top Tech tidbits for Thursday, January 11, 2007, html edition
Read the end of the newsletter for important information regarding the distribution of Tidbits and why there are two copies this week.
1) When looking to buy a digital recorder. blind folks have up until now had to either pay high prices to get one whose features are easily accessible to them or learn to work with a recorder that is usable but not easily so. If the recent press release from Olympus proves reliable, and we should know by February, there may be three commercially-available ditigal recorders which, while not perfect, will offer an accessible interface at prices no higher than everybody else pays for the same units.
http://www.olympuspresspass.com/press_pass_cut/opp_press_details.asp?pressNo=518
2) Here's a Microsoft article, related to Internet Explorer 6 but still mainly pertinent, about using AutoComplete in Internet Explorer:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/ie6/using/howto/customizing/autocomplete.mspx
3) Accessible world makes its return from the holidays with a free training about how to create mp3 files of text content using either OpenBook, Text Aloud or DSpeech, the latter being free. at 01:00 on Tuesday 16 January, drop into the Techtalk room at
http://www.accessibleworld.org/
4) Main Menu on ACBRadio is already back from the holidays, and on 24 January it launches a two-hour format, with the first hour keeping the current pre-recorded interview format and the second hour a call-in format allowing users to query guests and ask technical questions. In the meantime, the program for 17 January will feature an interview on Daisy with Peter Proscia from IRTI, with announcements about their new Daisy products. Programs start at 01:00, are repeated throughout the rest of the GMT day, and are available as podcasts.
http://www.acbradio.org
5) A CISCO Training Academy for people who are blind or vision impaired has been established by Curtin University and the Association for the Blind of WA (Western Australia.) they offer a one-year course on networking, and those not resident in Perth can take the course entirely online. Residency requirements and exact cost were not elaborated in the message announcing the course. they will accept applications until 21 January, by e-mail to Ian Murray
i.murray@ece.curtin.edu.au
6) Gw Micro has started a mailing list for discussions of the Braille Sense. To join, go to the web site and choose the gw-notetaker list from the combo box of available lists.
http://www.gwmicro.com/Support/Email_Lists/
7) EASI is offering a four-part fee-based course on blogs. Everybody can hear the first part at
http://easi.cc/archive/blogwiki/part1/part1.htm
and you can register for the balance of the course at
http://easi.cc/forms/blogwiki.htm
and everybody can read the blog created for the course at
http://georgiatechcatea.wordpress.com/
8) Jim Grimsby Jr. has written JAWS scripts for the Goldwave sound editor. the current scripts work with Goldwave version 5.16 or later. You can get them here
www.blind-geek-zone.net
9) Yu can read an article about computer security, Evolving the Antimalware Technology Model, at
http://sunbeltblog.blogspot.com/2007/01/evolving-antimalware-technology-model.html.
10) Jason Dasent is considering creating an audio tutorial on how to mix a song from start to finish in the professional editing program sonar. If you might be interested in this production, write to him at
jdasent@tstt.net.tt]
11) this posting on Open Culture gives several resources for making and disseminating podcasts:
http://www.oculture.com/weblog/2006/12/podcast_primer.html
12) A fourteen-part course offered by the Harvard University Extension School, Understanding Computers and the Internet, is available free in audio, video or podcast
http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~cscie1/?page=aboutcourse&type=static
13) US readers can compare prices for electronics and appliances on sale in stores in their state at Sales Circular
www.SalesCircular.com.
14) CoolQuiz is a trivia site with humor, trivia and puzzles.
http://www.coolquiz.com/
15) Speaking of games, a less common but very handy thing that we can do with portable braille devices is keep score in games, even fast-paced ones where scores change quickly. I believe the Braille Lite family is best suited for this, though more modern devices fill the bill as well. Article 33 of Sound Computing is a short discussion of some little-used techniques for keeping score on Braille Lites.
http://topdotenterprises.com/scsum.htm
We're adding a new version of Tidbits, a text-only version. this will be good for those of you who have had trouble receiving the usual html edition. for this week only, I'm going to send both issues to everybody. Once you see which you receive, if you want to keep getting the new version, you have to write to me directly by replying to the newsletter, which I invite you to do. If in the future, you begin to have difficulty receiving the html version, you can always ask to receive the new edition instead, since its delivery should be more reliable. Unfortunately, the new edition cannot be sent in html.
Visit the Tidbits page at www.topdotenterprises.com/tidbits.htm where you can subscribe to the rss feed and grab back issues. All that welcome information for future issues can come to me at dean@topdotenterprises.com.