Hello dear Blind Guys Chatters - it’s time for your favourite podcast – hurray! This week we are devoting most  of the show to the final Eurovision Song Contest report from Kevin Sherwin. Yes, even though Kevin is jet-lagged from all the dancin’ and singin’ in Liverpool, he finds time to chat to us about the Song Contest last Saturday night. Did you vote for Sweden or Finland to win? What were the other options? Do you even care? Tell us on blindguyschat@gmail.com. We want to know!   Guess what? Stuart is missing in action again but does manage to take time out of his busy sunbathing  schedule to tell us about an assistive technology event taking place next week in ChildVision, Dublin.   Jan is just back from SightCity in Frankfurt, and he tells us how he got on in the new location for this event.   Clodagh has an email from Blind Gordon, who gives us his review of the Seeing AI app. Kevin Farrell is writing to ask if we can keep Donald Trump in Ireland, spoiler alert: No way Jose!   So, step off the waffle iron, pour yourself a glass of champers in the green room, and settle into another scintillating episode of Blind Guys Chat.   16 out of 20 Germans prefer it to their own Eurovision entry.

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Hello dear listeners, are you ready for another Eurovision preview? Well Kevin Sherwin is back to share his views on last Tuesday night's semi final and also to chat about the acts on tonight. Don't forget to watch it tonight at 8pm (Irish time).

Enjoy!!

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Hey folks, wanna know how the Eurovision song contest 2023 from Liverpool is going? Well here is the first report from our good friend Kevin Sherwin. Kevin has all the info on the preview show prior to the semi final tonight. It's a great report so go on and give it a listen before you settle down with a nice cuppa and watch the semi final.

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Episode 68 is all about surprises. The first surprise is that Óran, Jan and Clodagh are all unavailable, (no, we’re not joking) and they’ve left Stuart holding the baby, or the podcast on his own! Will he come out of it the other end? It just so happens that he might, but its not because of Stuart’s podcasting skills, its thanks to our lovely friend Veronica Hyks, who has produced a series of short audio described commentaries called Countdown to the coronation. We couldn’t have inflicted Stuart’s rambling on our listeners for a full hour because we’d really like to keep some of you tuning in to future episodes, so, instead, we pulled together all Veronica’s great work and have popped them in this episode for your listening pleasure. And, fear not, the guys minus Stuart, who’s on yet another holiday, will return in a fortnight.

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Hello our dear subjects! Before we start the show proper, we have a little treat. The wonderful Veronika Hyks is recording a series of descriptions leading up to the royal coronation of King Charles III called ‘Countdown to the Coronation’, and she has very kindly given us permission to share the first one with you. So please sit back and enjoy. And do let us know what you think!   Stuart and Óran are delighted that, at long last, the warm weather has come to Ireland, and they can now take off their thermals. Not so for poor Jan, who with his family are still suffering cold damp conditions in the land of windmills.   We left discussion of the Annual CSUN Assistive Technology Conference until Stuart came back, mostly because Óran and Jan were too lazy to do any research, but as it turns out there wasn’t much going on at the event, even though it was well attended.   Stuart has come up with an interesting way of using ChatGPT: Do you ever get long meandering emails? Well, why not put the text into ChatGPT and ask it to summarise the mail! Great tip, eh?!   Have you heard of “Seeing AI” from Microsoft? It appears they have a new channel called “World” which allows users to map a route and then play it back to navigate to that location. But Óran wants to know how it all works, and why oh why are these apps not pairing with camera-glasses so you don’t have to hold your phone out in the middle of a street and risk having it stolen?   Stuart has a callout for those of you who use WinAmp. They have launched a new version of this geeky application, but Stuart can’t find a download option on the WinAmp website. Can you help?   In TV corner, we are talking about Unstable (not Unbalanced, Óran!). Also, Colin from Accounts, The Night Agent, Beef, Transatlantic, Succession, Ted Lasso, and The Last Thing He Told Me. Phew – that’s a lot of couch time!   Clodagh has emails and a tweet. Someone was not happy about us talking about electric cars, someone else thinks Jan is a stud, and Jenny thinks we are doing a great job with the show and the show titles and notes.   So, clean off the garden furniture, charge up your phone, pour yourself a nice glass of Pimms, and listen to the number 1 podcast as voted by happy summer honeybees: Blind Guys Chat. (8 out of 10 U.S. Presidents prefer it to being president.)          

Notes go here

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Ever considered wood turning? Well if you have, stay tuned, cos we are talking to Mr John Furniss, 'The Blind Woodsman' who lives all the way over in Washington State, USA. That's in America you know! John is here to tell us all about this craft that he loves. It's a fantastic chat and it might even inspire you to pick up a lump of wood and a chisel.

Big News. Jan and Sjef are going to be in a movie!! Yes, he is starring in the new marvel sequel 'SuperDog, Below Sea Level'. No seriously, Jan and Sjef are going to be in a movie, for real, totally!

Stuart has news about his favourite app, Chat GPT. Apparently some guys in China have programmed it to work with Siri on IOS.

Talking about IOS, are you having any problems with dictation when writing a text or email on your iPhone? Well Óran is, and he is looking for answers, because Jan and Stuart don't have a clue.

Clodagh has emails from Aaron, Saleem and Anna. Are Saleem and Anna offering themselves up as replacements for Stuart? Stay tuned until the end and you will find out.

So, brush the sawdust off the couch, strip yourself down to the fine grain, throw nextdoor's treehouse onto the fire to keep warm, and listen to the number 1 podcast this side of a mahogany dining table: Blind Guys Chat.

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Welcome back Stuart. Yes, Clodagh has washed, ironed, and pressed Stuarts favourite off the shoulder number so he can wear it for this week’s show. After a bout of pneumonia remedied by beer and crisps, he is back with tons of information for you, dear listeners.    Óran, Clodagh, and Larry have returned from a recent trip to London (that’s in the UK you know), and while they did have a lovely time, Óran has some stories to share about the London underground and also being refused from some establishments. He is thinking about writing a strongly worded letter to the King.   Will you be purchasing an iPhone 15? Well Jan has some news about the lack of buttons on the upcoming release that might change your mind. Stuart has news on Windows 11 and how it will support Apple i-message amongst other things and also how Microsoft have now integrated Chat GPT into Skype.   Clodagh has lots of emails to get through, most of which seem to be offering alternative presenters to replace Stuart.   So, forget about the fact it’s cold, wet, and feckin’ miserable; warm up some hot chocolate; open a packet of milk duds and settle back and listen to the number one podcast this side of a conscious mind: Blind Guys Chat.

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We have a proper star on this week’s show: Bonnie, a wonderful young Irish actress and singer, along with producers Colm and Aidan, are here to tell us all about their fantastic podcast ‘Maddie and Triggs’. The show’s main character, Maddie, is visually impaired, and together with her dog Triggs, they get up to all sorts of adventures. This brilliant children’s podcast may be making its debut on TV soon. We certainly hope so, being toddlers at heart!   Jan is on cloud nine because his local football team haven’t lost a match so far this year. But hang on – it’s only February and they’ve only played a few games so far - isn’t it a bit too early for loud cheers and celebrations!?!   Have you heard of the Access Card? Óran was delighted when he was approved for a shiny new Access Card recently. The Access Card (sometimes referred to as a CredAbility Card or a Nimbus Card) is like no other. It indicates your disability/impairment with subtle symbols that help service providers understand the barriers you face and the additional needs you might have. Some providers may also give you access to discounts, concessionary ticket prices, or free sighted guide/helper monkey tickets. And you might get to skip the odd queue (“line” for our American friends!). Think of it as a “disability passport”. You can use it in the UK, and parts of the USA, New Zealand, and other countries that support it. Go to accesscard.online to read more about the card and how to apply.   Clodagh’s got an email from Aaron Linson who among other things is offering his presenting services if Stuart becomes sick again.  

So put the ball on the penalty spot, look at the goalkeeper with an air of defiance, and plant that ball in the top right hand corner of the onion box. Then celebrate by listening to ep 63 of Blind Guys Chat. Clodagh says it’s better than football.

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It seems to be all about tech this week. We kick off the show wondering what that Chinese balloon was doing flying over the USA. Was it looking for a birthday party and if yes, can the Blind Guys come along? Jan is refusing to sell anymore microchips to the Chinese until the balloon is shot down by Donald Trump.   Stuart has news about Microsoft. Apparently, they have announced the official end of supporting Windows 10 as of January 31 2023. Can we go back to Windows 95 please? Also, Google are integrating 'Google Meet' into Gmail. Have you used Google Meet? What was your experience of this communication application? Sticking with Google, seemingly they are also running scared of Chat GPT - the Blind Guys have been experimenting with this AI application and they share their thoughts.   Microsoft have also announced that the popular mobility app Soundscape is no longer available for download and existing downloads will only run until June 2023. Will someone try to keep it alive via open source or is that the end of the road for Soundscape?   It's a welcome return to friend-of-the-show, Kevin Sherwin. Kevin is here to give us his take on last Friday’s ‘Song for Europe’, which is a contest to decide who will fly the flag for Ireland at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool? Will it be Father Ted and Father Dougal with their catchy melody 'My Lovely Horse'? Tune in to find out...   Derry Lawlor has sent in an email with his details of his favourite holidays. Is it the Guinness brewery? And Blind Gordon is on the email machine to tell us that the Spring twitter app is no longer working. Major bummer!!   So, forget about the Grammys, throw those Richard Clayderman audio cassettes into the fire. Stub out that vape, and get ready for the most techie-licious and awe-inspiring podcast this side of a big pile of party balloons: Blind Guys Chat! 16 out of 22 newborn lambs prefer it to chicken nuggets. 😂

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Hey folks, it's time for another rip roaring episode of BGC and this week the holiday maker Mr Juicy bits (aka Stuart) is gracing us with his presence. Yes, fresh from waxing his juicy bits in the Maldives, he returns to the show and is already moaning about how messy Clodagh made his marble and gold lined desk.

We kick off the show with a request from Óran asking if Blind Gordon knows how to populate twitter addresses when using Spring. Then we talk about our second favourite topic, holidays. Have you ever used Traveleyes or Seeability for your holiday? Let us know - the email is blindguyschat@gmail.com

Stuart has sacked his driver and is wondering if you lovely people have used Uber or Bolt taxi services, and what you think of the app and service in general. We also learn that Jan has his own personal taxi driver and it's not his wife Chantal.

Stuart tells the guys about ChatGPT (well, there was some confusion about the name!). It's an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot that can generate text on almost any topic or theme. It's so good that people are using it to write their essays for school and university!

In TV corner we talk about 'Treason', 'Kaleidoscope' and 'The Rig', and Óran thinks it's high time we had awards for audio description (AD) - he would like you to send BAFTA an email suggesting that they create an award for "excellence in the field of audio description". The email address is reception@bafta.org.uk for the attention of Sarah Pitt and Jane Millichip.

Propped up in her sick bed, Clodagh has emails from Gary Hough and Aaron Linson, and an audio message from Blind Gordon.

So, grab your cough bottle, call an Uber to take you to to the kitchen where you can make yourself a nice hot chocolate and listen to the greatest showstopping podcast this side of the flu vaccine: Blind Guys Chat.

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Happy new year to all our listeners. We hope Santa brought you lots of gifts and you are ready to embrace 2023 with vigour and hot chocolate, which is what one of our crew is doing this week. Yes, Stuart is skiing in the Maldives, or that’s what he told us. Is there snow in the Maldives? Jan and Óran are not so sure. So stepping in again, at great expense we might add, is Clodagh.   We start off this week with an ask: The Blind Guys would love to know what holidays you have been on that you really enjoyed, whether it be because the accessibility was great or the public transport was fantastic, or the people were very helpful, etc. Maybe you have been on a cruise with your guide dog? Drop us a line and tell us how you got on. We’d love to hear about your travel tips also, like don’t forget your long cane, as Jan did! The email is blindguyschat@gmail.com. We’re looking forward to hearing from you.   Our guest this week is Mark Pollock. Mark is a blind paraplegic adventurer, and he was a lot of fun to interview. We hope you enjoy hearing about his exploits.   In email corner, Clodagh turned the tables and wrote to one of our regulars. She heard a rumour that Scottish people can’t say a particular phrase and she wanted to find out if it’s true. Our Scottish correspondent tells us all, which triggers a rather confusing side chat about Smurfs. And then Clare McLoughlin of “Seen Unseen” got in touch to tell us about their new 2023 schedule, which is available at https://tinyurl.com/SeenUnseenschedule. All “Seen Unseen” events are free! You can get more info and book your place by emailing Clare at claremclaughlinemail@gmail.com   So put on your wind breaker, take the curlers out of your hair and have a listen to the best podcast this side of a drunken crab on steroids.   Blind Guys Chat.

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