OK. I got my acceptance for National Federation of the Blind Newsline NFB-NEWSLINE. I called the toll free number and the system recognized me from my cell number. I had been given a membership number and security code but I did not have to use them.
The next thing I had to listen to was an electronic voice chastising some subscribers for sharing the service with others who are not impaired. I had to agree to never as in NEVER reveal my passcode to mere mortals – read sighted people – and to never rebroadcast from the service. Same sort of stuff I had to swear to get BARD books.
I guess if you are getting money to serve the visually impaired you need to have some accountability but the whole secret society thing strikes me as excessive.
I got a whole page of navigation menu items for the service. I was not sure what I was doing so I just picked the first option and listened for a while. The voice was, of course, computer generated and flat. Not much that can be done with that at present. With the lack of inflection I had some trouble understanding it and it seemed to go pretty fast. The speed you can do something about. There are commands for slowing and increasing speed.
If I go to option 4, I can get a list of participating Pennsylvania newspapers. They read them off in blocks of six and it seems like the list goes on forever. That is a testament to the newspapers of the state because it is my understand newspaper participate out of the goodness of their hearts and there is no financial gain. Kudos to every newspaper on the list!
I picked the Allentown paper and went to the local news section. There was an enlightening article about a prostitution bust in my old hometown! Nobody I know. Dang.
There is a whole heck of a lot to navigate around in this service. This branching menu is not one tree. It is a forest! However, they do offer a favorites option so if you are partial to the Podunk Gazette, you can go straight there. (I certainly hope there really is no such paper as the Podunk Gazette. Since Podunk is my code works for end of the line, one horse towns, I certainly hope there is no Podunk! Open mouth and insert foot again!) [Lin/Linda here: Sue, you are safe, there is no Podunk Gazette. But there is The Podunk Poets, The Podunk Bluegrass Festival, and the Podunk Throwbacks. I stopped looking after that one! Interesting fact of where the word podunk came from: “By being spread through word of mouth, many people lost the true meaning of podunk and did not even realize it was originally used and first created for Poughkeepsie. The town of Poughkeepsie (“podunk” or “pough town”) and city has now become less rural and more developed. ” Learn something every day! ::grin::]
There it is. Free – wonderful word – news service on your phone. Provided your local newspaper participates, the local news gap can now be closed.
I subscribed by going on the National Federation for the Blind website. If you need help, NFB offers a real person. In Pennsylvania her name is Jasmine Hunt and her number is 215-988-0888. No clue about the other states. Sorry.
Enjoy your morning rag again. Sometimes it really is the little things.