All posts in category Personal Experience

Another Writing Scam?

Hello to all of you beautiful nerds and welcome back from traveling the vast nerd universe! It almost happened again!

Almost Had Another Publisher Scam Me!

I know the title sounds weird but almost had it happen to me again where another publisher scammed me. If you haven’t been here long, I am an author and currently about to publish another book in the Backwards Fairy Tale series and well a year ago I almost got scammed by a company called Stratton Press. Their name is pretty well known for scamming authors out of a lot of money to publish a book and one even had a bad experience with their book being formatted terribly. Plus, I had the weirdest questions asked by them which caused me to look into them and almost got scammed a second time by them but scared them off. Now there is a new one that got in contact with me! Let’s get into it!

Who Is Writers Branding?

The new company today is called Writers’ Branding which sounds like a company that doesn’t not know what they are doing with their name. According to the website, they are a company that helps self-published authors publish and market their work. Gee, doesn’t that sound familiar? They are assigned a Publishing Services Associate to help with the publishing journey with the tools. This sounds exactly like Stratton since they were doing the same thing by assigning someone to me as well, who kept on calling me at night. I know, creepy, right? The same person did the same thing when I got called during the evening after I got home from work. I will get into that later. There are more people that get assigned to you as a team and one of them is an evaluator that evaluates the content which I felt is who called me since they found my book somehow.`

What Do People Have To Say?

After getting the call, I did get mad at them and glad I haven’t gotten the call back, but I have a feeling it may happen, I did look into them though. There were five reviews on them and I saw them on Better Business Bureau where people had a hard time finding their book and tried to see if I could find them. I did find two of them that were published recently and it looks like they haven’t had any reviews on the works. I have a feeling their writers are not really being marketed and then I decided to look further. I typed in if they were a scam on this Chromebook browser and I saw the Pissed Consumer page with four reviews where people said they got scammed out of money and lied to about their services which can be concerning. I know this was a small handful but why does a company lie to their writers in the first place? 

What Happened to Me?

So, I came home from work, which was a week before RangerStop and the whole thing that took place with the storm as well and I somehow got these scam calls happening if something terrible was about to happen. To be fair, we were not sure about Nicole’s strength and what would take place. Anyways, so the call was about them reading Love Found in Cinders and I smelled something off and decided to ask if they read my book? Reason I asked is back with Stratton, like I said above, they didn’t read it because of how they kept on asking questions about it like what it was about, the characters, and so on. When you read someone’s book, you already know the entirety and what it is about, who are the characters, and my book tells the story from different points of view. I had a feeling and asked the question and the answer I got was what I was expecting. Person told me they only read the synopsis and said it was good. I basically felt as though they judged my book from its back cover. That is how I felt with Stratton afterwards by the way, that they just read the back cover! I did cuss them out because I was mad at them because I knew it was a scam. I know that is wrong of me to do but I was tired of scam calls and wishing that this didn’t happen. I also wished I asked them how they got my number which I know my publisher and my profile are locked away from prying eyes. I did read how Stratt0on told their victims that they got their number from their publisher and if I asked about that, they would say the same thing and I know that was a lie after talking with my publisher that they keep all author profiles private and the author can only access it to submit a book to them. If anyone from Writers’ Branding reads this, so yeah I know you’re lying!

How to Avoid This Scam?

Like I said in the Stratton Press scam post, do your research into the company if you feel as though it doesn’t feel right. I didn’t feel right with them after how they made the statement about the synopsis. Yes, I know my book is good from the back because I wrote it but you need to read it to see if it is actually good for yourself. You can’t just judge it from the back, I am sorry. Also, see about any reviews that people may have encountered about this particular company, you may have to find more like I had and was surprised to find that they asked for a lot of money for publishing one book. I was even surprised that one person got told they would be taken to a writing festival if they pade close to a thousand dollars. Yikes! Another thing is that there is a scam alert for them in the Philppines which that is familiar, Stratton Press was believed to be somewhere in Asia as well that was out sourced to the United States. Also find it wrong how a publishing company can take advantage of people that are trying to get their writing on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, even on physical shelves. I would love to be in an actual store but I don’t want to sacrifice my internet, power, hell my new apartment that we had to move into due to what took place in November for the sake of being famous.

What Am I Going to Do?

Easy! Stay with my publisher of course! THey don’t charge much for publishing and with Rose Thorns of Love I am going the E Book and paperback route since my paperback version of Love Found in Cinders was a middle finger towards Stratton, you will get the same story in both ebook and paperback from book two onwards. Now hoping they don’t pull a Stratton and try contacting me again to trap me. Again, shouldn’t have to pay that much for publishing and not pay for going to a festival either. Normally, that is the company’s dime or if the author is going solo, their dime.

That ends this post and man it was fun doing it since it did get something off my chest. I am currently catching up with reading some books since I did finish another semester and finally can read again, it did help me dust off my Kindle this past semester due to one of my textbooks was already on there. So, what is next? Bests and Worsts of 2022! Stay tuned!

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by moonleopard85 on December 14, 2022  •  Permalink
Posted in Books, Personal Experience

Posted by moonleopard85 on December 14, 2022

https://nerdyshiqueuniverse.com/2022/12/14/another-writing-scam/

Our One Day At RangerStop 2022

One Day Experience At RangerStop

Our One Day Experience at RangerStop 2022

As you saw with the title, or at least seen on our Twitter, we only attended RangerStop for one day. Yes, we were excited for the entire weekend, as in me and RJ were supposed to spend Thursday through Monday in Orlando for a big weekend to not only refresh ourselves from work but also me from school except it got screwed up.

What Happened?

Well, if you know that June, well the end of May through the end of November is the Atlantic Hurricane Season and every year it is either bad where we have more storms coming to the Gulf of Mexico or the Atlantic Ocean or hardly anything at all if we’re not in the direct path. Lately, all thanks to Climate Change, it does exist people, the storms have become more monstrous in size and destruction. If you remembered how Florida got hit by Charley, Francis, and Jean back in 2004? This year was a bit more than that and living in Daytona Beach is not the best for a season like we had this year. We got hit by Ian towards the beginning of October and it was a direct one and we had hardly anything from it except no internet for a day in our area. We live in a flood zone near a bay and somehow the ground got super saturated which made Nicole more fierce. When we heard Nicole was heading our way, I was contacting the people at RangerStop if it was going to happen still since one of the direct areas was Orlando. We had reassurance it was still happening. We even had our press kit packet ready for the weekend to pick up, and our reservation was still on the Hilton Honors app. I was already packed, RJ had some stuff to pack and we were finishing that Thursday morning once the storm had subsided. 

Thursday morning started off like normal and I grabbed a few items for my suitcase since I bought a set this time due to how we lost our suitcases during our transfer when Tobi moved in. While Tobi was going to stay to take care of things, RJ grabbed his stuff for his suitcase and went to the bathroom while I headed for the kitchen for some coffee and I stepped in a puddle. I asked why there was water in the apartment and RJ saw it coming from our front door and then ran to the sliding door and saw it coming from there too, then our bedroom where it was coming in through the base boards and ran to Tobi and woke him up to tell him we were flooding. We acted quickly to get electronics from the floor, which were our surge protectors. Tobi did almost get electrocuted where one of his connections to his monitors was sizzling and about to spark. I remembered where people told us to leave a day early, if we had done that we would not have had a home and Tobi would have died from electric shock in the water and fire. So, yeah, we had to cancel the hotel reservation because we couldn’t make it due to what took place that morning. Even RJ’s cars along with other residents; cars got flooded. It was a mess! I was devastated because we were looking forward to this for months and then weeks and now we couldn’t do the entire weekend so we managed a day at least and that was Saturday.

Saturday at RangerStop

Friday was our way of looking up since we did get a shop vac aix rhoaw qwew selling at RJ’s job and we were glad to get a nine gallon one and get some of the moisture out in the apartment and his car. We did have to get a new battery due to it being affected by the flood since it ran out of juice during the day Friday.We did manage to make it to Orlando and purchase wristbands for the day. I was very thankful after going because I never thought we would experience so much kindness from the guests and staff, even one of the vendors. When we told some of the guests of our situation and why they didn’t see our Nerdy Shique Universe shirts nor press badges, they were surprised even when we mentioned the water came through the walls. We were told how some of the guests even had a hard time getting Ubers to Orlando because of the storm. Tracy Lynn Cruz was lucky on her third one because the driver was a trucker for a few years and drove through similar weather conditions. Kevin Nash had to cancel since he lives around our area, which I could imagine what may have happened to his home. Kevin, if you’re reading this, I hope you and your family fared better than we had.

We did get our copies of Wild Force, In Space, which there are two parts where we had one signed by Tracy and Roger while both by Christopher, and Lost Galaxy since one of the cast made it for the convention, we also had pics taken, which some of them did it for free but did pay for others with their bundles. We also had some of their photos they brought signed and will be framing those for our new place. And of course, we did manage to find a vendor I did purchase from.

A few days before the convention, a post was made about a jewelry shop called Raven Woodmanor was returning to the convention. This is a shop that not only had Christopher Kayman Lee sport some of their bracelets but some of the pieces also were featured on a few tv shows, one of which was Vampire Diaries. I did buy a necklace and hoped to pick it up during the convention since I talked to owner Anastasia, mentioning I was appearing at the convention doing press and when the flood took place, I thought I was not going to show up to get it. She did include a gift when she shipped it out after the convention but we did show up at her table and got my necklace I purchased on Etsy and the extra. We did talk about things, she was very nice and did give us pointers on what to do and asked about our apartment since she has had experience with storms while living in Maitland. I think she has noticed on my Facebook that we were able to get things done which is next!

The Aftermath

Being a major furball of stress was an understatement towards myself the week after the storm and RangerStop, even the Friday after it happened started my stress like crazy. I was glad Tobi told us to go for a day and he would handle some things at home because we needed it after all. It did help but the crap definitely made me not feel so good afterwards. I think Kleenex would send so many tissue packs after so much crying I done after all that! First, we were not the only ones who were flooded because everyone else on the first floor of our complex and the one down the road also faced flooding and residents were on a list to be relocated to sister properties, as in if you say you want to have a transfer to a second floor on property or others then they would try to find something but it was first come first serve. We were not lucky on that front. I will explain that in a moment. Not only that, the property knew that it came through the walls and the baseboards were not properly sealed either which made it worse. This was not the first time it happened either, our neighbor right above us told us how Erma basically did the same thing and caused cars to float. I did remember asking about flooding and was told about flood walls around the river that were built after Matthew except it didn’t help us during this one. Our neighbor across the hall not only faced flooding but also a ceiling leak on top of it. We both agreed that the base boards should have been sealed better even before the storms started to rev up even more for this season. 

We did face things like the mildew smell, which was terrible. We had to wash so many clothes, blankets, and other things that were caught in the flood. I had to toss some of my Ipsy bags even though they got caught in the water under our bed. I also had to toss an Ulta caboodle thing that had some of my makeup and some of that got ruined. I have to repurchase a new Eternals shadow pallet from EBay soon. So yes, we did lose things! I even lost the ORbit Reader 40 and my back up Victor Reader Stream.

Where Are We Now?

Last Wednesday, we received the vacate notice due to how they have to fix what was damaged. Yes, we got a Dehumidifier except it felt like it didn’t show up quick enough due to how much of a smell we were getting. Also, the doors were warped and our fridge also broke, which we ended up with a new one before we started looking for a new place. We did manage to find one in time and it happens to be at the first place we lived in here in Daytona Beach. I was glad they welcomed us back and of course people were moving to the complex due to how they didn’t have luck on the relocation list either. Even though we were given a list of the sister properties but were glad that we found our home again. We are still moving our stuff into the new unit, which is a two bed and two bath, on the first floor but when we had our one bed apartment we didn’t have flooding issues during Dorian during 2019. One of the people in the leasing office told me they only experienced window leaks during Nicole in most of the units, in which we saw tarps on windows showing they were being worked on. We were glad since Florida weather can change like crazy. I’m glad we found a place as quickly as possible and I felt more at home again since the stress was not good at the other place and seeing what we had to toss made it sadder to think that we lost our apartment but we survived in the end. 

Many Thanks

I want to give a major thanks to the RangerStop crew, guests, and vendors who were really kind to us on that day. We had gone through a major harrowing situation. I was worried about RJ since he was feeling it more and was afraid about not smiling in the pics, which he probably was in them that Saturday. Which will be going up on my Facebook once I unpack my camera from my Bakugou bag. Getting to meet the Wild Force cast made it even better, since that season did have an awesome crossover with the Time Force cast! Like I said, the pics that were signed are going up on the walls of our new place alongside our other autographs and posters. Again, thank you all! Even to Raven Woodmanor, definitely check them out on Etsy and they will be at Holiday Matsuri! 

Next Convention?

Not entirely sure when our next one will be. After this, I have to rebuild my savings again due to paying for some of the move-in fees, paying one of my cards off with some of the money we were going to use for hotel and food. Plus, next year is all about my graduation since I find it a bit miraculous with the flood, Nicole, and Ian that I’m still passing! Next semester will be my second to last semester and will do fine and I know it.I do want to go back to MetroCon though since that was our first press gig at a convention but someone asked about RangerStop in Atlanta, which that is a big question mark since we did have a blast there and enjoyed the food! Let’s see what 2023 has in store for us, it will be a big year and I hope no more storms come at us!

Jason David Frank

With everything taking place, earlier last week, I found out that Jason David Frank passed away at the age of 49. News has said that it was due to doing it himself which heard he was going through depression at the time. As someone who has faced depression, it’s hard to get out of and finding your way out by finding your own value helps. I have met Jason David Frank at conventions. I remembered when Anime Festival Orlando first announced him back in 2007 which I was really excited like most attendees. I always enjoyed watching him on Mighty Morphin and even watched Dino Thunder with my nephew years ago when Nicktoons Network showed seasons for an entire weekend. I did get him his autograph in 2012;To Jason David Frank, you were once a ranger in life, always a ranger in the next!

So, what is next? Not sure at the moment. Things have gone to crap, I will be giving myself a bit of time to heal from this and hoping to come back for another post or two in December. Until next time!

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by moonleopard85 on November 29, 2022  •  Permalink
Posted in conventions, Personal Experience

Posted by moonleopard85 on November 29, 2022

https://nerdyshiqueuniverse.com/2022/11/29/our-one-day-at-rangerstop-2022/

Blind Tech Quadrant: Sunu Band Review

Hello to all of you beautiful nerds and welcome back from traveling the vast nerd universe. I am back with a new tech review!

 

Sunu Band

 

Disclaimer: This review is based on thoughts and experiences from the lead writer of this blog. Please respect her thoughts on the device that is being talked about in this post.

 

I bet you’re wondering what the heck is this thing. Well, it’s a watch that uses sonar to detect obstacles with vibrations. I heard about this device through A. T. I. A. and was there during 2019 with my job to see what new adaptive tech is being made. This was next to the Tap Strap, which I did get the second generation recently and will review that later on and was able to test it.

 

As you guys know my cane was broken a month before this show and I was still wary about people at conventions by watching out where I am going if I can. When I tested this out, I even had one of the guys on the team walk up to me and it vibrated and thought I wished I had this device during Holiday Matsuri so my cane wouldn’t have been broken. I didn’t purchase it until this past year since they had a showcase discount and it has been working out well for me. I was hoping to put it to the real test this year with the convention season but due to the pandemic all of the conventions we were hoping to cover for the blog were all pushed back to next year but it doesn’t mean I can’t review this item for you all since I have been talking about it on our podcast, Nerdy Shique Transmissions.

 

Set Up: When you first purchase your Sunu Band you would have to download the Sunu Band App through either the App Store or Google Play. At first, I had a hard time finding the app but had to type in the full name into the search and got it. It will prompt you through the sync where you have to have the app and the band near each other to work. Once it’s synced, first is to calibrate it to be able to have proper measurements in detecting the obstacles. Which that is next!

 

Obstacle Detection: Anything in the world can be counted as an obstacle whether it’s a table, a chair, a wet floor sign and so much more, even a person can be one if they don’t move. I’ve seen it at the anime conventions I go to, heck I still remember at Holiday Matsuri where a group of girls were sitting in the middle of the ramp leading towards the elevator banks since we were heading back to our room. With the obstacle detection you can set up the distance between you and the object in front of you or someone coming near you whether in meters or feet, which I set mine to meters since I can’t see the obstacle until I get close to it. This does help me in detecting the obstacle and able to step aside or stop and put my cane in pencil grip mode in front of me.

 

Apps: Besides Obstacle Detection, which is an app, there are other apps with this device such as your Alarms App for any time you need it to wake you up or alert you if you need to be somewhere, your Compass App for knowing direction, and my favorite one is the Place Finder App. This allows you to be able to find a place in certain categories if you need to know where it is or if you’re getting close to it. One example is that I did take an Uber to a bagel shop and it was in a plaza shopping center and put this app to the test and had to raise my hand parallel to the horizon and told me what was in the plaza, as in any stores around it or restaurants if I wanted. One weak app would have to be the TapHaptics App where you can tap the side of your thigh twice for the vibrations to pause and be able to re-activate them by doing the same gesture again. If I am not in my professional clothes or a skirt that has stretch material and tried doing this app it has a hard time noticing you doing it. I prefer just pressing the Home Button that is on the button near the sonar dot and it will tell me the time, which does help since I don’t purchase Braille or talking watches anymore since I can hear the time through the app.

 

Is It Worth It? Yes! Reason being is that as either a total blind person or someone who has some light perception this device can be a big help especially in public where there will be a lot of items in the way and it’s hard to dodge. Yes, we do have a cane or a guide dog to help us know that there is something there but the message of cane to tap can be delayed in  a bit and that sometimes happens even when I sometimes have sighted guide. You can buy this for $300 or wait for an assistive technology show like A. T. I. A. or other shows across the country where you could get this for a discount. Also, with the app you have to make sure to put in the full name because there are some other apps that can get confused if you just type in Sunu and you have to make sure the company name is Sunu as well. What is also worth it to me is being able to have this on if I leave my cane in my office and walk between my classroom and office without it. I can use it to have the vibration detect a chair if I am carrying one of my devices or looking for my phone.

 

Rating: 4.5 Shooting Star Paw Prints Out of 5! I am knocking off five points due to how sometimes it can be a little hard getting some of the features to work like the Haptics App and of course the Compass App but if you know how to level your arm with the horizon then you could get it to work. I still prefer the Obstacle Detection the most due to how many obstacles can be placed in the way of my path, heck even a crowded store like Ulta or Hot Topic, even Bath & Body Works are perfect examples since they have a ton of displays to show their products. Back in the day before my mobility skills improved and this device I would run into those tables or accidentally knock over a hand soap or lotion sample. When I wore this band before the pandemic at Bath & Body, I was able to have it vibrate on the way out since my left eye has issues detecting anything on my left. Still a good device and now recharging mine so I can use it tomorrow when my dad visits.

 

That is, it for this post! I hope I will get to test this device at a convention and once I do I will definitely include it in my convention reviews because of how many things can get in the way such as artist tables, an R2 D2 can be controlled in some areas as an example, and so many more things. For now, I will be using this for normal day use when I do get out when I can. Once I post those reviews you will know over Twitter! What is next up on Nerdy SHique Universe? My Ipsy Glam Bag of course!

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by moonleopard85 on August 15, 2020  •  Permalink
Posted in Accessibility, Blindness, Personal Experience, Reviews, Technology

Posted by moonleopard85 on August 15, 2020

https://nerdyshiqueuniverse.com/2020/08/15/blind-tech-quadrant-sunu-band-review/

The Book Quadrant: Relating to Molly Berk’s Book

Hello to all of you beautiful nerds and welcome back from traveling the vast nerd universe. I am back with a new post!

Thoughts on It’s Not What It Looks Like by. Molly Berk

Disclaimer: This post is based on thoughts and opinions of the lead writer of this blog. Please respect her thoughts and how she relates to the material being presented. Thank you!

So, I am holding off the post on adaptive controllers since I had questions but am doing this one instead. Recently, at the beginning of May I bought myself a Kindle. I was asked by a co-worker if I knew about accessibility with the Kindle readers since the closest thing I had at the time was the Amazon Fire Tablet. Even though the accessibility is pretty good on that but after getting the Kindle it was slightly different. I am knowing you’re wondering how so? Well, you don’t get Voice View right away you need a Bluetooth device in order to have it to work whether through an earphone set or a speaker it will work with those. I would rather use headphones because some of the stuff I read is 21+ due to most of the material on NetGalley is not safe for the little ears or maybe family or spouse doesn’t want to know what stuff you’re reading so I like the privacy of doing it with headphones. Anyways, one thing I decided to try was of course Audible due to how everyone on my YouTube subscription feed raves about it and wanted to read one book in particular for a while now and that is It’s Not What It Looks Like by Molly Berk.

As you know that I have Retinitis Pigmentosa myself and I can relate to her minus the guide dog bit since I am not a dog person. I’m glad that at work it can be a choice if it’s something the person who has pretty good mobility like I do wants or doesn’t want. I will go into detail with that with why I didn’t want one since Molly touches upon that. As a YouTuber and makeup lover and I do love buying my nerd shirts and music tees from Hot Topic, conventions, House of Blues shows from my favorite bands and so on I am just me like her. I do have to say that this book was a good read and it’s something I recommend and I will touch on some points and have experienced some of these like she has. Let’s get to it shall we?

Being Diagnosed At A Young Age: The first thing I relate to this is that I was diagnosed at age fifteen which was the start of my high school years. Even though I was older than Molly when she was diagnosed but it was still a wall that I hit and just stopped me from getting my driving permit. Here in Florida you would get your permit at fifteen and get your license a year later which is sixteen and I was hoping to get myself a VW Beetle in a nice shade of blue. As you can tell blue is my favorite color due to how my nails was always was painted in every shade of it. Still my favorite shade is Midnight Blue from Sinful. Anyways, when Molly had her vision changes noticed was through her grandpa and how her eyes shook in her head and was taken to a lot of doctors and she found out that she also had Nystagmus which you probably have seen my interview with Apl DeAp since he has that same condition too alongside Steve Saylor the Blind Gamer. Unlike me, doctors thought I was fine when my mom kept on telling that I was always running into walls, tapping for things that fell and reaching around things that are in front of me. One good instance was when we were visiting family in Puerto Rico she tried handing me a glass of water while we were at a hotel and I reached around it not for it. She knew something’s up and doctors ignored her until one specialist at one office near us yelled at his assistant in front of everyone in the waiting area, “What do you mean there’s nothing wrong her!? There is something wrong with her!” After that visit, despite his attitude earlier that morning he did refer us to Miami and that was when I found out I had RP. It was like the floor collapsed underneath me at that second because it was devastating since like Molly I didn’t know anyone in my family that may have had it. My mom thinks it was from my dad’s side since some of my cousins are disabled from other types of disabilities. I didn’t know even when we had some genetic testing where we had blood taken and had to pay for results and it was way out of our usual budget. We will never know.
The Bullying: During the book, Molly talked about hose she was bullied during her time in school and knowing with having been bullied myself and looking back on it is that kids are mean! Even mean towards kids that are disabled. I was surprised that even adults were bribing kids to be with her by helping her out. I know it’s sad to hear that but I remembered how years before being diagnosed I was seen as someone who wasn’t smart, I was special yes and yes I did weird things like talk to my dolls by having conversations with them but most of the time the next door neighbor kids were either out with their families or don’t want to hang with me. They even chased me off by doing extremely mean things. The most I was bullied was middle school, especially in band class since this one guy always stole my music stand and I took his one day and he tried to get it since I knew it was in my space and held onto it with all my life. I think karma got back at him when one this one kid heavier than him punched him in the nose for taking his seat on the bus. I know ouch but it happened. My mom and I got back at him during my Freshmen year when he was still bullying me and calling me, pardon my French, a bitch, we went to his home and told his dad what he was doing and he left me alone after that. There were many more moments but I did like how Molly said when she mentioned that some kids tried to put a tray of ketchup in front of her to see if she steps in it and this was when her mother was picking her up, which by the way I love her mom, she told her mom after being asked if she knows what they are doing to her, “I know what they’re doing but it’s life! I am going somewhere where they are not.” Which I will be talking about that with my own life since looking back on that I did go somewhere else and it is great to hear that when she read it in her book.
Guide Dogs: As I said above is that I am a cane user not a guide dog user. Reason being is that I am not really a dog person. Yes, they are great and nice and dogs sometimes do gravitate towards me but I prefer cats. I do work with guide dog users but understand that it can be hard. Molly talked about how they are expensive, which is true since I knew a user from a blind support group that he mentioned that he has to get his dog groomed and give him an expensive pill and so on, which I think I would stick with a cane and it’s my choice. I do admit I did like Molly’s stories with Gypsy and Gallop and don’t mind meeting Gallop and I understand her frustrations too. I was surprised that so many people are making it harder for her and others to bring their service animals onto airlines and into other places and being asked for paperwork and certificates which there is no certificate, which the tell is the vest but now anyone can buy those things for their animals. I understand emotional support animals, heck a peacock, which also makes the allowances hard. If I had a guide dog myself and going anywhere I would go through the same thing. I even saw the NFB fight one of the airlines against paperwork requirements two years ago due to how people are bringing their pets onto these planes with these vests. Still makes me face palm.
Mental Health: One thing she did point out throughout this book and is a big one and that is mental health. She has gone through depression and anxiety due to her own disability and yes it is painful and glad she got through it in order to be her positive self. I admit here I have had depression and still have anxiety myself but live through it. My depression really came around when I graduated from college and knew that my routine of going to class and seeing my friends and reading my books while I was at it was coming to an end. Also, I was having a bit of a tear down in partying and that kind of made me lonely and that was also when I realized I was an extroverted person. I didn’t go to MegaCon during the last year of college and felt major burn out by the end of my studying. Also didn’t help having family and my counselor at the time judging me. I had to go through therapy to help me get over things, heck when I had one therapist over the phone I had to end it with her because I saw how negative she sounded and felt she wasn’t helping. This was my choice since I felt like I wasn’t having my career choice supported and my ways of getting to it was being supported. She was surprised I wanted to read in Braille to kids and thought it was bad. Imagine the record scratch right here! Even though that didn’t happen but I felt like I would have had some fun like my volunteering in my home school district since the middle school students were great when I worked with them. Now that is done, yes I do have some anxiety but it doesn’t rule my life due to how much I have changed it after I started working and have that routine again and get to do it with adaptive tech which I use every day in my life. Also, getting to live in an apartment and taking on my own responsibilities and being more creative with this website and the channel, so now I just keep myself in check.
Job Searching Being Tough: One last thing I do relate and that is job searching. She had a hard time with it as much as I had except I lived in Orlando where competition was stiff especially at the theme parks! It took me three years before I got the job I have now and here is the thing and knew from first glance is that my blind cane was the reason for being turned down. I know it sounds bad but I can tell since some people wonder how can I do the job being blind and I remembered the final job interview I had since I was told to look for jobs if the one I have now falls through and how I was in the interview I felt a bit of discomfort. It was not from the HR Manager, it was from her assistant. There were times when I tend to have conversations with both but this one she just wrote things down not communicating with me, she just let her boss talk and when I left I thought, I am not getting the call back aren’t I? So, I just waited until I got the call saying I was hired from my job. What I did find that was a bit jerkish was that Molly did have one company contact her and told her the reason she wasn’t hired and that was due to being blind and apparently that was against ADA which is pretty bad and rude. I guess I’m glad to get the job I have now since I wanted to do adaptive technology for the longest time and finding a writing job is not easy. Heck, I even felt I wasn’t good for customer service after doing a basics class on it. I’m happy for Molly being able to have her own business since she did start doing public speaking and being that advocate for us and that’s what we need and of course it shows that we’re not afraid speaking our minds. I was even happy to start the Nerdy SHique Universe YouTube to put our convention stuff on it and even interviews with people since it felt good to have that conversation with them.

Final Thoughts: I enjoyed this book from beginning to end. It felt as though I got to see another person with my eye condition go through their own story and seeing that we go through similar things and different experiences. I love her personality and love how she shows her own ways of doing makeup and getting her hair dyed at salons, since she doesn’t see her hair dyed purple it doesn’t mean she can’t have it. Heck, I admit I had blue hair twice and I sometimes wear wigs for costumes and colored extensions, I even use a straightening iron sometimes. I am also about to get press on nails for my first time. Anyways, listening to her read it gave it a really amazing personal touch since I got to hear her tell it rather than someone else reading it.

Do I recommend? Yes! Yes! Yes! Do I need to say more? This was a great first Audible read for me since it gave me a new book to read and getting to hear her read this was even greater. She did mention in the video while recording it that she had to accommodate to have it fed to her from someone else since it was taking too long to read it on her Braille Display. Yes, reading Braille can be a little slow but speed does improve even mine has improved. I would also say check out her YouTube Channel since it shows what she goes through while living in L. A. and glad I get to see it on YouTube and get to hear her story. And like she said, she has gone somewhere and I have done it too with living on the coast and having a life with my fiancé and of course getting to work a great career. Let’s see how things go from here!

That is it guys for this post! Check out It’s Not What It Looks Like through Kindle or Audible because it is a great read. Also, if you’re a parent going through a child with a visual impairment I would say is read this because it would give you some pointers since Molly’s mom had to go through it too and if you’re struggling with your condition it can give you some help in how to get through it in a way by hearing her own story dealing with the depression. I will be talking about some of this in my next podcast episode since I want to give an auditory account too which I say listen for that sometime this week! I am waiting on answers about the game controllers and the good news is that my Ipsy and GB Plus are on their way! I am just waiting on my tracking for my BoxyCharm to begin. So stay tuned!

By the way guys…forgot to mention is that if you get this book there are some trigger warnings which I didn’t touch upon in this post. I don’t want to give any triggers on here. Fair warning!
It’s Not What It Looks Like by Molly Berk

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by moonleopard85 on May 13, 2020  •  Link  •  Permalink
Posted in Blindness, Books, Personal Experience
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Posted by moonleopard85 on May 13, 2020

https://nerdyshiqueuniverse.com/2020/05/13/the-book-quadrant-relating-to-molly-berks-book/

The Blindness Quadrant: Making Friends, Sighted or Blind, As A Blind Person

Hello to all of my beautiful nerds and welcome back from traveling the vast nerd universe. I feel like bringing a new topic into the Blindness Quadrant today!

How to Make Friends, Both Sighted and Blind, as a Blind Person!

Disclaimer: This post is based not only based on response and opinion but also a real life experience. Please respect what I’m about to say on this since I have an opinion of what I think should be important!

I may not be the Princess Twilight Sparkle but tis post is based on something that happened to me recently and I wanted to make this post. Being visually impaired may cause some people to be more isolated or even alone and don’t have any friends until they either go to college or a Vocational Rehab Center or even start their job somewhere. There are some tendencies that can happen that can make others feel awkward or not and these tips can go either way and this is what I came up with!

Don’t Mention What You and Your Significant Other Do behind Closed Doors: Okay, this was part of my meet up with this one guy and it made it feel awkward and that is mentioning what he and his girl do behind closed doors. So, let me tell you the first part of the story and that on Facebook two weeks ago I believe I get a friend request from this one guy and accepted it since he was a mutual friend to some of my blind friends I knew from the past and today and then on Messenger he messages me about how he was doing a flag football thing with disabled people and responded with, “Hey that’s awesome!” And left it at that. I’m in my and Gondras’ room watching YouTube since I was kind of exhausted from work since I do wake up early every day for it. I get a call and it was him and answered to be polite and we talked and one of the things he mentioned how he and his girl had threesomes and that caused me to think:

Dude: “Me: I and my girl do this! How about you!?”
Me in Thought: What!?
Me in Response: Okay…what kind of phone you use?

I felt like in Mass Effect but with two responses where one goes in my head and then I say something else and what this guy was talking about made me feel awkward. I understand that there are times where a blind person can be an open book but we can’t always be an open book as in not everyone wants to know what you do behind closed doors! Not everyone is comfortable when it comes to talking about sex and I admit I had the same thoughts as my parents with it when I dated my ex ayes ago and about to be with Gondras and I became more mature as time goes on and just keep the stuff we do to myself and if I did talk about it my friends would be really uncomfortable if we first met. As in, please keep this stuff to yourself because we don’t want to make anyone feel awkward even with friendships.
Keep Sexual Orientation Under Wraps Unless You’re Comfortable to Mention It: A lot of people tend to come out of the closet but others have a hard time doing it and not everyone is too keen on others mentioning it on the first meet up. I don’t even reveal mine to friends I first meet unless I feel comfortable later but first time meeting this guy I did tell him because he revealed as we talked on Messenger his girlfriend’s sexuality and I was like and going with Mass Effect with my responses here:

Paragon: Really? Are you sure you should be telling me this?
Renegade: Why do I need to know this!?
Sarcasm Me: Great, now I feel like the spotlight is on me!

So, my tip is to keep this under wraps unless you’re more comfortable when the friendship continues. I have really great friends that supported me for the longest time especially with my personality and my disability and things like this when I meet someone new I don’t want to scare them off and that was how I felt! I felt scared and uncomfortable with this guy because this was a private thing like the first tip above because we don’t know each other. Just be nice and be on your merry way!
If you’re going TO Invite People, Just invite them To a Place Familiar Not Your Own: What I mean is that don’t invite people to your place right away even if it has awesome items like a hot tub or pool. I know that doesn’t make sense but hear me out. At first it felt like this guy wanted me to hang out for bowling at first and flag football meet ups even in the Messenger chat. I was cool with that but at the same time you know I’m busy with Nerdy Shique Universe whether it’s a video or a blog post and sometimes straightening up some stuff in our apartment, even now with our closet which is my latest project. I tried saying I might hang out and then he mentioned his place! As in wanting me to come over to cook for me and possibly swim in his pool at his complex and so on. I felt the red flags guys because after the first two tips I felt as though they may do something I may feel weird about. This kind of goes hand in hand with the next item but I feel that this was weird and getting too close and claustrophobic for me. When I met any of my friends we tend to hang out at bookstores, malls, and other places even after we first met because it would feel weird if we show up at first at their place. For instance, when we first met Tobi he just used the bus to get home and also we dropped him off at his dad’s place until he felt comfortable to let us visit once we got to know each other. We do have some of those friends that want to hang at their place on the first meet up but most of the time we have to head home from where we hang out at. Which brings me to the next point!
Understand that When Someone Can’t Hang Out Means They Can’t: I know this sounds disappointing but some of us are grownups and understanding that things do come up or someone has to be at work early in the morning the next day and that they can’t hang out or hang out until a certain time. Or if they get sick which does happen! For instance, when I first went through a bad allergy attack years ago, I couldn’t go see Skyfall with Gondras because I was sick! So, I had him take Nerdy Shirts with him instead. So now to fast forward with the story to Saturday night after having dinner at a newer Japanese place since our fave place in Orlando closed down. So, dude messages me again on Messenger and he asked about Sunday with the flag football thing and said that I will be busy and same with Gondras so we can’t make it. He sounded so immature in my head that he was just joking that he may cry or something. Our friends understand that we can’t hang out if we either got sick or if we’re at a convention and so on because we know each other long enough that things can happen or we’re really busy with work. Heck, I can’t answer messages as much at work every day from my own friends until I have a break in between. Heck, with understanding not wanting to hang out, heck I had another friend that I had to end a friendship recently but when I got back to being friends with them years ago he wanted to hang out but this was when I had family over for the summer and couldn’t hang out with him and his girlfriend at the time. This is a different person by the way! Anyways, also this dude tried to invite us to Disney too when we’re going to be in Orlando for RangerStop. I tried explaining that when we do press were busy and I told Gondras about this part since I asked for advice about this dude and we agreed that we only have the money for bills for November and going to RangerStop as in for food, probably some merch to pick up if we can, and of course our hotel room since we’re staying at the same place where the convention is at and plus our feet will be hurting at the end of the night like with every convention. Trust me, when I was at Omni and got back to our room I was out like a lamp! Even though dude tried pleading somewhat I said, “Can’t! Busy that weekend!” Since he and his girlfriend are going to be at Disney for holiday parties starting that weekend. If this was Tobi and Vivi, they would understand more since they know our schedule during conventions is pretty hectic. But nope, this is where the next point is important!
Know Your Boundaries: So, after talking with Gondras I had to put my foot down because I felt like my boundaries weren’t being respected by this dude. I felt like I was about to freak out and not kidding. I was glad I didn’t save his number when he tried calling mine after asking for it since I did have the Unknown Numbers to Voicemail thing on with my phone at the time due to telemarketers. Plus, he also tried asking for my photos since he was able to see some of my features and apparently he liked what he saw and wanted more, I only stuck it to one and that was when I knew I had to put my boundaries in place! Next morning I sent him a message on Messenger telling him that I have my guy and he has his girl and I have my life and he has his and that I felt uncomfortable with things and that we were also not into sports. So, I was taken out of the Messenger Group Chat and apparently he thought we were not on the same page since all he wanted was to hang out. Which I felt with the conversation Friday things were getting too much! My friends know that people do have boundaries and respect those. I remembered being a teen and I always wanted to talk to people on the phone so much I felt I annoyed them and did grow up out of it and now I respect their boundaries. I do ask my friends for advice but of course I only talk to them on and off since we do have our jobs or things we do on a daily basis. I did mention that I’m also busy and can’t always answer messages until break time.
The Mute Button Is Your Friend: If someone can’t take the hint that you want space, the mute button on Messenger, Twitter, and other places can be your friend. I had to block some annoying people myself on Messenger, even one recently that didn’t take the hint that I can’t talk due to taking a shower and need to get to bed. This dude I have talked to that weekend I had to mute him because he didn’t really take a hint of boundaries need to be made. I did mute him after seeing a message asking about my week when I had my allergies catch up to me and had to miss work. I know it was mean of me but I felt as though I would feel uncomfortable if we talked again. Sorry!
If It Gets Too Much, Let Them Go: There are times if the friendship goes downhill or gets too much it means it’s time to let that person go. I will use that one other guy as an example because he did say something really bad and that he wished he was blind like me! As you all know I don’t wish my eye condition on anyone even my own worst enemy! Being blind is not easy and the adjustment period is sometimes hard for some and easy for others. When this guy said that I felt like he doesn’t know what I go through despite having everything as in a fiancé that takes care of me, press opportunities, even a college degree but I worked hard to graduate, there are times where getting press can be hectic, and my fiancé has been with me since I revealed I was going blind and that was a true test. Now GOndras and I have been together for thirteen years and we’re living together. When I let him go as a friend, this guy by the way, it felt well actually because losing a friend is not easy but if they get too toxic then letting them go would be the best option. I have done better letting this guy go and people just find it awful that I had to hear that statement since they know my story even if it’s inspirational. Still, if something bad happens then letting them go is the best option.

Well guys that is it for this post. It felt good to get things off my chest and having friends is pretty important and I keep the friends I have closer to me for the longest time. There are boundaries when it comes to making those friends and understanding that you can’t always hang out due to other obligations. I hope some of you take some of these tips to heart and be careful with who you meet because they may end up acting like this dude above that I met recently so please just know some of us do have lives. Next post will be another book review! Stay tuned!

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by moonleopard85 on October 26, 2019  •  Permalink
Posted in Blindness, Personal Experience, Response and Opinion

Posted by moonleopard85 on October 26, 2019

https://nerdyshiqueuniverse.com/2019/10/26/the-blindness-quadrant-making-friends-sighted-or-blind-as-a-blind-person/

Adaptive Tech Quadrant: The OrCam: THe Better E-Sight

Hello to all of my beautiful nerds and welcome back from traveling the universe! Time to take a little detour with a new tech gadget!

OrCam: The Better E-Sight!

Disclaimer: This review on this product is based on thoughts, opinions, and observations of the lead writer of this blog. Please respect her thoughts!

Not kidding either. For those who are new in this Nerd Universe, back in January I tried a device called E-Sight. Gondras’ mom saw it on the Rachael Ray show and how someone was able to see again with this device and that it would help with my eye condition. So, I was placed on the waiting list for a while until they contacted me in January. Even though Gondras and I were skeptical, it felt like we were told it would. Guess what? It didn’t and tired seeing about success stories and the website didn’t show any. Even some someone I knew from a support group did try it but didn’t return all of his vision but did see some. So yes, good to know about these things since I had a feeling that it wouldn’t work and it didn’t since I couldn’t see my dad at all and the prisms didn’t refract to do what it needed to do since I learned more about prisms in my Human Eye class.

Now onto the new toy! OrCam on the other hand is a device clipped onto a pair of glasses or you can clip it onto your own pair of glasses but best to do it with plastic frames like the ones you have seen me wear in a few videos. This is a mini camera where you can point and have it take pictures and read out text, read out labels on a bottle or a can and other items, color, and a lot more. It’s Seeing A. I. but on steroids! Also, there is a version where it just reads but I tried the Seeing A. I. version and I used it on my 3DS. Thank you Florida Vision Tech for this demo and coming to demo at the Center for the Visually Impaired.

How Did It Work? A lot better than E-Sight! Yes, it was a little tricky trying to get my finger to point and listen for the shutter since some people were talking. Good thing is that there was a Bluetooth speaker connected since this is also a Bluetooth device which is a major bonus due to how there are Bluetooth devices for anything even earbuds. I tried it out with my 3Ds because I remembered years ago at MegaCon Orlando 2017 that Troy Baker yelled out about finding ways of making gaming accessible and after seeing OrCam for my first time it had my gears turning in my head. When I heard about this demo I wanted to see about how it will read off the dual screens. Even one of my co-workers during lunch said it should. When I had it on, I pointed at the screens and it read out the battery charge at first which it was 10% which didn’t know I had that much left. Then I tried to see about reading the text the Pokémon team I have on my bottom screen and it did. One of my other co-workers was surprise I was playing a Pokémon game after hearing a Pokémon name. I didn’t hear the feedback from OrCam but now I know it does work! It doesn’t work with stylized fonts. Hey, it works!

I did over hear some of the other students and the Florida Vision Tech people helping them and how they used it such as finding French on the creamer bottle which it does read Spanish and French, even the face recognition where if you have someone turn their face to have OrCam catch it and then record their name then whenever you see that person again with it it will recognize them! Could be handy for me when there are a lot of people at different tables at conventions like RangerStop for example? Sometimes I get people mixed up when it’s loud in one space. Anyways, I did ask about object recognition and they said that’s in the works since there were times where people at any vendor tables told me to look around but had to point at my cane as a way of saying, “Hey, can’t see!” At least I don’t have that issue with anyone I have shopped from before.

Do I Want It? Yes! Oh man yes! Even though this is in the thousands, this item will help me out in being able to see and many other people do this as well. No wonder this thing appeared on the Dr. Phil show since it is something we can use. Good thing is that it’s compact and portable and you can wear it on a lanyard if need be. Also, like security systems, appliances, and other smart thermostats, you can control the settings with an app and that is what I may do since I could only do bits of text but setting it to automatic read would be the best for me if I get my paws on this.

If you’re visually impaired and heard of E-Sight and OrCam I would say look into OrCam more because this has more success so far for what has been shown in person and plus it does run on better tech than E-Sight since prisms have to refract at certain angles in order to produce the light necessary when going through the eye. Unlike OrCam it’s just cameras and audio.

Well guys! If you have a vendor in your part of the universe at an American Council for the Blind or National Federation of the Blind Convention in your state or going to the national one in Las Vegas in July check this device out if it’s on display. While me, it looks like Go Fund Me will be happening because this thing can help me out greatly. Stay tuned on Twitter on news whenever it goes up.

That is it guys! I will put the Dr. Phil clip for you guys to see and again thanks Florida Vision Tech! And next Adaptive Tech item is…ugh…The Tap! Until next time!
HH

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by moonleopard85 on June 1, 2019  •  Video  •  Permalink
Posted in Accessibility, Blindness, Personal Experience, Technology

Posted by moonleopard85 on June 1, 2019

https://nerdyshiqueuniverse.com/2019/06/01/adaptive-tech-quadrant-the-orcam-the-better-e-sight/

Technology: ESight

Hello to all of my beautiful nerds traveling the vast universe! I am back with another Assistive Tech Post!

ESight

I bet you’re wondering, “What is ESight?” Well, it is a pair of glasses that has a camera that is attached to them and what it does it tries to give someone who has lost some sight regain some of it back to be able to see in front of them again. This was developed in Canada a few years back and well Momma Gondras saw it on Rachael Ray and saw someone was able to see with these glasses and they were talking about how it worked for them. I have met people that has tried these glasses out and one person it didn’t work out for them while the other it did. Reason why I am writing about it here is because I tried them today.

How I Got Onto the List? Well, like most places there is a waiting list for this thing due to how long of a list to demo these glasses can be a high demand. I want to tell you a little bit about my past before I got onto this list.

When I got diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa, I wanted to find ways of seeing again since I was an artist and well you know makeup has been a new creative outlook for me and still wanted to find ways of seeing again and able to draw again. Not only that drive too since my dream car is still a VW Beetle in blue, either the old Herby model or the newer ones since I am not picky. Anyways, I always saw an eye specialist in Miami and he was helping me with research in getting something to help me see again but as time went on my hopes kind of stalled out since I was getting comfortable with my visual impairment even before getting my job as an Adaptive Tech Instructor. That was when Momma Gondras came in last year and it was during Irma hitting. I told her my plans in being a tech instructor since it is a field that they need more people in and volunteering at the middle school I used to go to was helping me get over some hurdles that I have noticed during my work experience and she was asking me about job related stuff and it was hard for me to answer to tell you truth. Heck, I wanted to go back to school even for my Grad Certificate for Adaptive Tech. After that, I learned that I shouldn’t share my dreams with the future-in-law if they don’t share the same ideas or aspirations as you. Apparently, there were things and said and done which was that Gondras put me on the waiting list for ESight. I was surprised by that because I wasn’t expecting it due to how skeptical we felt about it and will get to that.
Why Were We Skeptical? Now! I and Gondras were skeptical about this device because we didn’t get that much information through the website and that is why I don’t feel like posting the link, best to Google search for yourself. Most websites that talk about tech items do talk about the specs of the item, what it is exactly and so on. For example, I will use Apple for this. For a lot of their products they talk about how big their Mac Books or even their IPads, heck the newer IPhones with the height and width, what the camera is like, Siri of course, and the latest I OS that will be coming with the device and what else can be done with that particular product. With the ESight website, on the other hand, the information is repetitive, not too much to talk about even with pricing, and doesn’t give success stories if it has worked for a lot of people.

What even has me more worrisome is that it lists off different eye conditions that it can help but the issue is that people have different types of an eye condition and the degree of sight can change over time, which I will tell my experience with this device next due to my degree of vision. Plus, an eye condition can take place at any time in life, like me with getting my condition in high school for example and going blind at twenty-three. Not only have that, depending on the amount of sighted loss it can be tough to regain which I will tell you my experience now!

My Experience with These Glasses! Trust me, I was really not looking forward to this demo since I did take the day to do it due to how bad traffic can get between Daytona and Orlando, especially the part of town it was taking place. I felt a bit off with the address first, but let me start with the call though. I was working on my Chrome Book when I got the call and the person was very friendly and told me that he was from ESight and explained things that looking back at the website now was not mentioned there. A little red flag right there! Oh yes, the Red Flag Kitties were there waving their little flags! I had a feeling if I turned them down I wouldn’t be left alone without guilt after waiting on the list since 2017 after Irma. Got to talking more and got some pricing, which looking at the website, another Red Flag Kitty pops up because he mentioned the prices and how low it has gotten and I remembered the fundraising option if it did work. This device was originally $10,000 which is more than the Braille Note Touch and the Braille Sense Polaris on their own own. Even though they dropped the price it would have taken most of my pay and have me eating ramen for the next few months and probably skip more conventions and probably makeup re-stocking. And not only that, there was a home trial but it is a risk to take because if these didn’t work you lose $500. For anyone who wants to try these you are getting some warning while reading this and I care. I even almost had a major spit take with the home trial option.

So, fast forward to today. Getting to Orlando was a breeze even though there was some traffic on Sand Lake which the address that was given was at an office building that felt like in the middle of nowhere. I have gone to similar buildings but they did have names when it came to job interviews but this was kind of weird in a way since I didn’t know where I was going and I remembered that one guy I used to know had his demo at a hotel. I think it would have been better if it was in a place that is well-known like an office inside of a mall or at a doctor’s office, heck even at one of the Lighthouse locations would have been nice since that was mentioned during my demo. Getting into the building was even more of a pain because the elevator in the parking garage was a freight even though we were able to get to the basement level, yes it has one of those, and the stairs were leading to doors either private or there was no exit on the floor I was supposed to be on. I am not kidding, I felt like I was in a bad Escher painting. With my experiences being at my dad’s doctors or other parts of Orlando with parking garages with office buildings at least I could get in and out without a problem. Anyways, so we got in and was seen pretty quickly.

So, it started off telling the salesman about myself, my degree of vision, and he did explain what the glasses were, what the camera does, and that it doesn’t work for everyone, oh right also get to adjust the glasses if need be with a remote that is attached. He also had me try and see one of those eye charts we always get tested on. I admitted I only saw his arm holding it not the card since I can only see in my peripheral which brings up another red flag which I will get to the next point of the story. So, the glasses felt like standard blind man glasses as in sunglasses with a camera attached and there was a strap to hold them on. The strap felt like a tourniquet. I know it’s supposed to be adjustable but I felt my head getting tighter despite the adjustment and. So, he had me try to see my dad with these on and unfortunately I couldn’t. My dad did not appear clearly which they were supposed to. So, this brings up that one Red Flag Kitty which the person on the phone explained that with my RP versus the standard that it can be worked with the camera versus the tunnel vision standard. With the demo it shows that it didn’t! The guy in the room did say reason why it didn’t work on me is due to the lack of natural vision that is left in my peripherals and I can see why.

How I went blind was an interesting tidbit which I will share here. When I was trying to draw something a few days after designing my first costume on paper, I noticed my right eye turning. It was like a hurricane on a weather map and knew that I lost my right eye and then a year or so after my left eye followed and yes I may still have some vision in my peripheral like a flounder but not enough for these glasses. I am taking Anatomy of the Human Eye I and I learned so far that not all eye conditions are the same even with mine. I have met people in the past that are going through RP but different versions even different ways with the same thing as mine. These people working on ESight feel to me, well mostly to my dad, is that they are just there to sell the product. Plus, Gondras did bring up that it feels like a VR set that is not made to fit a certain degree of vision that a person may have and should make the tech help for those different degrees of sight loss and I agree with him. I did tell him that we were right about not working but at least I did try it for free rather than shelling out major cash. Even my dad asked if we had to pay up front. It can happen with some places.

Final Thoughts: Even though the glasses didn’t work one me doesn’t mean it won’t work for anyone but I would say is that think before signing up for a demo because the website is not a good place to check because the pages repeat the same information over and over and once you’re on the phone with someone or there at the demo that is where the true information is given.

I’m sorry but being a bit harsh here, also honest, but when looking for something like this you need more information, actual testimonials to see if it worked, and give the price tag on the website and any information about how to get the funds to pay for it. If it had worked for me, then I would have a Go Fund Me raise the money for one after hearing someone have this device work for them.

Another thing is, please don’t go in with hopes of it working. Technology works in different ways and can either work great or not for someone who tests that new toy. Just know that yes it is a possibility of seeing again but if it doesn’t work out then find a different avenue which I did appreciate the guy giving an alternative for something similar. And now looking at it, I am also thinking that the people who worked on this device should look more into eye diseases because not all of them work the same way, they get diagnosed differently and people have different ways of losing their sight due to that condition like I had. Not only that, get a better website because I feel it needs to show better information about the product and how it works and explain the tech better. Plus, the pricing which is the first question on a lot of people’s minds when going into something like this. Even when I tried confirming on their website, it did have a question, “If this does restore some residual vision, how much will you pay?” And gives you options from highest to lowest so that is why a price guide on the main website can help.

So yeah, if you’re thinking about having a demo, just look out for some things even with the website and if not, I understand!

Well, that is it for this experience. I know it was an interesting experience with the building I went to but I rather try this at a doctor’s office or at a Lighthouse knowing that I am in a safe and familiar environment. Plus, I feel as though that this device should be improved upon even with the website because of how many eye conditions can happen at any moment. Which I need to get back to that Human Eye class because I am learning a lot of stuff as time goes on.

That is it for this post. Sorry for a bit of a mishap but my Boxy Charm was not shipped yet so hoping to see if it will soon because I have seen some people on YouTube get theirs so far. Next up is one of our interviews from Holiday Matsuri! Stay tuned!

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by moonleopard85 on January 9, 2019  •  Permalink
Posted in Blindness, Personal Experience, Reviews, Technology

Posted by moonleopard85 on January 9, 2019

https://nerdyshiqueuniverse.com/2019/01/09/technology-esight/

Bests & Worsts of 2018!

Hello to all of my beautiful nerds traveling the vast universe! It is time for the final post of 2018!

Bests & Worsts of 2018!

We are at that time again my friends and that is the bests and worsts moments, beauty items, movies, and so on of 2018! This year was a life changing year for me so let’s start with that!

New Job & New Home in a New Location! Well, last year I said 2018 was going to be my year of getting a job and hoping to move out and guess what? I just did that in November! I did get interviewed for the Adaptive Tech Instructor in Daytona and I got it! I have been a student at the Rehab Center I’m teaching at and glad that I got to move up and doing it in something I wanted to teach and that is Adaptive Tech which I use on a daily basis especially with writing Nerdy Shique Universe by using JAWS. I knew I had to also move out for this job because I can’t drive and got my own place and loving it! Me and Gondras are sharing it so he will be moving in with me so we can be a full on couple, well engaged couple here together. We will be commuting back to Orlando for conventions since we do have Omni Fandom Expo in March and also Ranger Stop if we get another press badge since we did enjoy that one too. There are conventions here in Daytona too but haven’t heard from them much. I have to get back in contact with them since one is a writing convention and there are some authors on my Net Galley shelf that will be appearing there. How do I like living on my own? Well, the good news is that it made my mental health a lot more easier because it was stressful living in a big city where the job market is still unsure about hiring blind people even in call centers and I did try going for volunteering at the Lighthouse but that didn’t go through as planned for their Adaptive Tech Department. Glad I am working in it and plus I have changed dramatically since I did take a Self-Esteem & Adjusting to Blindness class which helped me understand more and understand myself when it comes to adjusting to being blind. Plus, getting to cook my own food feels a lot better too since I did go through back seat cooking with my parents and it caused some stress too, even when I made potato salad and wanted to follow the recipe but mom wanted me to do it our way. I did get to make her black beans and it felt like home even with the Adobo seasoning for my pork chops. Plus, I get a bigger closet too which made me happy along with smaller furniture than what I had in my old room at my parents’ place. Not only that, transportation is also better here because you have more bus stops to get to and the paratransit is way better, not only that the Lift drivers are very friendly! So yeah, I am at a better place in life, I have a great job teaching, now I can write my book in peace as well since I did re-start it again. I know, this is becoming annoying when I should have finished this year. Well, living on the coast will help me out since my first two books were done while I was a student. Let’s cross our fingers!

Being Certified In JAWS! Next is another great aspect this year and that is being JAWS Certified! I have been using this software since 2010 and figured being certified in this software could help me get into the field of tech more and I was right about that. The test was hard and I had to study a lot of things from the Help Topics to knowing what the commands were, especially when they tested more on the Laptop Keyboard Commands versus Desktop, and so much more. I was glad to pass and now waiting on my certificate so it can be in my office!

Getting a Chrome Book! Speaking of tech, I did get a Chrome Book for myself this past month because I wanted to see about the operating system and since my mom returned hers after having it for a few weeks, I really wanted to see about its built-in screen reader after seeing the ones on display at the NFB National Convention. So far so good it has been working out because of how the commands are like JAWS but with a different modifier key. I have to play around more with it since I am creating a Chrome Book workbook on Excel to help me and any other instructors.

Getting to Go to the NFB National Convention! I finally got to attend the NFB National Convention for its last year in Orlando, which it will be in Vegas next year. It was an amazing opportunity since I went with the Jernigan First Time Scholarship, I tried for National Scholarship but didn’t get it and now holding off on my Grad Certificate at the moment, and got to enjoy the convention. I even volunteered at the Braille Book Fair to get my interaction with younger kids better since I wasn’t doing it in the school system at the time. It was fun and getting to talk with a mom about how she is trying to get her child’s dexterity back after a stroke was even life changing too because it was sad hearing about it but I did suggest some things since Braille does help us out. I did get a new watch from this convention along with a few other items and got to meet the many other chapters in the United States and knowing that we’re not alone in the universe. I am going to try and join the chapter here in Daytona but due to how busy it has gotten unpacking and getting things for the apartment, even working, it will be a little bit before I join since being in the NFB shows that we can self-advocate and do have family and friends to help us. Oh right…let me save that for later!

Bests

Now to start with the bests since there are tons of awesome things going on this year and I have to give it to a lot of people and moments!

Game of the Decade: War Frame! First is Video Game of the Decade and I give it to War Frame! All this year Gondras has been playing this game and it is also up my alley with story since it’s a science fiction story where a metallic virus turns humans into robots known as War Frames and you as the Tenno pilot these robots to travel across the Solar System to take on the threats that want to take over. You also get more War Frames along the way, especially one where it was from a secret event story that dealt with one who had darkness take over. Now the game is where you go to Venus and get to explore the now icy planet to meet robot dwarves and even have hover boards. This game is very pretty and now that we have a new tv in our living room, yes good to say that, it will look even better. For anyone who has a Nintendo Switch, it’s going to be available for the Switch! Now you can play it on PC, PS4 and Xbox! Amazing work!

Movie of the Year: Avengers: Infinity War Part 1! Movie of the year goes to Avengers: Infinity War Part 1! We all know that it has come down to this where we see the Infinity Gauntlet is completed and now the Avengers must come together along with the Guardians of the Galaxy to take on Thanos and his gauntlet. Can’t wait what Part 2 has to offer since we are getting Captain Marvel next since she will be important in that part!
Runner Ups: Black Panther and AquaMan! Can’t forget these two since they have appeared this year. Black Panther was another great movie from this year since we got to see an African-American superhero take center stage for his origin story in this movie. It also became a hit at box offices back in February and schools even took kids to see this movie as a field trip which was even more amazing. While AquaMan, on the other hand, was something DC should have done like with Marvel and start with the origin story movies before diving into the big team up films. I did enjoy Jason Mamoa as AquaMan and we get to see a mix of villains which made it more interesting. Nicole Kidman did a great job as his mom on top of it. Too bad we’re not doing MegaCon next year, interviewing Mr. Mamoa would be pretty sweet! Speaking of interviews!

Interview Opportunity: Apl DeAp from the Black Eyed Peas! Yes, another moment this year was getting to interview a Grammy winning artist and that is Apl DeAp from the Black Eyed Peas and it was during the NFB National Convention. When I first heard he was going to be performing at it, I had to get the interview and what surprised me was that he is visually impaired himself. He has Nystagmus which causes severe near sight and he did tell his story behind it which you can still see here and over on our YouTube Channel’s Interviews Playlist. It felt great to meet him and brought us another musical artist to our channel since we did interview Traverser not long after. If you get to meet Mr. DeAp, just say hi not wave because he did explain it’s hard for him to see it.
Runner Up: Trying Out Skype Interviews with J. Michael Tatum, Brandon McInnis, and Traverser! As you know being at a convention you can get busy as a guest or even as a musical artist your schedule gets packed before a show so that is why we went one step beyond with our interviews this year. We used Skype to interview J. Michael Tatum and Brandon McInnis, since there schedules were full during Holiday Matsuri 2017, and Traverser, since they were returning to the stage after three or so years. It shows how we got over the obstacle of not being able to interview people face to face and hoping to get more in 2019 since I have a list in mind for the year.

Anime: My Hero Academia! Speaking of Tatum! It is the Best Anime Category and this year it goes to My Hero Academia! GOndras did start watching it himself and then shown it to me and man it is one of the best dubs I have seen so far! It is like the movie Sky High but what if it’s an anime and your main character, Izuku, is not born with a Quirk and has one transferred to him by his idol, All Might! I can’t wait for the next season because the last season ended on a pretty good note.
Runner Up: Overlord! I have to hand the Runner Up position to Overlord because it is an anime series that deals with a video game you have never thought to be better than Sword Art Online. Why would I say that? Well, in Overlord, you get to see new worlds being built, characters going through certain adventures that help them get better in fighting, and not only that take over towns like a usual fantasy RPG. Plus, with the main character, Momonga, we not only see him in the game but see his player in the real world thinking about what to do next and how to interact with the party. I would say check this out if you can!

Male Performance in An Anime: Justin Briner in My Hero Academia I decided to include this after watching the anime and I give it to Justin Briner because he gave a stand out performance as Deku in My Hero Academia. He is a new voice to my ears and I have heard him in Team FourStar’s Final Fantasy VII Abridged as Cloud and trust me I was thinking to Cloud watching MHA A. I hope we get to interview him either over Skype or in person at a convention.

Female Performance in an Anime: Monica Rial in Shimonetta! I know, it’s a weird title but when Gondras shown me this one on Funimation Now I never thought it would be hilarious especially with Monica Rial as Ana. I bet how many takes it took for one certain line, if you are of age, watch it!

Best Supporting Role in an Anime: J. Michael Tatum in My Hero Academia! Final anime related thing and that is best supporting role and it goes to J. Michael Tatum when he played Tenya Ida in My Hero Academia.

Makeup Brand of the Year: Cover Girl! I decided to give this year’s Brand of the Year to Cover Girl because this year they made a huge change from being a brand that wasn’t Cruelty Free to one that is now is and Leaping Bunny approved! Brands are trying to get away from animal testing and glad to hear that Cover Girl is the first even close to the end of the year, especially many months after Nars has joined in being sold in China during the beginning of this year. Hoping Cover Girl leaving China and being on this list can be an example to others and saying, “Join us and be Cruelty Free!” Now China is fighting to have better ways of testing at the moment, so more news on the horizon!
Runner Up: Urban Decay! 2018 has been a huge year for Urban Decay since they have released a lot of collections and discontinued a beloved product and that was the Original Naked pallet. Trust me, it was sad for me to hear since I was doing my Urban Decay Look Series on the YouTube Channel. But they have released many pallets this year that have been a success so far and they are the Beached Pallet in the summer, Born to Run, Naked Cherry, and Elements for the holidays. Now they have announced Naked Reloaded which is the Naked pallet but with new packaging and shades. Plus, the Naked Honey, and Naked AF soon to join the series! Will 2019 have all three? We will have to see!

Collection of the Year: Wet N Wild Flights of Fancy! I have to give this award to the Wet N Wild Flights of Fancy Collection because it has been a really good collection that was released during this year. Not only it had new items like a lip scrub and baked blushes but it also had donations from each box set go to the Audubon Society to help with a species of hummingbird that is native to California. A great cause for a great box! Let’s see what WNW brings to 2019!

Set at Electric Daisy Carnival Vegas 2018: Alan Walker! Even though I can’t take a flight to Vegas every year for EDC but this year’s videos shown a lot of great sets but I have to give it to Alan Walker’s set! I like his music the most because it has a science fiction feel to it and of course I did create a makeup look to his song “Ignite.” His newer stuff is pretty good too and I highly recommend. If you can’t make any of the EDC events this year, you can always catch it on YouTube!

Worsts

I do have a few worsts this year since I felt like not that many had happened but I will get to it!

Moment at a Convention: My Cane Breaking! I never had this happen before and that is my cane breaking at a convention. Someone pretty much stepped over and got caught in my cane and caused it to crack. Still makes me mad that people are blind to blind people and well, thinking we’re are like Terezi from Homestuck which we’re not, the cane is real. Hoping this year with cons I don’t experience this again because it’s not fun meeting an annoyed mobility instructor at work, even though it was not my fault because I was using proper cane etiquette and the person just shown up out of nowhere.

Makeup Moment: Being Makeup Shamed! Apparently, this year there has been a bit of makeup shaming taking place, more recent actually and I became a victim of. Seriously people? When did we came down to this? I understanding roasting someone for laughs but doing it with makeup is not cool. I did hear there were Cosplay Shaming Groups but there are groups for makeup and a newer one came up and someone from the What’s Up In Makeup Group did use my pic for it. I don’t get why we feel the need that this should be okay when makeup is a creative outlet for a lot of people, especially me. At least the person got kicked out for it because in the group you are being watched.

The Most Okay Movie: Solo! I had to mention an Okay Movie but not necessarily a Worst Movie either and that goes to Solo. It’s the movie that tells the story about how Han Solo got the Millennium Falcon and we get to use Lando get his butt kicked for it. It was not that bad and it did get bad reviews for it, when you look at it, it was competing against a Marvel movie at the same time. We did enjoy it.

Game: My Hero Academia! I have to mention this one because Gondras was looking forward to this game but it didn’t come out to being the one he was hoping for and it was the My Hero Academia game. It was supposed to play like Ninja Storm where you got to play the different story arcs but the only ones you get the arcs from the Stained arc through rescuing Bakugo! Even though those are nice arcs but Ninja Storm started from the beginning so you could play through them while here it’s the best arcs being played. Not only that, they didn’t use the English cast for this either. The Funimation dub of the show is one of the best dubs they have done and wishing they recorded this with them because they picked a lot of great actors to be in the dub. Sorry My Hero Academia, we prefer the anime.

What’s Up For Us in 2019? Well, another year at Omni Fandom Expo and just in time for new promo material. Even though we have business cards but we need to step it up and we will get it in time for this year’s convention. We aren’t sure about other cons but shooting for another year at Ranger Stop and of course new content for the YouTube Channel including new playlists to come! Also, I just re-subscribed to Boxy Charm and glad to get it back! It will be separate from Ipsy so stay tuned for our new stuff in 2019! Until next time everyone, have a safe and Happy New Year and see you in 2019!

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by moonleopard85 on January 1, 2019  •  Permalink
Posted in anime, Blindness, conventions, Favorites, Gaming, Interviews, Movies, Personal Experience

Posted by moonleopard85 on January 1, 2019

https://nerdyshiqueuniverse.com/2019/01/01/bests-worsts-of-2018/

Convention Impossible: Holiday Matsuri 2018!

Hello to all of my beautiful nerds traveling the vast universe! It’s time for our Convention Impossible post on Holiday Matsuri. It’s going to be a hard one this time around which I know there will be some Needs for Improvement.

Disclaimer: This review is based on thoughts and observations from the lead writer of this blog. Please respect her thoughts on the convention and its rating because not everyone has the same experience especially with this convention.

Oh man! Where to start! This year we had a different experience from past years since it felt like the convention gone and went without even knowing. We did stay at the World Center like last year and I felt like we spent more time in the room than the con itself. Let me talk about the hotel.

Hotel: Like I said above, we stayed at the World Center and we spent some time before heading there by getting some shopping done for the weekend as in getting food to eat in the room and getting checks cashed because apparently there was a security breach that took place and best to use cash at the hotel areas itself rather than your card. Trust me, being hacked is not fun. So, we got to the hotel and the parking was packed! Apparently, besides Matsuri, there were two other events taking place and it was a military ball type event and a business convention in one of the wings. This does happen at some venues where some events take place at the same time, especially with conventions. Good examples, the cheerleading competitions during MegaCon when they were held in March, Omni Fandom Expo taking place at the same time as Florida Anime Experience when they first started, even a beauty pageant took place at the World Center as Omni Fandom Expo taking place, these are a few but these three going on at the same time caused parking to be full and Gondras was told to park at the outlets and take the shuttle but he did find a parking spot. We were glad we had East Tower this year with our room and it was a one bed and one couch situation. I did remember that leading up to the convention that they talked about rooms being sold out and the Queen Bed rooms were taken by then and I have a feeling people from the other two events were also staying in those. So glad they extended stay slots at other hotels in the area to cater to everyone. We were afraid that Hol Mat would be moved next year but heard that it won’t so who knows where we will be next December. I did point out Gaylord Palms but realized that they have their Ice exhibit and that would be an issue to hold Hol Mat there unless they give discount tickets to attendees, just saying. We did have a great stay this year and man that King Size Bed was comfy. Also our roomie was great too! At first we asked on the Hol Mat Housing Group to find new roomies and the first cancelled due to financial reasons which does happen, second one what friends coming, and third person was a major charm! She was awesome and she is a big Tales fan and she did host a trivia panel which I will get to later!

Game Room: I have to point this out because this year’s Game Room was very impressive this year and better than years before. Not only it featured your classic cabinets that you tend to see at this convention but we also had Japanese games including the famous Gundam pods! If you haven’t been to Japan in the Otaku areas, it’s basically a Gundam cockpit simulator game where it’s in an arcade that you have people dressed as the attendants in the Gundam anime series and you get to be in the pods where you get to pilot Gundams ranging across the vast series. Gondras wanted to play this thing so bad if we ever got to go to the arcade with it and they brought it here except he didn’t fit in it due to how tall he is. That did make him happy that they brought it to a convention of all places where a lot of fans would roam around. Also, there was the Rock Band set up which not only had the classic songs but there were a few more added in. Besides this room having games inside there were games spread out in the convention itself like Music Tag near the vendor’s room which I will get to now…

Vendor’s Room: I liked it better this year than the last. How so? Not only it felt bigger but the vendors were better this year! As in there were more variety in merch than it has been before as in plushies, apparel, even artists for instance which I felt like I bought more items from as usual since I do love handmade items since they are more unique. Some of these items include a seatbelt type belt for your pants featuring Happy. You know I love the kitties from Fairy Tail and haven’t gotten much of Happy lately and glad to get this because this is a comfy belt! As in, you just have a cloth strap versus leather which to me leather belts do become uncomfortable even while being Lucy thank you very much! I should have taken a card from this vendor because I would want to see if they can make a plain black one. I also did find my favorite seller who had the cat ears and tails. She did give me a discount again which made me happy and did pick up two of her newer furs which one pair of ears and tail had pastel spots all over and pink bows with the bells and I didn’t mind having that on my ears because they matched better with the pastel spots. As you know, calico kitties are one of my favorite types of kitties. While the other pair is more interesting which is a very fluffy fur that is in red with silver striping. I didn’t get the bows and bells, which I should have asked, maybe I should message her about that but it was so soft that I did hand her the money for them too. I love her ears and tales and I suggest buying from her. I did run into Japanese Snacks Guy at the front of the room which he had a really good spot. He had new items which are these long gummy things. They remind me of those jolly Rancher bars I remembered as a kid which I wished I could find them again but as a gummy. I haven’t opened them yet since I have been munching on candy canes all thanks to my L cosplay! I am not kidding, after Hol Mat, I have not only my remnants of the Hershey’s candy canes but two boxes of Sour Patch Kids canes, a box of soda flavored which features Crush, Dr. Pepper, and A&W Root Beer canes which the A&W got my interest since that is my fave root beer ever! And now waiting on a shipment of Trolli Brite Crawler ones which I did order a box through Shipt and they taste good! They aren’t overbearing sour since the sour powder is inside. Anyways, I did get another pack of Hi-Chew which is green apple, I did like this flavor from long ago when I first got into them and got a bag with multiple flavors. I still have my stock just in case I need something to chew on even at work and that is not gum. Also, I did get something chocolate but only one item since I still have a big container of mint bark and a chocolate bar thing from Gondras’ job and my chocolate container filled to the brim. They are these chocolates I did love but this time different types of strawberries which is going to be interesting. Other items I did get were for holiday parties, I did get a Charmander for a toy drive party but didn’t go due to really bad weather rolling through Daytona Thursday, even a tornado warning happened and had to stay in the building, and got a Groot keychain for a White Elephant gift thing for the staff party and was entertaining seeing that get passed on for a gift steal. I also got a new Jolteon plush which you guys know I cosplay as my own Thunder Gym Leader and I had a plush from Disney of Jolteon but it was a chibi form one. This one is him on all four legs like my little figure on my desk. Trust me I couldn’t resist since the only Evees I have left to get are Umbreon, which I have a Dark Trainer in mind, and Espeon, which I haven’t done a Psychic trainer yet. I will have to wait for Omni to see if anyone sells an Umbreon in the same style as my Jolteon which the interesting thing there was one but in a prize machine. I did almost have Gondras get me Umbreon as a belated birthday present but I wanted the Pikachu with the Rawst Berry instead because I didn’t know when I could see that one ever again. And Gondras did get something and that was Keith Silverstein’s autograph on his Persona games. When we heard Mr. Silverstein being at the con, Gondras wanted to bring him something that was rare and it was these games he got from Cyber Tron Gaming here in town, which is a game shop that sells vintage games and some anime too. Which by the way…

Guests: Oh man the guests! Did we interview? Yes! The only one we didn’t interview was Zach Callison because by the end of the weekend according to his Liaison that he was done for the weekend. Hoping we can get a Skype interview since we have a line to get to for that with some people from Ranger Stop, I did Tweet Zach to see if he can do it with us and haven’t heard back. We did get to have a video interview with Brittney Karbowski which was great, I know we did interview her years ago at MetroCon but had to transcribe it and now that we do video ones it worked out. And we did interview Jennifer Hale finally! As you guys know we wanted to do it at MegaCon 2017 but since everything going down we didn’t get it and since this was another chance for us we did get to sit down with her for one and it was great! We will get the videos up as soon as possible if we can since I am really busy with work and Gondar’s is to, we will try to get them up as soon as we can so stay tuned on Twitter!

Panels: We didn’t go to many this year. I did say we spent most of our time in the room and I felt bored. I know it’s sad since panels are the greatest part of the convention experience. Not only that this year we didn’t have a real coverage schedule which I will get to that later due to press not being as organized as it has been. I admit I was on Colour Pop and Ulta’s websites shopping since Ulta was doing a gift to spend $35 to get a free gift from their brand. I did make it and it’s at my parents’ place, I am thinking of doing a collective haul of beauty stuff since I did buy clothes for work and fleece jackets too since it was freezing here for a bit. And Colour Pop did a 40% off pallets and picked up two I was eyeing on and a $30 off their Lux Lipsticks which I got one I wanted. So, yeah I was a bit bored. We did go to two yaoi ones, well me with Vivi and Tobi. We went to Yaoi after Dark and Yaoi on Ice, the Voice Actors panel on Saturday which Nerdy Shirts did record from the start which we were late due to something that took place. And the Funimation Peep Show. I told you guys not that many and wishing we did go to more or at least had a set schedule this year. I did try submitting Blind Perspective but didn’t hear anything about it, I think it was not approved being it a writing panel. Oh well, I don’t think it will be a panel I will submit again, I do want to bring Blind Experience though since that was a success even though some people did tell us it wasn’t that great. I think it is a success in my eyes and people did enjoy it during Hol Mat 2013. Let’s see what 2019 brings. I did forget to mention the Tales Of Trivia Panel, that was also a fun one since all thanks to playing Xilia 2 for the most part with Gondras, I did get to answer the questions on that game. I did win the Mila and Jude keychain or shall I say phone charm.

Verdict: Convention…abor…Complete! I am saying why! I felt like this convention was almost an Aborted this year due to some things going on but I give it a Complete because I have noticed some staff were working harder than others and I will explain in Needs for Improvement!

Needs for Improvement:
Hotel NFI: Don’t Plan SO Many Things At Once! I know this is something that does happen but I feel like the hotel was overbooked for events this year and as said above that included a business convention in the western part of the hotel, the Military Ball, and Hol Mat. This caused a major parking problem and I felt like due to the overbooking not everyone could park at the hotel even when you were a person with a room. I did see that on the group were there was supposed to be more parking areas but it wasn’t noticed. Even motorcycles took up an entire space! There should have been parking slots for motorcycles instead of having the riders do that. With the Outlets parking, I don’t think anyone of us who owns a car would have enjoyed it. ZI did see one of our friends did have to park there but being towed is not great either. SO, my message to World Center, don’t overbook when you know hol Mat is there for you guys. Not only that for anyone who wants to hold an event in Orlando at the same time as a convention, there are other places in town that you can hold events and some of them are pretty big like the Caribe Royale where Hol Mat was at, Rosen Shingle Creek, Rosen Center, Holiday Inn Across from Universal has a decent size ballroom, I can go on, even the Florida Mall Hotel is pretty big with how Omni holds their events. I would say do research in holding events at other places please, there were so many people coming to this thing, plus some people did say they had complaints about some of the Military Ball attendants, which I haven’t heard much of.
Attend Your Meet Ups! I have been hearing about how meet ups are being held and others just had people bail on them, this is according to Vivi. I understand the convention is filled with shiny things that you can be distracted by but having a meet up with people that you schedule on a group is something important from what I have seen. I remembered people posting meet ups for Naruto, My Hero Academia, even a Lolita one and these are planned ahead in time and scheduled with the convention and it not happening is something that says it was not cared about. I know Vivi was excited for the Yuri On Ice meet ups and the Lolita Meet Up because she ordered an actual cord for her first time and it’s sad to hear that it didn’t go well, it was just crafting and some people almost came in but didn’t go in since it wasn’t really a meet up. I guess I am glad that I didn’t go through a meet up, I bet if I were to cosplay as Sue or one of the Wild Pussy Cats from My Hero Academia and find out the meet up wasn’t happening at last minute where people just left I would be mad! I am not sure if that still happened since that would have been fun to witness.
Press.pardon my French…WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO YOU GUYS!? Sorry guys, I had to ask because the past few years Press was really organized ever since we have started getting the press pass with them and thought they were a good con to go to since we have seen great and unique events, meet up with awesome guests and hoping to interview them. I was glad we got the interviews this year and I noticed that the Guest Relations people were working harder since they had to take care a lot of people and working with press for possible interviews like us. Press this year….I know they had higher demand…I know they probably have been swamped…but I was lucky to meet someone who helped in getting us in. I haven’t seen bad organization since JACON 2009 actually. To tell you the truth, I preferred Press at Hol Mat to be more organized as in first of all having a set schedule to cover events which was great, it helped get more coverage out there even on our channel where we had so many videos, like our coverage from last year and the year before, not only that it kept us going to more events too that we never got to see. I also enjoyed that! We also got great pics from the Cosplay Runway over the years and now this year we didn’t go due to our interviews which was fine in my book. This year without that set schedule, yes we got to be a bit more slack but I missed it especially doing the Google Hangouts which the past two years we got to sit down with the Press Staff, even last year was the best Hangouts because I got to talk to the other teams that were covering Hol Mat but now this year I am wondering who else got approved besides us or shall I say who else got handed Press Passes? We didn’t get to meet anyone from Press unlike last year where we got to meet some of the other Press teams in person. See where I’m going? I know Press can have high Demand and I can see why with this year but not being able to see who else is doing it with you makes it like you’re the only ones doing it. I am glad that whoever has known what we do remembers us, even the staff member who has responded to my post about my giving away some of my manga due to the move knows about us all thanks to her daughter. That is why for 2019 starting with Omni Fandom Expo we will have better promo materials since we have worked hard especially this year with Omni, interviewing APl DeAp at the NFB Convention, Ranger Stop, and now with this one I felt not so much work. I am sorry guys but with my rating with what I was about to say was almost an Aborted because I felt this convention felt disorganized and Vivi pointed out that attendees weren’t as friendly in person as I have seen more people talking on the group and once the con does happen not a lot of people talk in person, it just becomes a huge standoff mess. I did have fun with our roomie though during her panel since it was a trivia thing and hoping to get to stay with her again maybe for Metro and we are looking into a room for Omni next year since working now we can do hotel stays a little more often. Also was supposed to meet another person I have met on the board but she was in line for something. I know big tangent…next point…
Watch Out for Disabled People! What do I mean by this, I had my cane cracked by someone during the con? I know, gasp! Okay, the story is that Gondras and I were heading over to the voice actors panel on Saturday and on the way there someone walked up and walked and in front of my cane but in the worst way, it was halfway up the cane and tripped over it and caused it to crack. I wasn’t hurt nor the person and it caused the cane to twist and cracked one of the joints where it collapses. We did get it duct taped Sunday because using an umbrella was not easy for me, I even ran into a wall since I missed my cane so much and almost cried Sunday because of it helping Gondras carry stuff to his car. This was something that still made me mad and bid felt like I lost a best friend when my cane cracked. Even the mobility instructor was annoyed when I told him about what had happened when I went to get a new cane, I didn’t show up with my taped one because I felt awkward so I show up with my short cane I had since my college days. I know the con was crowded but when I am at cons using my mobility skills people step aside! Even people with guide dogs, wheelchairs, and even crutches get that treatment too but what I went through was even worse. The person who tripped even said, “I didn’t know!” I was appalled when I heard that because here is the thing, all thanks to the comic Homestuck, people have cosplayed the blind character in that even back in 2012 when the comic had a major spike in popularity and people thought my cane was a prop and I was cosplaying the character when I now the comic with the troll side having candy corn horns. I even remembered seeing someone with huge horns from that comic, I think they did a better horn design for their character they were doing. Anyway, I cosplay as characters like Lucy, my many Pokémon characters even my variation of Link, and so on and my cane is always with me. Plus, it is my symbol of being someone in the bind community getting to enjoy a convention like a sighted person and doing press for it. So please guys, watch out for people in wheelchairs, guide dogs since there was a story that Vivid Barnacle read that someone had their service dog get hurt really badly at a con to use as an example, and watch out for blind canes because they’re not props and blind people are real! Yes Homestuck did have one in comic form but we are real!
Please Wait to Celebrate After the Con! What I mean by this is that I did notice that there was a meet up at Volcano Bay three weeks before the con or was it four weeks, can’t keep count but still it was planned during my moving weekend. It is great to have meet ups outside of the convention and good to party but best to save it during a time after the convention or during like how AFO does it with any volunteers. During the last three weeks before the convention it should be taken as a way to plan and make sure things are finished as and secured for the con, plus I think that would’ve been a better Saturday to do the Google Hangouts for Press too since I did get my internet in and would have spent the time before my dad shown up to take me for my grocery trip talking to the Hol Mat Press Crew and when the con is over then you can go to Volcano Bay or have dinner somewhere. I did notice that not every convention goer could go to this thing, like I said I was moving that weekend, so best to just save any big party things for after or at least during the convention to do a pat on the back thing for a job well done. The convention weekend is the real test of how the event goes rather than thinking it will be great in advance. That’s my opinion on that.
Need Better Security! Even With the Rooms! Apparently this year there was a lot of stuff being stolen, even a projector was stolen from someone’s room. I am glad no one went to our room or Vivi’s and Tobi’s room. I would be pissed if someone stolen my Braille Sense Polaris because that thing isn’t cheap! There should be better security at this thing since we have seen so many things happen at cons and now this taking place I feel a little unsafe with Hol Mat knowing that people broke into hotel rooms to take things. It’s sad that people are willing to hurt others to get their stuff, one thing is it’s not right, just save up for that product you want and then buy it. Someone else’s stuff is not yours people and plus you are risking your freedom for jail and being banned from the con itself. So, please better security.

Well guys that is it for this year’s review. I know a lot of people had fun during this weekend but I felt like even though we were Press doing what we do but I felt like this year was not the year that we had more work as Press. I did mention above on asking what had happened. I know conventions are supposed to be fun but I did say in my Ranger Stop review that I enjoy doing press and looking at this one I felt like my experience at Hol Mat was not as great as it had been last year and with 2016. I understand there being a higher demand in one department but Press could have been better handled. We did try to salvage what we could, we did enjoy our roommate which she was fun and she did have to volunteer during the weekend. Are we coming back? It looks like not so much at this point. I did answer someone asking who is going to what in 2019 and we just got word about our Press Passes for Omni Fandom Expo which is a great Christmas gift and hoping to get a room next year for that since I do live here in Daytona now. And of course Ranger Stop since that was a major blast this past year even getting to interview some of the guests this year. Vivi did mention MetroCon which I want to go back to due to how that one was our first Press job of all time and it’s been years since we’ve gone back to them. AFO…it will take us forever to meet their press requirements of how many followers which I wish we could have a bypass on that when we have done a lot of work already and do have still have a small following and Reuben Langdon is on our list for interviews we want to do. Let’s see what 2019 brings with our Press work!

Note: I know it seemed biased with this review but people experience different things and this is how I felt about this year’s event. I want to thank Jerad from Guest Relations who worked hard in getting us the interviews that we were able to do and Trina Wilson for helping us get our press passes when we didn’t get much of a response when it comes to how many applications they have received this year. If anyone from Hol Mat’s staff reads this, sorry for being harsh but I was pretty honest and observed what I have been even before the convention itself, it is a big “IF” in coming back. Thank you for understanding.

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by moonleopard85 on December 24, 2018  •  Permalink
Posted in anime, Cartoons, conventions, cosplay, Panels, Personal Experience, Reviews, Television, Travel, Video Games

Posted by moonleopard85 on December 24, 2018

https://nerdyshiqueuniverse.com/2018/12/24/convention-impossible-holiday-matsuri-2018/

Technology: Review on the Braille Sense Polaris by H. I. M. S. International

Hello to all of my beautiful nerds and welcome back from traveling the vast universe! It’s time for a technology review!

Braille Sense Polaris by H. I. M. S. International!

Disclaimer: This review is based on observations and experience of the lead writer of this blog. Please respect her thoughts and opinions!

It’s a long time coming but finally get to review this device and that’s the Braille Sense Polaris. As you know, I have been using Braille tech for a long time and this is the latest note taker that has been released a year ago.

Built with Android tech, the Braille Sense Polaris not only acts like a Braille note taker but also acts like an Android tablet using apps that can be downloaded from the Google Play Store and use a touch bar under the the routing buttons right above the Braille display. There are many functions it can do such as reading books, using the Word Processor to take notes and even read Excel Spreadsheets, on top of that also has a built in camera to use many apps that rely on it.

My thoughts on this device has a lot of pros but does have its cons with it too, let’s see what I think!

Thoughts: I have had much experience with the H. I. M. S. International Braille Sense line with starting with the Braille Sense plus QWERTY model which is basically what if you took a keyboard from a computer and attached to a Braille display and took notes that way. Reason why I went with this one is because being in college you have to pay attention to the lectures and and figuring out the contractions while the professor speaks then you will miss something important and having this one did help me out, even though I am a fast typist and there were times when it couldn’t keep up. Plus, it did help with reading some books that were hard to read for class assignments. This did go on with using during my earlier press jobs at MetroCon 2013 and 2014, Omni Expo 2014, and of course MythiCon 2014 until one of my keys ended up breaking off and that got me to the U2, which introduced me to the Perkins Brailler keyboard. I thought it would be simple but it wasn’t because unlike the QWERTY counterpart you have chords to use which is a Braille character with the spacebar combined. I did have to remember a lot of them as time went on but got a hang of it until the battery decided to give me issues and knew I had to step up and that’s where the Polaris came in.

There is another device I was introduced to and knew about and that was the Braille Note Touch which what if you took an Android tablet and placed a Perkins keyboard on top and you can also use the touch screen to Braille with it as well. You can even use Bluetooth devices with it too but one thing I didn’t like about it was that it was heavy. You not only have the tablet portion but you also have the keyboard on top to add to the weight which as you know I do press at conventions and having something lightweight helps so that is why the Polaris was better for me. As in, going from panel to panel, being able to access it easily to interview people and so on made me choose this device more. Plus, I am more familiar with the Braille Sense line than the Braille Note line which makes it even easier for me to use the Polaris more.

What Do I Like the Most: What I like the most about the Polaris is that it added more features to it since we are not only playing with a single product but with a second platform at added to it which is Android and it gave Braille a better advantage since nowadays people are using Android and Apple devices for their daily tasks. Besides note taking, I do love using my Polaris to pair with my phone in order to navigate through Facebook, Instagram, and even sometimes email with it since dictation likes to be tricky even in text messages but of course I have been using it with the video function on my phone because well if you have seen my earlier beauty videos, Siri talked a lot in them. Imagine with all the comments I got, I did get some tips from someone from a tech company who did demonstrate the two devices for me. It did help and using the Polaris with the phone while recording does tell me the video is still recording without having to get up and go to the camera to see if it is still recording. Nice little feature.

Another thing I did like is how the Help Topics were expanded because you have so many new features to use within the Polaris itself and remembering everything can be a hassle so having different Help Topics to go back on does help out, heck even there was a section for me to look at on the Touch Bar itself since I didn’t get much information about that which I will talk about that later and will talk about the Touch Bar now!

The newest feature that was added was the Touch Bar which is a strip placed in between the routing buttons and the Braille Display itself. You can turn on the Touch Bar by using the Global Settings Options and use this feature as if you’re navigating a tablet screen. As in, you can swipe with your fingers across this strip to go between the programs, double tap to go into apps, and so on. It’s a fun little feature and yes if you have long nails it can be tricky so I would say clip your nails back if you can.

Another feature is of course being able to download apps from the Google Play Store and being able to use them in this environment. Great thing about this feature besides downloading is that if you have an Android phone or tablet yourself you can download the apps you had on those devices and place them onto the Polaris itself which is great because you can use Google Docs and Sheets between the two and able to save and open these kinds of documents between the Braille Sense side and the Android side. Not only that, other apps can be downloaded too if you haven’t used them on other Android devices such as a printing app. My mom has a wireless printer and during the summer I didn’t have any ink in my printer so I decided to try out her printer with my Polaris and downloaded the printing apps I needed and it worked out beautifully! And remembered when I mentioned the camera? There are apps you can use with this feature and one app I did test out while using it is of course Be My Eyes! While I was at the NFB Convention this summer, I did ask if it could work on a Braille device with a camera and they weren’t sure about it and afterwards I put it to the test and downloaded it to my Polaris. It did work! Even though you can’t see the object through the camera but it does act like a video camera for the volunteer? I also heard that KNFB Reader can also be used this way so I am waiting for my chance to download it during a sale, if I can, to see how well it works out for me. I would love to read my documents during work with this app and it is a dream of mine to be able to have it.

Cons: Besides the Pros, there are cons to this device. First is and hearing it was fixed with the last update and that is how in Word Processor where writing gets jumbled. As in if I was writing something, it gets moved automatically like if you were using a laptop, trust me I didn’t like that due to the Mouse Track Pad. I wasn’t the only one who experienced this either since other people at the NFB Convention also went through what I went through. Now I have to see about it being fixed during Ranger Stop when I take notes.

Another con is using Google Docs and Google Sheets, I am not sure if this is the same issue with Slides but I have noticed while trying to type in Docs I sometimes get taken out of the document area and it’s hard to get back in. Now, I am not sure if it will work better since I have been trying the Touch Bar and if it would still have me in writing a document but this annoyed me while trying to write my latest fan fiction and had to restart the chapters over and over. I will see how it goes with using the Touch Bar feature and get back to you on that. And with Sheets it feels like when you add columns it’s hard to go back to previous columns since it can only fit a few on this kind of display. I did mention Touch Bar and I will see how that goes and may write a post about my experiences with the Touch Bar since apparently I am the only one so far trying it out. Anyways, I do like how I can just construct the spreadsheets on this device but trying to navigate the columns and rows not so much, wishing they can expand on this which I will mention in the Improvements area.

And finally, not all of the apps are optimized for this kind of environment. What do I mean by this? Well, while downloading some of the apps through Play Store, I did notice there was a message mentioning that this app is not optimized to the Polaris itself as in its optimized for tablets and phones only. I understand you’re using a Braille device but being able to have the Android system built in to add more functionality to the device itself the app should be able to operate normally and optimized to be used in this environment. Not sure how well the apps are able to work on the Braille Note Touch, I have a feeling since that that has a screen it is optimized better in their environment. Not only that, some apps can’t be used on this type of device which includes Kindle which makes me sad, I did suggest that they should add Kindle in order to have more reading options.

How Can This Product Can Be Improved? There are many ways such as making the apps be optimized to fit this device more since it is a new tech being used and of course it is new to this market. I would have to say the most would being able to use the G-Suite Programs without any issues as in being able to type in Docs without being kicked out of the document area. If we’re using Google Suite programs we should be able to use them to their fullest potential especially in the classroom. Yes, we can copy and paste what we wrote in Word Processor but being able to just type it right there it would be easier than just going from one area to the next. Goes the same with Sheets too, having that ability to just create spreadsheets and going back and forth between columns if they get added can be a better extension of using a Braille device with Google.

Another improvement is that that there are recordings of videos about how to use the Polaris and not only that recordings done with the audio recorder on the Polaris too. Sorry to say H. I. M. S., with my super bat hearing I can’t hear it! As in, the audio is so low it is hard for me to hear even raising the device volume to its fullest. It goes the same way when you watch the videos on YouTube on a PC and probably goes the same way on other devices that use YouTube. Hello, a microphone can help out and don’t just use the audio recorder on these devices, no offense I have used it before and it doesn’t record anything loud enough unless you put it closer. Best to just use a microphone and probably talk a bit louder if there is no mike. I even talk loud in all of my videos in a loud room, why not do the same?

Another thing is talk about the Touch Bar more. What I mean is that yes it can be a tricky thing to do and use which I admit I always find myself in the Global Settings if I’m not careful enough but being able to talk about this feature and train people on it, even doing it as an instructional video, can give more functionality to this device. This takes me back to the G-Suite thing, if you guys built it into a device then why not show how to use it? I did say I was able to find out how to use it on my own and as a new A. T. Instructor knowing about this feature does help. Plus, it is a neat feature to use after my small experience with it and its fun to play around with and being able to train someone after learning it first can help give new customers to the company and also show what else the device does besides using the Braille keys. It’s like using the Terminal Mode with the phone, I sometimes need to swipe in order to get around on my IPhone while navigating on my Polaris and cool thing is with the Touch Bar you can swipe to those apps too. So, talking about this feature more can expand what the capabilities are. If Human Ware has the touch options on their devices so does this one and as said before should be talked about more.

And one more thing, knowing with updating the Firm Ware on this device, there should be flash messages saying, “Hey! New Update!” Instead of just guessing. For instance, there was a new update and it was supposed to be released at the end of August but didn’t show up until mid-October. I did check the Update Firm Ware to see if there was one and having a message saying it can help because there are Notifications on this thing like a regular Android Tablet Apple Devices why not do notifications based on that since a lot of these note takers do use Wi-Fi.

Rating: 4 Star Paw Prints Out of 5! Not all devices are perfect and this one is one of them. I know I had some cons and some improvements that should be made. I wills see how the Touch Bar interacts with the Google Suite Apps because I feel like they would benefit more with it than just the keyboard use. Not only that I am hoping Kindle can be used on this thing since I have a ton of books needing to be read and if I’m at a convention and having a break and want a good book to read then that is what I can fall upon besides using the DAISY Player and Bard Mobile. In the end, H. I. M. S. has done a pretty good job but does need to make improvements along the way and hoping they keep making devices like these due to how much tech has been growing and it was a great step up for them due to how much Apple and Android has been big parts in the mobile devices market. Plus, good thing is this can help with getting into Android a little since not everyone uses this type of tech platform and I did say in the Life After Sight Loss live stream recently that you can see what’s best for you by being able to test both platforms and good thing with this kind of device you can use the Bluetooth settings with Apple devices so they can go hand in hand with each other. I think I did make a good choice with this device since I am familiar with the products and now Accessibility and Braille is starting to get more into the high tech field by catching up with Android so it’s living strong. I bet you’re wondering, would I have gone with the Braille Note Touch instead? Even though the features were nice on that thing, if it was lighter than I would but as someone who goes convention to convention, I’d rather go for a lightweight device and not slow myself down. If I were to save up for the Touch itself then I would probably consider it to see how it works and expand my tech knowledge more. Who knows what will happen but I am going to stick with the Polaris and see how much it will improve over time.

That is it for this review! I am glad that I was able to talk about this device since so many people have seen me use it before and always ask me questions. Ranger Stop will be its first convention that I will be using my Polaris at and will be having some fun with it. Let’s see how it goes! In the meantime, follow us on Twitter @ Nerdy Shique for the latest updates and until then stay beautiful while traveling the universe!

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by moonleopard85 on November 2, 2018  •  Permalink
Posted in Accessibility, Blindness, Braille, Personal Experience, Reviews, Technology

Posted by moonleopard85 on November 2, 2018

https://nerdyshiqueuniverse.com/2018/11/02/technology-review-on-the-braille-sense-polaris-by-h-i-m-s-international/

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