Despite losing my vision I still enjoy watching television. My viewing habits haven’t changed too much I still enjoy watching everything from cartoons, documentaries and dramas. It is however a little easier to follow shows that are story driven and rely less on visuals. The reliance on visuals is why I find a lot of modern day films difficult to follow.

ONe of the most annoying things however those is navigating through the channels on television. While Audio Description was introduced to describe the actual shows there hasn’t been a great improvement in navigating channels. There are one or two screen reading free view boxes. But it isn’t something I have really invested in to date. The reason being my Apple TV.

The Apple TV supports VoiceOver just like the rest of the Apple line. The great thing about this is it reads menus and the full description of the media. This has made selecting shows an absolute breeze for me. Now when my son asks me to put on “choo-choo’s” I dont have to tell him to wait for mummy. I can just flick the Apple TV on and navigate through the menus to find Thomas, or Chuggington or Dinosaur Train any of the shows he loves with trains in them.

This is made possible thanks to a couple of subscription services on the Apple TV: Netflix and Hulu Plus. Netflix is an absolute breeze to setup, turn on your Apple TV enable VoiceOver and simply start Netflix. The Netflix account is attached to your Apple ID so it takes care of the subscription for you. Hulu Plus is much the same, you just subscribe through the Apple TV.

You can even access your own media located in your iTunes media. This is another great feature. All those DVD’s you own that you have no idea which one to put in. Put them all into your iTunes media centre and navigate through your collection with VoiceOver.

VoiceOver really has changed the way I am able to access media. I am no longer reliant on asking my wife which channel a particular show is currently on, or which DVD a particular film is. I can simply flick on the Apple TV and navigate through all my media myself. It isn’t restricted to video either, I often use it to stream audio from my phone as an AirPlay stereo, or even access music services directly on the Apple TV. It is truly a great device and for under a £100 an incredibly cheap piece of accessible hardware.

Inspiration is a label that has often been applied to my running exploits. I have always struggled a little with this and have never self assigned the label. Being inspired by someone is so personal anyone who sells themselves as inspiring is just a little to arrogant for my taste. So I have often distanced myself from the labels “inspirational” and “motivational”.

When I started out running I certainly didn’t think about inspiring others. I just set out to try and achieve something for myself. To see where I could push myself too. Running alone was initially more by necessity than the challenge. I hadn’t considered how difficult it would be at first, I just thought I didn’t really have an option if I wanted to run. So I went out and learnt to do it.

Pushing how far I could go came when I decided to see if I could take what I had done and sustain it for long training sessions. It turned out I could, I really enjoyed those early days of training finding out what was possible.

By some wondrous stroke of luck my story has been featured in the media. As well as the commercial I posted the other day I did quite a few interviews for print. Then today I got a wonderful tweet. It mentioned someone had written a letter to the editor of OUtdoor Fitness and I was mentioned.

On another happy note, my son, who is $I has just joined an athletics club after being inspired by Simon Wheatcroft, the blind runner and real-life hero in the same issue, thanks for inspiring and fixing. Nichola Sperrlng, Bristol

Hearing that I had inspired a young boy with a sight impairment to take up running really touched me. I am happy I have inspired someone with a sight impairment to take up running. I hope one day I can run with him and his mother. If you are reading this get in touch!

With the changes in my running schedule due to the ebb and flow of my life I had planned on a few changes to my 2013 race schedule. Due to the cancellation of the 2012 NYC marathon I had intended to defer to 2013. This was a little up in the air as this year is set to be a busy one. With a new child on the way I didn’t think it too wise to head to NYC shortly after leaving my wife with a new born and Grayson!

So all the races I had intended running in 2013 are now off. I have been wondering exactly what races I should enter this year. I have reached out to a few friends to try and tag along to a few events. Then today I received a text message from an old running friend. I rarely get to see this person but whenever we meet up its to do something special, be it attempting a 100 mile run, filming a TV commercial (see below), running in ultras and even winning awards.

We are not sure what we will be competing in yet, but I am sure we will make it special whatever we decide to do!

If anyone out there is running any events in the UK this year and would like some company, shoot me a message on twitter. Always looking for new people to run with! be it 5k or 50k and anything in between!

As this blog has been a testament too 2012 was a year of great experiences as well as a number of difficulties.

Due to these mounting issues I took the difficult decision to scale down my 2013 runs. I still intend to compete throughout 2013 just not to the level I had planned for during 2012. It will give me a great opportunity to add a little more balance to my life and not spend as much time training for the first time in a couple of years.

With the reduced training I thought it might be a great chance to try a few new things and do a little cross training. In order to kickstart this I have entered a little weight loss competition with 2 friends. My competing weight usually hovers around 175lbs, with my walking around weight at 179lbs. Thanks to a little excess at christmas I am a little above those weights. So a quick 4 week shred is in order to bring it inline!

After the weight loss I will be steadily increasing the miles to be race ready for all summer/autumn/winter.

2013 will also be the year my second child will be born, it is a little ways off yet with a predicted summer birthday, but definitely something to look forward to!

I have begun to focus my psychology reading into a few main areas too. After all perhaps its time to think what I will be doing after university! I still love technology, I always will. So I have a keen interest in computational models, influence and a few business/financial areas. I think these will all tie together quite well and place me in a great position after I leave university.

A quick note on my guide dog, he is still insane!

Early last thursday morning I began the long car journey to Heathrow. I was looking forward to the flight for once as my friend had access to the gold lounge at Virgin Atlantic. I now aspire to always fly business class!

You enter the lounge through what seems like a secret door, no queues for checking in and a private line for security. It is already seeming like my first pleasant experience at an airport! The lounge itself is fantastic, an open bar, free food, concierge service and free massages and haircuts. This really is the place to wait before your flight.

After eating a three course dinner and feeling totally relaxed I headed to the plane. This is where the wonderful experience of business class ended, for we only had economy seats! Oh well with extra leg room and the thoughts of the lounge the flight drifted by.

Arriving in Newark, we were zipped through customs as the staff directed us towards the diplomat section. It appears a white cane gets you anywhere! Quickly through customs and with only hand luggage we headed for a taxi. There was a long queue so Neil took an offer to take an unofficial taxi. After spending a few minutes in the taxi I was already feeling it was wrong to be running a marathon.

The taxi driver had only just had his power returned and was telling tales of the devastation. The radio was filled with reports of gas and food shortages. I voiced my opinion of guilt and thought running the marathon simply wasn’t appropriate. We made it into NYC in record time, no one was on the roads. With long queues for fuel and a restriction on the number of passengers to use the bridges it made Manhattan quiet.

We arrived at our hotel and quickly headed to a local Duane Reade to buy as many cold cures as we could find. I was feeling incredibly rough. Pilled up to the eye balls we headed back to the hotel. In the morning our plan was to head to the marathon expo grab some gifts and take it easy until the marathon start.

We flagged down a taxi to head to the expo, which was taking a surprising amount of time. With half of the subway down, limited fuel it made the taxi and bus services problematic. We arrived at the expo to massive queues. The cane came in handy again as we were quickly ushered towards the disabled runners section. This meant we breezed through the queues and had to register in a special section. There had been a slight mishap with our starting gates. My guide and I were in different section, this would mean only one of us would have a recorded finish time.

To solve this we would have to start at the front of the race, receive special transport to the start line and wait in a heated tent. We decided that was a compromise we simply couldn’t refuse! After a quick scurry around the expo to purchase some GU we headed back to the hotel. With a brief stop it was time to go shopping. After finally hailing a taxi we headed to FAO grabbed a Steiff and some Hot Wheels and decided to head to the Apple store at Grand Central.

Unable to get a taxi we decided to walk. When arriving at Grang Central we admired the sheer scale of the Apple store and thought the only appropriate thing was to grab a drink at the bar. Staying sensible we steered away from the alcohol only to succumb to it on our second drink. Then Neil received a call, “They have cancelled the marathon!”. At first I thought Neil was just joking with a friend on the phone but no it was true. I could hear other people in the station receiving the same news as it quickly spread like a wave through the lobby.

Feeling a little deflated and upset we left Grand Central to be met by the longest queue I have seen outside of a theme park. Asking why everyone was queueing it was the bus to Brooklyn. Any small thoughts of deflation I had were gone, there should not have been a marathon. People were suffering. We headed back to the hotel and decided to see if we could change our flights. It appeared everyone had thought of this and al the flights were full. So we decided to put in a few runs over the next couple of days and make the best of NYC.

The following morning wearing our marathon t-shirts we headed down to the Hudson, the plan to run up and down and clock up some miles. Neither Neil or I were in a great state, both ill and far from marathon ready we began our run. We bumped into hundreds of runners all with smiles on their faces, everyone seemed to have taken the cancellation of the marathon so well. I think everyone had realised it shouldn’t of gone ahead. The run was great we ran as far south as possible turned round and ran back. I don’t get to run outside of my normal location often at all. Perhaps 4-5 times a year. So running amongst other people is a real novelty for me. The rest of my time is spent in the solitude of training along the one path I have memorised. So any run outside of that becomes truly special for me.

Finishing our run we were a little dehydrated. Thankfully we had spotted a little bakery just up the road. Grabbing some freshly made lemonade and an obligatory donut we headed back to the hotel. The plan was to chill out in the lounge all day and then meet a couple of people Neil had met the previous year. At around 6 we headed down to meet Tanya and Eamon. We had a great time eating, drinking talking politics and using our british powers of persuasion to get people to vote Obama. After lots of drinks and great food Tanya insisted we go to theirs in the morning for lunch. If Tanya was to feed us then Eamon HAD to come for a run. Twisting Eamon’s arm a little we all decided to run the following day.

On marathon morning we headed down to pick up Eamon and went down to the Hudson. We had decided to run in reverse head North and cut across to Central Park. This turned out to be an amazing decision. On entering the park it seemed a little busy. What we didn’t expect was to run round the corner and be met by 15,000 runners. All the marathon runners had simply decided to head to Central Park and run. It was one of the most magical running experiences I have ever been fortunate to experience. Just a group of people all doing the same thing, going for a run. You don’t need a race to run, you just need somewhere to run.

We did a loop of Central Park and then headed back to the hotel. The plan was to pop TO Tanya and Eamons a little later. Tanya was a wonderful hostess and created a wonderful lunch for everyone. I felt like I was experiencing a true slice of the Manhattan experience. What made the cancellation of the marathon more poignant was that Tanya’s mother was directly affected. Her house had been flooded and she was without power or heat. It continued to affirm my belief that the marathon really shouldn’t take place.

In the end I was happy the marathon hadn’t happened. I experienced something truly special on this trip. The run at Central Park will remain a memory for life and if the marathon hadn’t been cancelled I wouldn’t of got to experiences Tanya’s cooking!

I am sure I will return again to run NYC and if I have as great a time again, it won’t even have to be for the marathon.

Last week I was invited to attend the Sheffield Half Marathon awards night. I went along with the charity I had been working with and clapped as everyone received their awards. Then it came time to present the Man of Steel Award, rather surprisingly I was awarded this along with my fellow runners Simon and Charlie.

This award came as a real surprise as even though I ran further than a half marathon on the day I didn’t complete the intended distance. The night before I was dreadfully ill and was shaking all through the night, I was tempted to call the attempt off, but I told myself if I can stand in the morning I will give it a shot. I was able to stand in the morning so I went out and attempted it. Due to illness though I only achieved 15 miles on the day, but that still stands as the further I have ever run while ill! It did also take nearly 3 months till I was well again, so it wasn’t just the sniffles. I was very ill.

The award really does mean a lot I think because I have an affinity for the city and Sheffield is nicknamed the city of steel! So I truly will treasure the award.

2012 has been a strange year overall, I had intended it to be the year I qualified for some major events in 2012 but so many things have held back my training. Multiple surgeries, guide dog training, illness, university timetable shift and my treadmill breaking!

So instead of a year of amazing running challenges it has been a quite running year, it has however been a year of received many rewards. Carrying the torch, my TV commercial airing, man of steel award all thanks to achievements I completed in 2011. I am now hoping 2012 is back on track though. The training is beginning to ramp up again thanks in part to a new treadmill. So I should be fit and ready for many events in 2013.

A quick note on training. I have been having some serious mishaps while out running recently. Running into lots of random objects and trees. I don’t think its a case of losing my running technique more a case of a sudden surge in obstacles in my path. From road cones to road kill many things have been run into or stood on recently!

The new treadmill is installed and running now though, so I can finally run my complete training schedule and fit it in around university. So I should definitely be fit for NYC in a few weeks!

I will start this review with a little explanation of the UltrAspire MBS system. It is a Modular Belt System, so you can buy the sections separately and construct a belt that fits your needs. This is a wonderful idea as rather than buying different belts for different events you can have one core system that you simply attach different components onto. There is a whole range over at the UltrApsire store so go take a look.

The connector I chose was the Atom, I needed something to carry my iPhone 5 as I run. Finding something slimline that can accommodate the iPhone 5 is difficult. The atom is incredibly slimline with very little bulk. As well as one main pocket it also has a few extra internal pockets that are perfect for things like credit cards, great for that quick stop off at Starbucks on a long run!

What problem does it solve?

As time has gone on in my running career I wear more and more compression clothing. I love the wicking capabilities of compression wear but I hate the lack of pockets. The Atom solves this problem.

Clothing with pockets. Lots of my non compression tops have pockets for an iPod or phone. There are two problems with these pockets; bounce and size. There is nothing worse than placing your reasonably light device into your pocket only to feel like it has turned into a brick. The pockets are generally in stupid places and it just swings about bashing into your body. That is if you are lucky enough for the pocket to be big enough to squeeze your device into. Again the Atom solves these problems.

Usability

I feel I a great test for the usability of any product. After all if I can use it blind you probably have a decent shot at being able to use it if you can see. It is pretty simple to build up the belt and easy to put on. Slipping your device into the Atom’s pocket can be a little tricky. This depends on whether you have your device in a case or indeed if you are even putting some electronics in there.

I can easily fit an iPhone 5 in the pocket; once the phone is in a case and the headphones are plugged in it is very snug. What I use here is the RunKeeper Countdown test. I use RunKeeper to track all my runs and it has a 15 second delay before beginning the workout. With this setting on I was able to fit my iPhone 5 (in a silicone case) and begin running before the workout began. As mentioned earlier that is without being able to see, so I am sure that time could easily be beaten!

On the run

On the run the belt performed perfectly. The best thing about the belt is it removes all wobble for carrying something like your iPhone. When you are running for 5 hours the constant banging of the phone against your led while running becomes annoying and sore. This belt eliminates that. Also once your body accommodates the weight and feeling around your belt the sensation of wearing a belt literally disappears. You are just not aware you are even wearing it.

You really notice the slimline nature of the Atom while out and about too. There is no excess bulk at all. It is literally deep enough to fit your iPhone in, so no dorky looking bumbag thats for sure.

Conclusion

Overall I would highly recommend the Atom if you have any of the problems mentioned above. The fact it is modular also means you can change the connector in the future to expand functionality of your waist belt system.

Available: UltrApsire (EU)

If you followed Pt. 1 of this little series you should have lots of scanned images in the TIFF format. What is needed is a little post processing. This will tidy up a lot of the minor issues such as deskewing the text, rotating the pages so they are perfectly straight and so on. To do this we need to install a piece of software called ScanTailor. The good news its free, the bad news it can be a little fiddly to install on OS X (simple install on windows though).

Installing ScanTailor on OS X (10.8+ – Mountain Lion)

The first step is to install Xcode, this can be found in the App Store, so is a simply click to install. Once installed you need to change a setting within Xcode, in order to do this open Xcode and go to > preferences > downloads > and select command line tools.

Perhaps the most important step of converting any book to a digital format is the initial scanning stage. There are multiple options to choose in order to scan the actual book that break down into two categories, destroying the book or keeping it intact.

Keeping it intact by far takes the longest, this is definitely the choice to make if you only want a specific chapter of a book. The best way to do this is to use PlusTek OpticBook scanner, I highly recommend the PlusTek OpticBook 3600. This is the scanner I started out with but it quickly became far too time consuming to convert an entire book.

Destroying the book by cutting off the spine allows for a far quicker and efficient scanning process. The spines can be cut off at any friendly print shop, just tell them you are visually impaired and you are allowed to convert the book to any accessible format you like.