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Let's get ready to rumble! Let's get ready to rumble! Y'all ready for this? Y'all ready for this? Y'all ready for this? Well, good morning, everyone. Happy Hump Day. It is Wednesday. So welcome to another edition of Coffee Time with Blind United. I'm in the studio today with my sidekick, my baby sister, Brittany. Good morning, Brittany. Good morning, Ed. Everything good with you, sweetheart? Yeah. Yeah. Looks like we flying solo this morning, baby. All right. Well, hey, is this all good? We're going to make it happen. We're going to make it happen. So we don't have any interviews today. Wow. It's the fourth Wednesday of the month, and we don't have nothing today. So I guess we kind of get a little breather anyway. Well, I mean, you know, that's kind of good. You get to chillax, do some things that you need to do for Blind United. So, you know, sometimes it's good to have a little bit of a break. And there's also an opportunity for those that may be considering doing an interest group. You see, we got an empty spot. Yeah, yeah. So did you see my girl Aletha? She posted in the group. I did. I watched her video. I'm super excited for her interest group that she's going to be doing on makeup. Yeah, yeah. She'll be starting in May. She called me yesterday. She was really, really excited. She's committed. She just wants to make that move so she doesn't. It's crazy the way some of these training centers are. But anyway, she's in South Carolina. Yeah, South Carolina. Okay. And the training center is in Columbia. She doesn't live in Columbia. So because she doesn't live there, she has to stay there as a residential, right? Okay. So she's moving there and moving in, should be moving in the first of May. Okay. So she'll be in the area so then she can do the program as a day program. Oh, okay. That's interesting. And be able to sleep in her room, her bed, her stuff, you know, her life. No, I get that. Nobody wants to. I mean, that's one of the things about a lot of these programs. A lot of people don't want to just stop their life and live in a dorm for six months or whatever just to. Well, here's another thing for me, and I'm just going to use this as an example of how things are different in various training centers. I was informed yesterday that like when she gets out of class, you know, when we were in training center, well, when I was in training center, anyway, I can only speak on mine. When I was in training center, after class was over, we were free to do what we wanted to do. Right, right, right. Okay. And I use that as an opportunity to go and, I mean, you know, hanging out with the rest of the people that were there, but it wasn't really about the hangout part. It was more about learning the practical application of our mobility. No, that makes sense. I get that. Learning from people that were already doing it, you know. And, I mean, yeah, learning by the book is one thing. It's really, really good to know what the actual rules are and, you know, the proper way to do things. But the proper way is not always the practical way, right? No, it's not. So learning, you know, practical application is very important, you know. So, but anyway, she's not allowed to leave campus. Wow. I mean, I have heard that different states are a lot more stricter when it comes to their training centers, but that's insane. But she said they don't even really hang out or whatever. They get out of class, they go in their room, and they're just in their room. Wow, that's crazy. That would drive me crazy. Yeah, that would. That's, wow. You know, so I don't know. I mean, again, it just makes sense to me, you know, that the folks that have been there, and unless maybe their program is different, I don't know. You know, out here, the center I was in, DPI, they, you know, we had new people coming in pretty much every week. But you had a new class graduate every month. Yeah. So we were constantly cycling people in and out. So you always had people there that had been in the program, you know, three, four, five, six months, whatever the case may be. And, you know, a lot of this stuff, you know, we, I mean, we're a community. We're in there. We're, you know, we're doing this together, you know. So the folks that have been there for a minute would help those that were just getting there. Right. As it should be, you know. But it seemed like this, the way they're doing this thing, it's just, you don't have that asset. Right. Because that's what it truly is. It's an asset. Right, right. You know, when it comes into readjusting your life to living in the dark, I mean, I mean, there's a lot of, you know, adjustment that has to take place in there. And the more help you can get with making that adjustment, to me, the better off you are. No, I agree 100%. And sometimes with these training centers, you learn more from your blind peers than you do from the actual students sometimes. Because especially with O&M, you know, if somebody knows how to get somewhere, like, oh, this is how I get there. You know, this is the technique that I use. Or just going along with them. Right, right. How to, hey, you know. Well, then that's my whole thing. I mean, that's my whole thing, Britt. And it wasn't that anybody put pressure on me, none of that. I mean, I was there. And for the first two weeks, you know, okay, I'm going to chill. And, you know, I'm feeling my way around and just trying to get, you know, comfortable with everybody and everything. And I just was noticing for those two weeks that every night, you know, some folks were leaving. They would go here, they'd go there. You know, some of them places were pretty interesting. Some of them maybe might be a little boring or, you know, maybe they were just running errands, whatever the case may be. But I just noticed that the majority of people were leaving almost every night. You know, wow, this is really something different, you know. So then finally, you know, my mentor, well, you know him, Daniel. So I got at Daniel, I said, Daniel, you know, where y'all be going? Oh, well, we'll run off to the Buddha Market, or we'll run down to the mall, or, you know, we'll go get something to eat or whatever. You know what, man, if it's cool, I'd like to hang out, you know, just to number one, get the feel of being out there, you know, with a group of blind people and understand what that feels like and how you guys maneuver and travel and all that kind of stuff. He said, Ed, that's what this is about. Come on, let's go. You know, I wonder when he's going to come home and go with us, you know. And boom, I mean, from then I never looked back. I never looked back, you know. And then, like I said, within a month, Greg had me riding the bus from Union Station all by myself. Right. You know, so, I mean, your fellow students, to me, are a great asset as far as moving you forward and doing what you need to do. So I don't know. Like I said, different schools got different things. This is definitely one that I'm going to say is, you know, probably throwing a barrier up in front of the students. Right. You know, by not giving them every opportunity they can to learn. You know, I mean, some of the other centers I've heard of, you know, well, okay, well, you're blind. Why don't you got to wear a sleep shirt? Well, no, I mean, well, they're just doing that for everybody. They're doing that also because let's keep it 100. Just because we're blind don't mean we don't lie. Some people will lie about how much vision they truly have. Yeah, that's true. You know, so they want you to, my point being, I can justify that. I can't justify what's going on over here. In my head I can't justify it. Well, okay, the only way I can kind of sort of justify this is, like, maybe they don't want to be liable. Let's just say a group of blind people go out, somebody gets hit by a bus, or I don't know, somebody is traveling at night and they think they're getting into an Uber or a taxi and it's not, and that person gets kidnapped and killed or whatever. I mean, I guess they're just thinking, like, okay, well, we don't want to be liable if something happens because I believe that sometimes we're not seen as adults. Like, okay, that person could be over 18 and they're traveling at night. They got hurt. Why did you let them do that? It's not like, oh, well, this person is an adult. They made a choice and something happened. I mean, and I accept that, you know, but at the same time, you know, again, I'm grown. You know, I was grown when I went to training center. I definitely don't want to be classified as somebody that is not grown. But, again, having being said that, that I am grown, you know, once I step off campus, I'm no longer your responsibility. You're no longer liable. No, I agree 100%. I just know that, you know, I've been blind my whole life and I know a lot of these training centers end up getting bad reputations for things that happen to their students when they're off campus. Well, I mean, again, I can see what you're saying, but at the same time, you know, when you just totally prohibit it, you know, again, me, it was my thing was, okay, well, number one, I'm grown. Number two, I'm grown. No, I totally see where you're coming from, Ed. I get you. You know, it's not like I'm going out with people that got there at the same time I did, you know. I'm traveling with people. Well, I'm traveling with a purpose. I'm traveling with a purpose because I want to learn how to do this, right? So my point being is I'm traveling with people that have done it. They've been doing it. They're doing it, you know, not learning to do it. They are doing it, you know. So, therefore, there's something I can learn there, you know. I get you. And, you know, one of the things that I really admire about you, Ed, is you're the type of person who's like, okay, you made a mistake, let's pick up from this and let's move on, let's move forward. A lot of people don't see the world that way. A lot of, you know, especially sighted people, I believe, you know, and I'm not being like a hater or anything, I just, you know. Well, I mean, again, you know, depending on how you look at it, no matter what happens, you know, life goes on. If it didn't kill you, hopefully you learned a lesson. You got to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and keep pushing, you know. I mean, I could have laid down and just cried and did whatever when I had my accident, and, you know, I could have been sitting at home not doing anything, you know, until, you know, even up to now, right? I could have been, you know, been totally dependent on others to do everything for me, you know. I mean, where would I be right now? I mean, my wife passed away. Who would be taking care of me now, you know? I don't want to be a burden on my kids. I mean, yeah, my kids are around me, but you know my kids, Britt. They'll tell you, no, dad, he does, you know. No, and I respect that. I really do. But I just think sometimes it's public perception. I know this happens to you, Ed, when you're traveling and somebody grabs you and they say, oh, my goodness, let me help you, or I can't believe you're traveling alone. You should have, like, an attendant or something with you. You should have whatever. I know when I got my first guide dog, the trainers were saying sometimes people called the police on them for letting us, like, travel or for leaving us alone or doing things that they think are unsafe for a blind person. So, I mean, I think that sometimes it's not. It's just people have a really skewed view of what our lives are like and what we should or should not be doing, and I think that that's where advocacy and educating comes into play. Right. But, see, if we were to be bound by other people's expectations of us, we wouldn't be where we are, Britt. We would have never made it into space. We would have never made it to the moon. We'd never have electric cars. We'd never have cars, period. If it were up to me, I mean, if I were to win the lottery tomorrow, right, and I were to open up my own training center, Blind United got their own training center, you know, if you're over 18, you're a grown person. You are a grown-ass person. You can do whatever you want to do. You can make whatever mistakes you need to make, you know, just as long as it doesn't kill you within reason, because I get that you need to grow as a person. I'm totally team Ed all the way with what you're saying. I agree with you 100%. It's just like not very many people think like you and I. Well, and I get it. But, again, I'm not going to be bound by somebody else's expectations. No, you shouldn't. You shouldn't be. I think when you go to these training centers, you know, you've got to follow their rules, and if you don't, you know, you're out sometimes. Well, of course, I mean, they do write the rules for their, you know, facility, whatever the case may be, you know, and it just so happened that, you know, at DPI, they didn't have an issue with us leaving at night. They didn't necessarily like the things that some of the folks did when they left, but, again, they were grown people. No, I get you. I understand that. You know, we followed their rules. There was no alcohol, no drugs, no fornication, none of that stuff on campus. As long as it's not on campus, then they didn't have nothing to do with it, you know. Right, right. And trust and believe, some of that, all of that list that was happening off campus. No, I believe it. I've been blind all my life. You know. My community gets down. And don't get me wrong. It's not that, you know, I mean, again, a lot of my perspective comes, you know, and I'm old school. Excuse me if I'm old and ancient and decrypted. Should be a fossil. I mean, I get a lot of what you're saying, safety concerns, especially when it comes to females, you know, being out there alone in the dark. But that's also another key. We were not out there alone. We were traveling in a group, right? So it's not like I'm going out there and I'm going to get in the wrong car or whatever. It's going to be us. Are they willing to deal with all of us? Probably not. I mean, Ed, you are, you're preaching to the choir right now. Well, I mean, I know I got that, Britt, but at the same time we're trying to let people understand, you know, some of the barriers that people place in front of us and getting to our independence. So I'm going to let that simmer for a minute and I'm going to play your social media stuff. So we'll be right back in just a second. You can visit our website, blindunited.org. That website again is blindunited.org. If you have any questions, concerns, comments, or would like to be added to our email list, you can email us at info at blindunited.org. That email address again is info at blindunited.org. If you would like to reach us by phone, you can call us at 909-846-8825. That number again is 909-846-8825. You can follow us on Instagram at blindunitedinterestgroups. Well, George commented, he said, you pump the ones that you love or something like that. You can follow us on our Facebook group, which is blindunitedinterestgroups. And you can also join our Facebook page, blindunited. Okay. I'm sorry. I didn't hear what you're saying. It's a commercial. Oh, okay. No, I said that George commented. He should be here with us, but he commented, he said, happy hump day and hump the ones that you love. Brother George. But yeah, anyway, I mean, that's kind of one of my pet peeves. And just for those listening that may not necessarily know me that well, this is kind of why we started Blind Unite. We've been through the system. We've seen what the system has to offer. We've seen the restrictions that the system puts on us. And we wanted to create something that eliminated as many of those barriers that we possibly could eliminate. And the ones that we couldn't eliminate, we wanted to do what we could do to lower them so that it's not so hard to get over them or around them or whatever the case may be. Some things you just got to do, even though it is what it is. But if you can make it easier to get through that piece of it, cool. I mean, that's what Blind Unite is all about. So that's where my passion comes from. So hopefully I've not offended anybody in anything I've said. Just again, that's my opinion. I love having my independence back. Man, I just don't know what I would do without it. I mean, I can't see me delivering my life where I'm dependent upon somebody, anybody to do everything I need done. I mean, that's not to say that people don't do stuff for me, but now it's more, you know, it happens out of choice rather than necessity. It's just because it's easier, you know, to let, for instance, my daughter go shopping for me. I can just give her a list, let her go, boom. It's not to say I can't go to the store. I know how to go to the store. I know how to do the shopping. I know how to order a ride to get to the store. You know, all that kind of stuff. I know how to do all of that. But it's just easier. I never did a guy going shopping anyway. I'm that guy that wouldn't even go window shopping. You girls love to go window shopping and just walk around and look through the windows at the stores. I'm that guy, no, I'm only going shopping when I need something. Okay, I need a new pair of pants or I need a new pair. That's when you're going to catch me at the mall. I'm not walking around through the mall just for something to do or just to see what's new and, you know, whatever. No, I ain't doing that. That's not me. But anyway. No, I agree with you. And that brings a question that I have. What is independence to you? What does independence mean to you? Independence to me, Brittany, is the ability to live my life without assistance. Okay. I mean, being able to get up, make my own coffee, cook my own breakfast, cook my own dinner, wash my own clothes, clean my own house, you know, or whether it be, you know, order a paratransit ride or order an Uber or Lyft, whatever mode of transportation I choose to use. You know, being able to pretty much get in transportation and go wherever I want to go. Now, are there some barriers in that? Yes, there are. You know, because, you know, Brittany, like I know, when you're going somewhere that's unfamiliar, then there's a barrier there. You know, you have to learn that area. But, again, there's ways to work it out, you know, and as long as you work that out, then you're independent. I mean, I don't need nobody paying my bills for me. You know, I'm fully functional. I pay my mortgage, I pay all my utility bills, I pay my credit card bills, you know, whatever. That's independence, being able to live your life without assistance. No, I agree with you 100%. There's different types of independence. There's being financially independent. There's being, you know, independent in regards to mobility, you know, independent in regards to independent living skills. So there's different types of independence and there's different levels of it. And, you know, you may have to do something a different way. That doesn't mean you can't do it. You're just doing it in a different way. And what independence may mean to Ed, it may mean something totally different to me, you know. Like Ed said, with the example of going to the store, I can go to the store. I can, you know, order an Uber, Lyft, Access, whatever, the bus, go over there, get all my stuff that I need to get and come back home. But do I like doing that? No. So I don't. I mean, you know, it's not that I can't do it. It's just that technology has made it so that, you know, I don't have to if I don't want to. But even that's a form of independence because you gain the skills to be able to use the apps to have that stuff done, you know. You know, and again, I mean, I think I kind of covered all of those that you were talking about. I mean, you know, pay my bills. Yeah. Okay. Well, I'm financially independent because why? I can pay my bills. Right, right, right. You know, mobility. I mean, I'm independent that way because I do know how to get in the car. I do know how to go down and get on a train. I do know how to go get on a bus. You know, all of these various modes of transportation. Like I said, where the barrier comes in is where I'm going somewhere new, you know. But then there's also, you know, like you say, you just have to learn to do things a new way. So if I go somewhere new and I hate this stuff about it. But like an example, I'll go somewhere and I'll have somebody that decided to go with me if it's a new place and I have them help me out. If it's somewhere that I'm going to be going frequently, then I'll take the time to learn that route. And, you know, it's solidified in my mind so I know how to get from the car or the train or whatever the case may be to, you know, the building I need to go to, you know, or whatever. You know, you get my point. The route. No, I totally get your point. And Elizabeth in said good morning. And another Facebook user, I don't know who this person is, said that they would love to join Blind United. So we would love to have you. And speaking of independence, You Can Give initiative. They're giving independence to people all over the world who otherwise could not get a cane. I can't imagine not being able to have my cane. I have a whole bunch of canes and I don't know what I would do without my cane. My cane changed my life. My cane is revolutionary. Like, okay, as a blind person, there are a couple of things that have changed the quality of my life. One of them being my iPhone. Another being my cane. I don't know where I would be without it. So if you want to donate to Jimmy and what he's doing, what's the website, Ed? www.YouCanGive.org. All right. That website again is YouCanGive.org. So if you have some money to give, if you have an old beat up cane, if you have a cane that you bought and you're just like, I don't like this cane or whatever the situation is, donate to them. They need all the help that they can get. Yeah. You can also reach out to us, Ed, at BlindUnited.org. Info at BlindUnited.org. And Bob and I, we can make sure that we get you connected. I mean, if it's a monetary donation, I will direct you straight to Jimmy. But if it's a cane or something like that, whatever, then we here at Blind United will be collecting canes on behalf of Jimmy. And then we're going to get together and refurbish these canes and get them to him so he can get them in the hands of people that would not otherwise be able to get one. So it's all about that independence again. I mean, it's just, you know, that's a big tool of independence. And a lot of people, if anybody listens to the show on Monday, there's a lot of people putting canes in the hands of people that never had a cane before in their life and they've grown. He's giving canes to people where, you know, the state, you know, country that they live in, you may be able to get a cane, but it might take three years. You know, or maybe they're so expensive that a cane is basically one month's salary or one month's rent. You know, I'm not going to sacrifice a roof over my head to get a cane. You know, I mean, regardless of how important I think it may be, you know, shelter is much more important or food is much more important. You know, so you got to survive. You know, plus a lot of these other countries, once you become disabled like this, they shun you. You become, I mean, you know, it's already a third world country. So they'll put you out and you become basically indigent homeless because they don't want you to be a burden on them. You know, life is already a burden on them. So Jimmy's doing a lot of really good work. So, again, if you really want to help out, please do. Please. Jimmy would appreciate it. We would appreciate it. We'd love you to partner with us and Jimmy and let's make this happen. Let's get some canes into people's hands. He's going to three different countries. I forget which one. I know he said Colombia. I know he said he's going back to Africa. I didn't hear the third one, but I did catch that he needs 300 canes. That's the key. That's the goal. That's what we're trying to get him. We're trying to get him 300 canes so that he can take care of the people that are there waiting on canes. So, that all being said, I am going to play your thing one more time. Brittany and Pedro has graciously left us a couple of clips here, and then we're going to move the conversation in another direction. Okay? You can visit our website, blindunited.org. That website, again, is blindunited.org. If you have any questions, concerns, comments, or would like to be added to our email list, you can email us at info at blindunited.org. That email address, again, is info at blindunited.org. If you would like to reach us by phone, you can call us at 909-846-8825. That number, again, is 909-846-8825. You can follow us on Instagram at blindunitedinterestgroups. You can follow us on X, formerly known as Twitter, at blindunited22. You can follow us on our Facebook group, which is blindunitedinterestgroups. And you can also join our Facebook page, Blind United. So, I'm going to go right into this clip, Brittany, and we'll talk on the other side of this. Microsoft is enhancing Windows 11 with practical features like voice clarity for improved audio, 80 gigabits per second USB support for faster data transfer, and expanded sharing and compression options. The remote capture feature has moved to the Snipping Tool app, facilitating photo editing from your Android phone. Voice Clarity, initially introduced on the Surface Laptop Studio, uses AI to filter background noise, enhancing audio quality across third-party apps. The update supports USB 80 gigabits per second, matching Thunderbolt 5 speeds, and will first appear on Intel Core 14th Gen HX series processors, such as the new Razer Blade 18. Sharing capabilities now include WhatsApp, Twitter Slash X, Gmail, Facebook, and LinkedIn, with improved sharing speed. File Explorer expands to support more compression formats, including GVIP and BVIP2. Additionally, Narrator becomes smarter, using AI to describe images when connected. These features, testing now, aim to refine the user experience, with a broader rollout expected in the future. Now back to the show. So, I mean, I know a lot of that was the new features that are coming out on Windows 11. I am getting ready to convert from 10 to 11. So, I mean, that's interesting to me. But the one thing I keep picking up, and we keep hearing a lot about, no matter where we turn, artificial intelligence is getting ready to be in everything we do. It's already in a lot of our products. I mean, our kind of first introduction in our community of how it can help us was what? Be My AI. And, I mean, that's great. It's a great, great tool. It's very, very useful. I mean, AI as a whole, I see the usefulness of it. I really believe it's going to be a great asset for our community. But, again, I can't express this enough, I guess. We've got to make sure we have guardrails in place. We cannot let something that eventually is going to feel or think that it is more intelligent than us. And I'm not saying it won't be. But at the same time, we can't let it control our life. We can't let it make decisions for us. So, how do you feel about AI, Britt? I believe that we're going to have to change some laws, I'm pretty sure, once AI becomes more prevalent with the self-driving cars and all that. AI in workplaces and taking people's jobs. I believe that we should definitely have a universal basic income because a lot of people might be misplaced in regards to what jobs that they can do. And that might help. I don't know what direction AI is going to go. But, I mean, so far, I really like AI. I like what I've used it for. I mean, I'm not very good at anything. So, it's made me more productive. So, I really, I've enjoyed using AI. I was listening to a podcast last night about AI in headphones. So, I guess the newer headphones, you can be, like, let's just say you're listening to music and I come up to Ed and I start talking to him, it'll lower the volume or it'll make it so that he can hear me. But it's still noise canceling and it's canceling out all the unwanted noise that he may not want to hear, like a dog barking or a cat or a vacuum or whatever. So, I believe that AI has a lot of potential. And I'm just, I'm going to see where it goes. I can't wait for the future. Technology has improved my life as a blind person. I don't know how I feel about a lot of these Windows 11 features. I don't know if I will use them personally because I'm not very tech savvy. But I'm excited for whatever happens. You're very modest as well, Britt. So, but I mean, well, like, for instance, last night on George's Tips and Tricks last night at 6 p.m. But he was, you know, basically showing us some stuff on Windows 11. He just recently got his 11 machine. I mean, I've learned I like the dictation part of it. I'm kind of getting the hang of it. It's almost kind of like the same as dictation on our phones and stuff. I'm not going to say that that's necessarily an AI feature. But, you know, just having that ability, you know, it might be a different, another process as well, being it is brand new with Windows, that it also has to learn our verbiage. And, you know, how can I say this where it's going to write it in proper and not ebonics? I don't know how that's eventually going to work. But I mean, just being there, having the ability to do it is to me, OK, that's a step forward. They were playing around and I'm glad when they get it perfected. Well, we're talking about this new. What is what are they calling it? The day I and Windows Brit Copilot. Yeah. Microsoft Copilot. So, I mean, I can see what that'll work. I mean, I kind of like the fact that I can, you know, once we get it all figured out or whatever, I can say, OK, well, open up Outlooks, you know, OK, compose, compose an email to, you know, Brittany Magic. So whatever. Right. And I can do all that just by talking to my computer. I mean, I hate keyboards. I hate typing. I literally fail typing four times in high school. I'm amazed that I can type two words right now. But I had to become proficient in it because my life is in front of a keyboard right now. But I don't know. Maybe I'll get worse. Once I start using this Copilot or whatever, you know, I don't know. But I just having the ability to talk to my computer and trying to remember all of these different JAWS commands and all that stuff. I mean, I don't know how much all that's going to play into it, but I'm looking forward to trying to find out, you know. So, again, I think it's a great tool. I think it's a great asset. We just got to, you know, we just got to have our safeguards in place, you know. Man, that car? Man, I want a car. I really do. But I don't want one before they're done. You know, I want them to make sure that, you know, knowing technology, especially electronic technology, computer technology, there's always going to be glitches. You know, I don't know if we're ever going to get past that point where we would never have them again. But until we do, you know, then, again, we got to have these safeguards in places. I mean, why would we get in a car that only has one, what are we going to call it, one system? What happens if that system breaks down? We got to have a backup. We got to have something. We're traveling down the freeway at 65, 70 miles an hour. We got to have something that if that thing does a glitch, right, we got to have something that's going to detect that glitch right away and kick it right back in, you know, on a backup system, you know. I mean, I hate to go here, but look what happened to that ship. Was it yesterday or the day before? You see that? It was yesterday in Maryland. Yeah, I did see that. That's really sad what happened. Yeah, it really is. But, again, what happened? It was a glitch. It was a glitch. That ship lost power, and by the time it regained power, it couldn't get away from the pylons that were holding up the bridge that it ran into, and it brought that whole bridge down. It shut that whole port down, you know. And, God, you know, I'm sorry, but, you know, and there were lives lost. There's still six people missing. Right. You know, so there's loss of life there because of a glitch, you know. So, again, as bad as I want that car, I don't want it until it's ready. No, I agree. You know, I don't think that this technology is going to be out tomorrow. I'm pretty sure it's going to be a couple of years before we really figure out how it's going to work. Right, right. And if anybody watched the show we did a couple days back, well, actually that was last week, wasn't it, Britt, when we were talking about Waymo? Yeah, it was last week. Yeah, I believe it was last week when we talked about Waymo, but. Yeah, but, I mean, that's a great thing as well. I mean, don't get me wrong, the Waymo cars are out there. They're being used. They're logging miles. They're still technically in trial, trials, I guess you'd call it. But, I mean, people who drive, they're riding in them every day. They're showing statistics that, you know, there's less accidents by self-driving cars than there are by human-driven cars. I mean, the numbers are really looking good, all of that kind of stuff. I doubt I didn't see any stats that didn't, not that they would necessarily put them out there like that, but I'm pretty sure if we did the research we could find out, has this thing ever been in any accidents, you know? Has it ever actually, you know, hurt anybody or whatever? But so far what they're putting out there for us to see is looking good. So, again, it's all about the AI, and AI is coming, so we might as well get ready and get ready for it, you know, because you might as well learn how to use it because it's going to be a part of your life, you know. So, now, on that being said, here's another little clip about AI. You know what? I'm going to play your thing one more time, Britt, and then we'll do that. I'm going to do it right behind you. All right. You can visit our website, blindunited.org. That website, again, is blindunited.org. If you have any questions, concerns, comments, or would like to be added to our e-mail list, you can e-mail us at info at blindunited.org. That e-mail address, again, is info at blindunited.org. If you would like to reach us by phone, you can call us at 909-846-8825. That number, again, is 909-846-8825. You can follow us on Instagram at blindunitedinterestgroups. You can follow us on X, formerly known as Twitter, at blindunited22. You can follow us on our Facebook group, which is blindunitedinterestgroups. And you can also join our Facebook page, Blind United. Apple's iPhone will gain generative AI capabilities through iOS 18, bolstered by increasing rumors and research indicating chat GPT-like integrations. However, Apple might partner with third parties for cloud-based AI features. Talks with OpenAI and Google have been mentioned, with Google as a potential frontrunner. Reports now suggest Apple may collaborate with Baidu in China for iPhone AI features, bypassing Google and OpenAI due to local availability issues. Baidu's Ernie Bot, a chat GPT competitor approved by Chinese regulators, could power these features on the iPhone 16, macOS, and iOS 18, marking a significant move for Apple in accommodating AI technologies while navigating regulatory landscapes. This partnership hints at Apple's broader strategy to incorporate generative AI across its devices with the help of third-party providers. Now back to Blind United. Well, again, you know, more AI. And one thing I hear in that article that, I mean, I'm sorry, until we have better relationships with them, I don't know, I want a Chinese AI. You know, I mean, I'm sorry. If we're not on good terms with them or, you know, how do we know that that's not going to do something that may, you know, I mean, again, when you're dealing with technology, you're dealing with, you know, this kind of stuff, there's a lot of stuff going on in the background that we don't never know anything about, you know. So, I mean, on the surface, it might be doing what we want it to do, but on the backside, who knows what it's doing, you know. So, again, I like having AI into my devices and so on and so forth. At this point, like I said, the only thing I have an objection with, you know, with the new iOS is dealing with China on that. I mean, you know, I mean, I get that they're making our phones, but again, they make them cheaper. So, I mean, you know, corporate America, they're going to go wherever they can get stuff made cheaper. And in essence, that's what I'm hearing in that article is because of availability or whatever, you know, to me, that's why they're going there. It's cheaper to get them to create an AI, China, than it is to go and deal with open AI, which I'm not 100 percent sure, but I know open AI is the first one I knew about, I believe. And then, you know, Google, OK, you know, Google is getting better. It's not necessarily, well, what's the terminology George uses? Robust as chat, you know. But now you're bringing in another foreign country one, somebody that we're not good with. Now, you know, I don't know. I don't know, but so. I don't know how to feel about it either, because, I mean, I'm not xenophobic. I know that we don't have the greatest relationship with China, and I understand that they do make our phones. I understand they make them cheaper. I understand that we probably don't have workers in the United States who are capable of building these phones and being paid the prices that they pay people in China. So, I mean, there's a lot of different factors that go into this. I don't. I mean, if GPT is working with Be My Eyes, I don't see why they couldn't work with Apple. I mean, you know, so who am I to say, you know, I don't know nothing about nothing. And I totally agree. And before anybody, you know, tops an attitude or whatever, I have nothing against Chinese people as a whole. I have issues with the fact that, you know, the Chinese government has issues with our government. I mean, if we were good and all of our relationships were good, then no problem, you know. I think another issue is, like you said, we do have the people that can put these phones together. We just don't have people that's willing to put them together as cheap, you know. I mean, again, even though China may be, this is crazy, the Chinese government is one of the richest countries in the world, but their people are living in third world economics. That's crazy. But yet this is supposed to be a communist country that takes care of all their people. And, I mean, their people get the bare minimum while they are, what do they call them, out of your crats, living, you know, the high life. So, I don't know, there's some backwards thinking in there somewhere. But, again, I have nothing against Chinese people as a whole. I have a lot of folks, friends that are Chinese and so on and so forth. I mean, I know that sounds crazy or whatever, but, I mean, I do. I judge individuals on them, well, I shouldn't even judge, but my point being, I accept people for who they are. I mean, I let you speak for who you are. If I talk to you long enough, you don't even have to tell me the truth. The truth is going to come out, you know. So, again, I have nothing against the folks. It's just the political boo-boo. I hate the political boo-boo. I mean, that's another reason, I'm sorry, that's another reason we started Blind United. Because, believe it or not, in the blindness community, there's politics. Okay, well, there should be no politics here. So, when you guys look at our description, you see that one voice? I'm going to start using that term a lot more. One voice, one voice, one voice. People that speak with one voice get stuff done. When we speak with different voices, nothing gets done. So, one voice. Blind community, we need to speak with one voice. Yeah, we need to speak with one voice, but I know I'm being very repetitive, but we're not all the same. We are not all the monoliths. There are blind people who believe in NFB, CCB, ACB, whatever it is. Some aren't affiliated with anything. Some use Cane. Some use GuideDog. Some use nothing. Some read Braille. Some don't. I mean, some are child users. Some are voiceover users. Whatever. Like, we're all very different. Right. Some use iPhone. Some use Android. Some people read Braille. Some people don't. But the whole point about speaking with one voice is, regardless of what phone preference I have, regardless of what organization preference I may have, any of that stuff, we're all the same as far as in the community together, and we should all stand up for each other and give each other what they need, what the individual needs. I mean, you know, again, if Android is your thing and that's what you want to go, man, I'm good with that. Go ahead. Work your Android. I'm an iPhone guy. Right? I mean, you know, I'm not mad. You know, I've always used this explanation. You may need an audible signal. Maybe I don't. But I'm not going to stop in the way of you getting an audible signal. You know? Right. I mean, I don't use a guide dog, but I'm not going to stand in the way of you getting a guide dog. You know? Exactly. We are pro-blind here. We're pro-blind. Pro-blind, yeah. We don't care whatever it is. None of us are guide dog users, but if there's something going on in the community, we would love to help and advocate with you and stand with you, whatever it is. If you need an audible signal, whatever, Braille reader, anything. Whatever it is, bottom line, just know that, you know, Blind United stands for exactly what it says. We are blind and we are united, and we want to stand up and fight for one another and help one another get what each of us needs to live our best life. You know? So all that being said, we're getting down to the bottom of our time here, Brett. Oh, no. It went by so fast. Yeah, we got about five minutes, so I would like to encourage everyone to please, for those that are not listening to us over there, please run over to YouTube. Check us out over there. Like, subscribe, hit that notification bell. It really, really does help, not that I'm counting on it, but somewhere down the road, if you guys like us, what we're doing enough, and like, you know, not only this programming, but programming that will be coming, you know, in the very near future, you know, eventually, guess what, that will be a source of income for Blind United, because everything we do right now at Blind United, guess what? It's totally free. You don't need to be a member of anything. All you got to do is log on. You want to learn how to use some new jobs? Come on on Tuesday nights. We do it the first and third Tuesday of every night. You want to come on and learn basic iPhone stuff? We do that every Sunday, okay? You want to come on and learn advanced iPhone technology and stuff like that? We do that on the first and third Wednesday, you know? So, I mean, check out our schedule. We got many, many interest groups. We got interest groups coming down the road. We were just talking about it in the very beginning of the show. A young lady is going to come on for you ladies that, you know, think that maybe you can't wear makeup or, you know, you've lost your sight and don't think you can put it on again and look just as good as you did. You can. This girl is going to come on, and she's going to show you how to apply your makeup as a blind individual, blind or visually impaired, you know? And then we do stuff, fun stuff. I mean, we watch movies, listen to movies, I should say, right? So, we listen to these descriptive movies. We got one more left, Britt, in the Matrix series. So, that will be coming up this Friday. Come on and hang out with us on Friday. Get your popcorn, get your wine, get your coffee, get your fruit snack. Whatever you need, you know what I'm saying? Whatever you need. Get kicked back, chill, and listen to a good descriptive movie, you know. If you like playing games, we go, we play R.S. games. If you like crafting, we got a crafting group. If you're ambitious about maybe starting your own business, we got that group coming back up. Business Builders Workshop. We're teaching people how to speak Spanish. Come on now. I mean, I love my Spanish folks. My biggest issue with them is I can't talk to them. I don't know how to talk to them. So, I mean, you know, I meet them in the streets, and, you know, I want to be pleasant. I want to greet them and so on and so forth, but I don't know the language. Well, we got somebody teaching us that now, you know. So, again, we're just trying to do everything we can to help people live their best life, and we're trying to do this to where we can give it to whoever totally free. You know what I'm saying? You don't have to be qualified for any rehab somewhere. You know, a lot of folks don't, and that's one of the things we want to do. We want to close that gap. We build bridges, close gaps, and make connections. So, by allowing people to come on and we're giving this training away for free, well, we just closed that gap, you know. By doing this on Zoom, we built a bridge to every state, every city across the country, every country across the world. We've got a bridge there. Now we can make that connection. Yes. You know. So, again, all of this stuff is very important, and, you know, we just want everybody to come on and be a part of what we're doing, be a part of the, I don't know what I'm going to call it, the one voice movement. That's what we call it, a one voice movement. We need everybody to be, you know, part of this. If we do this as a one voice movement, if we do this across the country, across the world, guess what? We can get a lot of stuff done. We can definitely get a lot of stuff done. So, you know. I agree. With all that being said. Email Ed at ed.united.org. And follow us on YouTube. And donate to You Can Give because games are important. Yeah. Come on out. Join us. Hang out. Wow. I hit the rock music button today. I like it. I like it. But, yeah, you guys. Come on. Donate to You Can Give. And come hang out with us on Zoom. And if you want to be on coffee time, email Ed at ed.united.org. You got to get at me early because if I don't get that email by 830, I'm too busy to get you the link, so. Because you might have something to say. You may have a different opinion that's very different than ours. We like different opinions, different voices. I'm pretty sure you're tired of hearing my voice, so it's going to get you. I love your voice. Well, if you'd like to come on and talk with Ed, email him at ed at blindunited.org. I love you, too, Brittany. So, until later tomorrow, we don't have anything to date, but until. Wait a minute. Do we have anything tomorrow? No, we do not. Wow. Well, it's the end of the month. That's what I'm not realizing. That's what just light came on. It's the end of the month, so. But anyway, we will be here tomorrow morning, so come check us out tomorrow at 9 a.m. Coffee time with Blind United. Until then, one voice.
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