The Tech Doctor Blog and Podcast

Robert and Allison have the pleasure of spending this Tech Doctor episode with Keith Watson. Keith is a creative and talented Apple power user who has taught himself to write sophisticated macros using Apple’s built-in scripting language called Apple Script. Recently, Keith began integrating his apple script macros into an extremely feature-rich Mac utility called
Keyboard Maestro.
With the touch of a key, Keith’s macros can do such things as speak the current weather, announce free disk space and check the state of an otherwise inaccessible application called Caffeine.

Keith is making these macros available to anyone who has Keyboard Maestro installed. You can get more information and download the macros at
Keith’s Website.

In addition to thanking Keith for his work, Robert and Allison want to express our appreciation to Peter, the developer of Keyboard Maestro, who has worked hard to improve support for VoiceOver. In this
Blog Post
Peter even offers some sample code to show developers how he has improved VoiceOver access in Keyboard Maestro.

This is an excellent example of how the Apple Community works together to improve accessibility.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Allison begins this episode by telling us about the first few days of being back home with her new guide dog.

Robert next describes his new podcasting equipment. He explains his reasoning for getting a
Mackie ProFX8 mixer.
Robert then discusses his decision to switch from a condenser to a dynamic
Heil PR 40
broadcast microphone. (If you listen carefully, you will hear the old condenser microphone make a brief appearance during the podcast.) Robert discovered that he needed more volume on his recordings so he added a
PreSonus
preamp between the Mackie mixer and the Heil microphone.

Robert would like to sincerely thank Adam, Neal, Deb, Patrick and Davis for their excellent consultation and advice regarding the new equipment.

Robert then describes the problem that blind podcasters have when attempting to record both VoiceOver and a microphone during a Skype call. He describes a brilliant workaround from Keith Watson where one uses Sound Flower and the Mac’s audio midi setup utility to create some profiles that can be hijacked by Audio Hijack Pro allowing VoiceOver and the microphone to be recorded simultaneously. This approach is particularly nice because everyone on the Skype call can hear VoiceOver.

Robert then discusses an extremely powerful keyboard macro application for the Mac called
Keyboard Maestro.
Robert then refers the Tech Doctor listeners to an
Applevis
podcast by Keith Watson and Scott Howell where Keyboard Maestro is described and demonstrated. Robert then shows and explains some of the excellent macros that Keith Watson has created.

Robert and Allison complete the podcast with a discussion of the new
AfterShokz Bluez 2
bone conduction headphones.

We want your feedback. Send comments and questions to
techdoctor@dr-carter.com

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS