Monday, October 6, 2025: 11:49 PM: I’ve been thinking that the best way to tackle issues on Brian Schnabel’s Headspace is by summarizing either a quarter or the period since January 1, but I’m leaning toward covering six months at a time. I’ll summarize newer material that relates to the existing sections from perhaps the past six months, condensing everything I’ve documented into meaningful writings that reflect my current life experience. This same method can be applied to other areas like dreams and additional topics I will be integrating from The Briasphere. My goal is to keep things manageable and set the site up to benefit from search engine indexing over at least a six-month period.
Friday, August 15, 2025: 2:11 PM: I’ve gotten everything I need order wise taken care of online involving Amazon and Nature’s Sunshine Products; me once again becoming a registered NSP consultant at the end of July. I also gave Microsoft Phone Link another go. “No joy there!” But, as I narrow down all that is helpful to me and all that is not, the test of the software was worth the time. I keep hoping Phone Link will be improved but performance and screen reader accessibility wise, when I think about it, the app just offers too much overlap with existing systems. “Not helpful productivity wise!”
Thursday, June 26, 2025: 9:14 PM: Yesterday, I realized my air conditioner wasn’t working right. I must have brushed its touch display while messing with the window blinds the day before. But, with some help from Copilot and my phone’s adaptive apps for the blind, I was able to get my GE air conditioner back into Eco Mode. The manual isn’t much help to us blind folk, but, using the remote and a few tricks, I got everything sorted. Figuring out the remote wasn’t straightforward but cycling through modes is easy enough once the Mode Button is identified., Noting some buttons don’t work in certain modes gave me a consistent way of blindly navigating the system after initially getting Eco Mode on by listening for the right fan sounds and AC beeps. It took me a while and honestly frustrated me that I almost had to FaceTime someone just to get it fixed, but I was determined to make it work despite Copilot scolding me for swearing at it over lackluster image descriptions.
Monday, June 16, 2025: 10:56 PM: I spent about two and a half hours working on Marilyn Schwartz’s computer after Outlook Classic suddenly stopped pulling in her Gmail messages. Turns out, Google had quietly removed the application password from her account, and Outlook’s quirky settings; split awkwardly between its own interface and the Windows 11 Control Panel; only made things trickier. Even after a repair through Control Panel sent a successful test message, Outlook Classic still wouldn’t send emails, just receive them. Eventually, I dug into the server settings directly in Outlook Classic and spotted a problem with how the username was entered for the SMTP server, fixing that finally getting things working again.
Sunday, March 30, 2025: 10:37 PM: I started migrating to a new VPS server on March 15th, wrapping up the main work by March 24th, with everyone notified in advance about the transition. This upgrade is all about getting better performance, reliability, and room to grow, plus it’s a big step forward for supporting WordPress. Moving from WHM and cPanel 110 to 124 means we now have improved compatibility and handy tools like MultiPHP Manager and MySQL to customize site setups. I’m still tidying up the imported sites behind the scenes, but that won’t impact on your experience—it’s just part of keeping everything running smoothly. I’m excited about what this means for us, and if you have any questions or feedback about the changes, please reach out. Thanks so much for your patience and support; I think you’ll agree, change really is good!
Monday, March 10, 2025: 1:49 PM: I’ve found that Logitech’s software is just not accessible enough for screen reader users on Windows. While their hardware holds up pretty well (my K380 keyboard and Blue Yeti Classic desktop mic work great) the software side is another story. Frankly, I’d steer clear of their software if you rely on a screen reader, because it’s more trouble than it’s worth. Thankfully, Windows 11 recognizes both my devices right out of the box, no extra Logitech downloads necessary, which is a relief and makes things much simpler from where I sit.
Saturday, February 15, 2025: 12:20 PM: After a quick crash course, I set up Verizon Wireless’s call block feature on my iPhone. It’s not a perfect solution for unwanted calls and texts, but it works well when needed and is free with certain plans. Using VoiceOver as a blind guy made navigating the My Verizon app a bit of a hassle, but I managed to block up to five numbers and tweak my message settings. Verizon does offer a more advanced Call Filter service for extra spam protection, though some plans include it for free. In my experience, this call blocking option is a last resort for handling persistent issues, and sometimes, as I’ve learned, silence really is the best response.
