----- Original Message -----
From: "T. V. Raman" <raman@cs.cornell.edu>
To: <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>
Sent: Tuesday, November 20, 2001 9:47 PM
Subject: Emacspeak-15.0 (SmartDog) Unleashed!
Emacspeak-15.0 (SmartDog) Unleashed!
----------------------------------
For Immediate Release:
San Jose, Calif., (November 21, 2001)
Emacspeak-2002: Empowering Experienced Users
--Zero cost of ownership makes priceless software affordable!
Emacspeak Inc (NASDOG: ESPK) --http://emacspeak.sf.net--
announces the immediate world-wide availability of Emacspeak
15.0 --a powerful audio desktop for leveraging today's
evolving semantic WWW.
Investors Note:
---------------
With several prominent analysts recently initiating coverage, NASDOG:
ESPK is now trading over the net at levels close to that recently
attained by last year's DogCom high-fliers.
What Is It?
-----------
Emacspeak is a fully functional audio desktop that provides
complete eyes-free access to all major 32 and 64 bit operating
environments. By seamlessly blending all aspects of the Internet
such as Web-surfing and electronic messaging into the audio
desktop, Emacspeak enables speech access to local and remote
information with a consistent and well-integrated user
interface. A rich suite of task-oriented tools provides efficient
speech-enabled access to the evolving semantic WWW. With support
for the freely downloadable IBM ViaVoice TTS (Outloud) speech
synthesis engine, Emacspeak now turns Linux into the first
zero-cost Internet access solution for blind and visually
impaired users.
Major Enhancements:
-------------------
0: Multiple views of WWW pages using XSLT
1: Updated documentation
A) New chapter in online manual documenting all Emacspeak
commands.
B) Online productivity tips for the Emacspeak desktop.
C) New user guide --thanks to Jennifer Jobst of the IBM Linux
Technology Center.
D) Online Speech-enabled Applications List.
2: Speech-enabled OCR front-end.
3: Speedch-enabled ECB.
4: Semantic Support Within JDE.
5: Speech-enabled browse-kill-ring.
6: Emacspeak can be customized using Emacs' custom interface.
7: Enhanced speech-enabled widget support.
8: URL Templates for quickly accessing WWW resources.
9: Speech-enables ERC.
10: Speech-enables MetaPost Mode for drawing.
11: Emacspeak now works with Transient mark mode.
12: Many new convenience commands for the audio desktop in module
emacspeak-wizards.
See the NEWS file for additional details.
Opening Doors To A Windows-Free Millennium:
-------------------------------------
Emacspeak is now voluntarily bundled with all major Linux
distributions. The integrity of the Emacspeak codebase is
ensured by the reliable and secure Linux platform used to
develop the software. Extensive studies have shown that
thanks to these features, users consider Emacspeak to be
absolutely priceless. Thanks to this wide-spread user
demand, the present version is being made available at the
same zero-cost as earlier releases.
At the same time, Emacspeak-2002 continues to innovate in the
area of speech interaction and carries forward the
well-established Open Source tradition of introducing user
interface features that eventually show up in commercial user
environments. On this theme, when once challenged by a proponent
of a crash-prone but well-marketed windowing system with the
assertion "Emacs is a system from the 70's", the creator of
Emacspeak expressed surprise at the unusual candor manifest in
the assertion that it would take popular idiot-proven interfaces
until the year 2070 to catch up to where the Emacspeak audio
desktop is today. Industry experts welcomed this refreshing
breath of Courage Certainty and Clarity (CCC) at a time when
users are reeling from the Fear Uncertainty and Doubt (FUD)
unleashed by complex software systems backed by even more
convoluted press releases.
Independent Test Results:
-------------------------
Independent test results have proven that unlike some modern software,
Emacspeak can be safely uninstalled without adversely affecting the
continued performance of the computer. These same tests also revealed
that once uninstalled, the user stopped functioning altogether.
Speaking with Aster Labrador, the creator of Emacspeak once pointed
out that these results re-emphasize the user-centric design of
Emacspeak; "It is the user --and not the computer-- that stops
functioning when Emacspeak is uninstalled!".
Note from Aster and Bubbles:
----------------------------
UnDoctored Videos Inc. is currently looking for volunteers to
star in a video demonstrating such complete user failure.
Obtaining Emacspeak:
--------------------
Emacspeak can be downloaded from sourceforge --see
http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/emacspeak/ You can visit
Emacspeak on the WWW at http://emacspeak.sf.net or
http://www.cs.cornell.edu/home/raman/emacspeak.
You can subscribe to the emacspeak mailing list
emacspeak@cs.vassar.edu by sending mail to the list request
address emacspeak-request@cs.vassar.edu. The latest
development snapshot of Emacspeak is available via anonymous
CVS from sourceforge.
History:
--------
Emacspeak-15.0 --code named SmartDog--is a follow-up to TopDog
and the next in a continuing a series of award-winning audio
desktop releases from Emacspeak Inc. Emacspeak-14.0 --code named
TopDog--was the first release of this millennium. Emacspeak-13.0
--codenamed YellowLab-- was the closing release of the
20th. century. Emacspeak-12.0 --code named GoldenDog-- began
leveraging the evolving semantic WWW to provide task-oriented
speech access to Webformation. Emacspeak-11.0 --code named
Aster-- went the final step in making Linux a zero-cost Internet
access solution for blind and visually impaired
users. Emacspeak-10.0 --(AKA Emacspeak-2000) code named
WonderDog-- continued the tradition of award-winning software
releases designed to make eyes-free computing a productive and
pleasurable experience. Emacspeak-9.0 --(AKA Emacspeak 99) code
named BlackLab-- continued to innovate in the areas of speech
interaction and interactive accessibility. Emacspeak-8.0 --(AKA
Emacspeak-98++) code named BlackDog-- was a major upgrade to the
speech output extension to Emacs.
Emacspeak-95 (code named Illinois) was released as OpenSource on
the Internet in May 1995 as the first complete speech interface
to UNIX workstations. The subsequent release, Emacspeak-96 (code
named Egypt) made available in May 1996 provided significant
enhancements to the interface. Emacspeak-97 (Tennessee) went
further in providing a true audio desktop. Emacspeak-98
integrated Internetworking into all aspects of the audio desktop
to provide the first fully interactive speech-enabled WebTop.
About Emacspeak:
----------------
Based at Cornell (NY) http://www.cs.cornell.edu/home/raman
--home to Auditory User Interfaces (AUI) on the WWW-- and
SourceForge --http://emacspeak.sf.net-- Emacspeak is mirrored
world-wide by an international network of software archives
and bundled voluntarily with all major Linux distributions. On
Monday, April 12, 1999, Emacspeak became part of the
Smithsonian's Permanent Research Collection on Information
Technology at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American
History.
The Emacspeak mailing list is archived at Vassar --the home of the
Emacspeak mailing list-- thanks to Greg Priest-Dorman, and provides a
valuable knowledge base for new users.
Press/Analyst Contact: Hubbell Labrador
BubbleDog acknowledges her monopoly on the future direction
the the Emacspeak Audio Desktop, and promises to exercise
her power responsibly (as before) going forward.
About This Release:
------------------
According to Hubbell Labrador, this release does not contain
the much-vaunted SmartTag feature --despite the codename.
Emacspeak Inc. promises to introduce SmartDogs soon based on
customer demand.
Windows-Free (WF) is a favorite battle-cry of The League Against
Forced Fenestration (LAFF). --see
http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/cases/f3800/msjudgex.htm for details on
the ill-effects of Forced Fenestration.
CopyWrite )C( Aster and Hubbell Labrador. All Writes Reserved.
GoldenDog (DM), BlackDog (DM) etc., are Registered Dogmarks of Aster
and Hubbell Labrador.
All other dogs belong to their respective owners.
--
Best Regards,
--raman
Email: raman@cs.cornell.edu
WWW: http://www.cs.cornell.edu/home/raman/
PGP: http://www.cs.cornell.edu/home/raman/raman.asc