it terribly rude to ask you how this online dating thing is going?

Speaker2

And if it is, we can cut it out.

Speaker3

Oh, the online dating thing.

Speaker2

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker3

Well, I just met a crypto scammer, which was fun.

Speaker0

Crypto scammer?

Speaker2

What's a crypto scammer?

Speaker3

Oh, a crypto scammer. So a crypto scammer matches with you. yeah and they well not immediately if if they're good they'll be subtle about it if they're not so good they'll be less subtle about it but what they'll do is they'll try to entice you with uh with huge winnings they have with you know buying and selling cryptocurrency and so this one what what he did it was probably he but it could have also been a she what he or she did was sending me screenshots of like huge amounts of money that that they were winning supposedly on not winning but earning supposedly on this crypto platform and they were like yeah if you start with a hundred dollars i will help you here's the link and let's put a hundred dollars here and then when you when you you know earn something you can buy me ice cream ice cream comes before investment advice yeah

Speaker2

I think that's fair

Speaker0

Ice cream.

Speaker2

Should become for everything

Speaker0

Yeah another sweet memory from from my trip to spain was we we ate some uh some uh ice cream as well and then they gave me the choice uh chocolate the family and i yeah picanto I said okay no problem but did you ever try ice cream chocolate picanto I.

Speaker2

Think it has chili

Speaker0

In it it is really hot my god that was really funny I must really say it is a nice experience to be honest a warm.

Speaker4

Tongue alright folks thanks very much for listening we're gonna go don't forget please email us blindguyschat at gmail.com thanks for listening to the show and really thanks to Mohamed for being a guest host.

Speaker2

Thanks, Mo.

Speaker0

Thanks very much.

Speaker4

No problem.

Speaker3

And don't click on any links that, you know, purport to earn your money with cryptocurrency.

Speaker0

Okay.

Speaker3

It's probably a scam.

Speaker2

Good advice. Good advice.

Speaker4

Okay, we'll see you next time.

Speaker2

See you guys.

Music

Hello our fast and furious Olympians, and welcome to ep 103 of BGC. We have a full house this week as Jan is back from his 11th holiday of the year, and Mohammed Laachir is back with us again fresh from NFB in Florida, having enjoyed their all you can eat buffet. Yes, Jan handed the car keys over to Tycho while he, Chantal and Princess Rosalie sat in the back seat of their lovely electric vehicle. After a 63-hour trip taking in the Norwegian fjords, St Paul's Cathedral and the Brandenburg Gate, they eventually arrived in Camp Nou, Barcelona’s famous stadium, where fistfuls of money changed hands in order to purchase a Barca t-shirt and a can of coke. Oh, and Princess Rosalie bought some rather expensive makeup in a big international cosmetics and skincare store, or at least that's what Jan said. Mohammed has just returned from NFB 2024 where he was demonstrating the new Picture Smart AI with JAWS. This is a cool new feature built right into JAWS allowing a user to scan a picture and hear what its contents are. Fair play to Mo for helping with the development of this feature. While he was at NFB, Mohammed took the opportunity to take his hoover for a walk. Ahem... sorry, we mean the new Glide guide dog thingy from Glidance. Will Mohammed be purchasing? Tune in to find out! So, jump off your pommel horse with a perfect 10; stay away from the Olympic cauldron – it’s not a BBQ! Put down that shotput before your do yourself some damage, and get ready to listen to the best podcast in the world: Blind Guys Chat - 10 out of 15 boxing gloves prefer it to boxing. Links for this show: ·       National Federation of the Blind (NFB): https://nfb.org/ ·       NFB National Convention: https://nfb.org/get-involved/national-convention ·       Picture Smart AI with Jaws: https://www.freedomscientific.com/training/jaws/new-and-improved-features/

·       Glide from Glidance: https://tinyurl.com/Glidance

Support Blind Guys Chat by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/blind-guys-chat

Blind Guys Chat 2020