Thought Wheel

Ann Chiappetta

A Be My Eye Moment

| Filed under writing

The following is an auto-generated description of a photo provided by Be My Eye, an AI app being offered through another blindness assistance app called Be My Eyes.  The best and most exciting part of this app and the AI skill it offers is independence. A smart phone user can now take a picture, then ask Be My Eye to describe it.  It’s mad cool to do this. I read a blog post that states over three million photos have been described with this app.

 

Have you, the non-blind reading this, ever given thought to just how many questions we, the disabled, must ask our family and friends? Reading labels, finding a dropped object, coordinating colors and clothing, etc., etc. “What does that say?” I ask this of my husband quite a lot each and every day.  It’s nice to have someone around to help. But when he isn’t here or I am alone or with other blind folks, this app has the potential to do more than describe a photo and I cannot wait to be part of its future development.

 

Currently there are video conferencing apps, like  Be My Eyes and AIRA,  that connect a blind person with a sighted operator  via the phone’s camera who can assist visually. There is an app called Seeing AI, the skills include OCR (Optical Character Recognition) for reading text aloud with a smart phone’s speech output. The app will describe  faces, colors, currency and street signs/landscapes   and more skills are on the way, I am sure; the app includes a scanner to read  product labels. Imagine an app doing both and adding more skills and possibly being voice-activated.  I won’t go all Sci-Fi on you but one day  this  app might one day become a little electronic dot one could mount on an eye patch or  on the rim of your eyeglasses or maybe even a contact lens.  Until then, friends, let’s have fun with this cool app, Be My Eye.

 

 

 

The picture shows a happy moment in a backyard. A woman with light skin and grey hair is sitting on a black metal chair. She is wearing a beige t-shirt with a circular design on it and grey shorts. She has a big smile on her face and is looking at the camera. She is holding two dogs. One dog is brown with black stripes and has a sturdy build, while the other dog is a cream-colored Labrador. They both seem very content and are sitting close to the woman.

 

In the background, there is a house with a brick lower half and beige siding on the upper half. There is a window and a sliding glass door visible. There is also a small black table with a red cup, a white plate, and an orange ball on it. The ground is a concrete patio with some fallen leaves, and there is a patch of green grass to the left. The atmosphere seems very homely and joyful.

 

 

A Virtual Housewarming 🏡

| Filed under writing

That’s right, it’s Bingo night with Pampered Chef and Cindy G. –

The hostess with the Mostest!!!

Wednesday, November 1, 2023 at 7:00 p.m. eastern via zoom.

 

Here is the link to my party catalog if you cannot attend the zoom bingo. It will stay open until November 8th:

https://www.pamperedchef.com/party/annchiappetta1101

 

 

Many of my family and friends know Jerry and I moved to western Pennsylvania six weeks ago. We left New York behind along with old and outdated belongings.  Yep,  we ditched the cruddy bits and pieces of our past, along with kitchen items   we nursed well beyond their best performance.

 

The most creative and sensible way I know to gather the village and ask for support is a doing a Pampered Chef party.

Inviting you and your friends to a Pampered Chef zoom bingo party  is fun and gives you a chance to find out about these great products that enhance your life . Who doesn’t want to learn more about easier ways to cook and prep food ?  Attending this party will be fun and full of great products. Plus, you might win bingo. If you do buy a product, your purchase will help me welcome some great products into my new home.

Here is the Zoom link, feel free to pass it to your contacts. In fact, please pay it forward, the more sales I receive, the better I will be able to apply my inner chef. 😊 If you want to book a party, Cindy will help you out.

PF products are the best quality and  as a blind chef, I find them safe and easy to use. The products I use most are the  garlic slicer, the mini chopper and   The best utensil is the  lasagna server.

 

My email is anniecms64@gmail.com if you have questions or comments.

Ann Chiappetta is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

 

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/9146362393

 

Meeting ID: 914 636 2393

 

 

One tap mobile

+19292056099,,9146362393# US (New York)

+13017158592,,9146362393# US (Washington DC)

 

 

Dial by your location

  • +1 929 205 6099 US (New York)
  • +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)
  • +1 305 224 1968 US
  • +1 309 205 3325 US
  • +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
  • +1 646 931 3860 US
  • +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
  • +1 689 278 1000 US
  • +1 719 359 4580 US
  • +1 253 205 0468 US
  • +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
  • +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
  • +1 360 209 5623 US
  • +1 386 347 5053 US
  • +1 507 473 4847 US
  • +1 564 217 2000 US
  • +1 669 444 9171 US

 

Meeting ID: 914 636 2393

 

Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/k8JOS7ZY

 

 

by Ann Chiappetta | tags : | 0

Train Trip

| Filed under Poem writing

Last week I boarded the train on a trip from Pittsburgh Pennsylvania to New Rochelle, New York. The ride, about eight hours in total, lacked the typical stressors of airplane travel.  I’ve always liked trains and after this longer trip, I discovered  the rails do something I never noticed before. They sing.

 

During  a handful of long stretches, the familiar clickety-clack we all associate with a moving train faded and a resonating hum emitted. I found it hypnotizing; since I am not a musician I don’t know if   the notes were in a major or minor key or which key. It  started with a low note and increased until the note  reached a soprano and  ended. The audible phenomenon lasted only a short distance and varied. Think of a  finger circling  the lip of a wine glass on a grander scale.

 

Rail Song

By Ann Chiappetta

 

Rails and wheels marry

Sharing the miles

Conversations carry

Conductor  sashays past

In the distance the horn blast

Rebounds reaches the last car.

 

Pastoral corridor  lulls

The song is heard

A message

It conveys

The paring of rail and wheel

The joy of invention.

 

Disembarking  upon arrival

from west to east .

The urge to thank  the thrumming metal beast

For performing it’s rail song

Twitches fingers

 

Stays with me.

 

Annie Shares News V. 2Issue 10

| Filed under blindness Poem Relationships

Annie Shares News Volume 2 Issue 10 October 2023

anniesharesnews@groups.io  Subscribe anniesharesnews+subscribe@groups.io

www.annchiappetta.com  Blog: www.thought-wheel.com

🎃  🍂  🍃

Autumnal greetings!

The most important  announcement is we are now living in Pennsylvania. Western PA cozied up beside Pittsburgh. We found a lovely one level house.  It came equipped with solar panels, three bedrooms, 1.5 baths, laundry, den, picture windows, garage and a beautiful, fenced yard. Not too much to maintain and plenty of living space.

 

I can’t wait to celebrate the holidays here and welcome  visitors who will be able to stay in the guest room.

 

In writing news,  Hope For the Tarnished is being narrated and it is halfway done. My second novel, Imperfections, is scheduled for a spring 2024 release.

 

I am looking forward to winter routines like drinking hot tea, slurping soup and cooking stew in our crock pot. And now I am also a Steelers fan. 😉

 

Here’s to a blessed month. Until next time.

 

The move has inspired  me to write a few poems.  Here’s one I wrote the day we moved from the apartment in New York.

Moving Day

By Ann Chiappetta

An empty room

Where once  life’s evidence  —

the energy and the sound  Saturated

Now Sparseness  joins

echoes. Memory echoes

touch echoes  visual echoes

 

Present yet empty.

 

Medium tan home bottom lined in matching brick. A truck is parked in the drive. A small lawn and peddle walkway in front and flag mounted above garage.  Halloween decorations  and a bench are to the left of the front door.

 

 

The Guide Dog Book Club 💖 🦮

| Filed under blindness Guide dogs writing

Greetings from the Guide Dog Book Club Team,

 

We hope your fall is off to a great start and full of plans for fun times with your dogs, family, and friends. A big woof and wag to the cooler temperatures!

 

Jumping off from the awesome discussion with Sharon Peters on “Trusting Calvin,” we are gearing up for another book club read and discussion. The next meeting of the club is scheduled for November. As always, all are welcome to join. More details to follow on exact date and time.

 

Our next book selection is…(drum roll, please, and hold the appaws):

 

“Forward Together: An Inside Look at Guide Dog Training” by Christie Bane

 

The book is available on BARD and other electronic book services. Get a copy today and start reading for another informative guide dog book club discussion.

 

Here’s a recent amazon review:

 

“This was such an amazing book. The explanations were well thought out, but not overly descriptive. The author was honest and realistic. The writing was down to earth and a pleasure to read. I would seriously urge anyone who has anything to do with the guide dog community to read this. It will increase knowledge and understanding for puppy raisers, handlers, GDMI applicants, other staff, and even the general public. I really really enjoyed this read!”

 

You can also review a synopsis here: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/53548729

 

To help keep us in touch and encourage conversations in the virtual world, we’ve created a new email list serve just for the Guide Dog Book Club community. That’s right, we have a list serve dedicated to our book discussions. Please check it out.

 

To subscribe to the list, send a blank email to guidedogbookclub+subscribe@groups.io. Or request an invitation to be sent to your inbox by emailing guidedogbookclub@gmail.com.

 

We can’t wait to share more information with you, so get those people-paws tapping on your computer or smart phone and sign up! We would also appreciate it if you could share this announcement with other guide dog handlers, puppy raisers, GDMIs, guide dog program staff and family and friends who support the partnership between human and guide dog.

 

Please let us know if you have any questions. Until we chat again, happy reading and wagging,

 

Guiding Eyes Graduate Council

gebgradcouncil@gmail.com