Top Tech tidbits for Thursday, April 26, 2007
1) EASI is offering a free webinar,The Future of E--books Is Here!: Accessible Textbooks for Students, on Tuesday 1 May at 18:00 GMT. Free, registration required.
http://easi.cc/clinic.htm
2) Around 3 or 4 May, EASI will post, among its podcast presentations from conferences, the Google presentation, as well as its supporting documents, from the recent CSUN conference.
http://easi.cc/podcasts/
3) Gw Micro has posted a couple articles to its Knowledge Base regarding difficulties that can arise with using window-Eyes with Windows Vista. They have also touted improvements in the manual for window-Eyes version 6.1.
http://gwmicro.com/Support/Knowledge_Base/
4) Thanks to the Gw Micro Blog, we learn about a very useful free utility, Flash Mute, which lets you silence annoying unsolicited noise and music that sometimes bursts forth from web pages.
http://www.indev.no/?p=projects#flashmute
5) TapMemo is a new, voice-activated personal data assistant including a calendar, phone book, Memo pad, and alarm clock. the developer of the device, Nir Dvash, will present his device on the Sunday, 6 May, edition of Accessible Devices on VIP Conduit at 18:00 GMT. Free membership is required.
http://www.vipconduit.com
6) JAWS for windows version 8.0.2107 has been posted, and it is available via automatic update or for download from the site. It features enhanced support for windows Vista including User Account Control and the sidebar and gadget feature.
http://www.freedomscientific.com/fs_products/JAWS_HQ.asp
7) Hot Spot Clicker, the add-on to the JAWS for windows scripting language that adds power and flexibility to the program, has become sufficiently popular to warrant its own web page. Here you can find hot spot sets for the Sonar music production program as well as the latest version of HSC
http://hotspotclicker.org/
8) the Homer script library for JAWS, produced by Jamal Mazrui, is now up to version 1.3, and adds ease and functionality to Internet Explorer as well as to Wordpad, Notepad and Notetab.
http://www.EmpowermentZone.com/kitsetup.exe
9) Katherine Schneider is seeking recommendations of accessible online games for her public library, which has asked her to help in designing the children's area of the web site. If you know of such games, e-mail her at
<SCHNEIKS@uwec.edu>
10) Accessibility reviews of non visual desktop access version rewision 425, Simon version Unspecified, Zip Central version 4.0 and Light Locater version 1.4.1 have been added to the Access Watch database.
http://www.accesswatch.info
11) The American Printing House for the Blind announces the official release of the Braille+ Mobile Manager, APH's version of the Ikon, a small pda offering e-mail, web browsing, music and audio book playing and access to Linux conslole applications. the device costs $1,395, is only available in the US, and APH promises much more development over the next year.
http://www.aph.org/tech/
12) HumanWare will hold a free web-based demonstration of the Concise Oxford Dictionary and thesaurus for the Braille Note and Voice Note family of products, on Tuesday, 1 May at 20:00 GMT.
http://67.19.90.10/masteradmin/room.asp?id=rs5794715a0cfa
13) JLC's Internet Tv is a free program (donations encouraged) which lets you watch some 1,400 online tv stations from throughout the world. It works well with Window-Eyes and probably with other screen readers.
http://www.jlc-software.com/index.php?page=internet_tv.html
14) Pranav Lal wrote an article about the vOICe (Vision Substitution) software.
http://www.atechnews.com/guestarticles.html
15) the subject for Main Menu on ACBRadio on 2 May will be Running Virtual Machines on the Mac, Running windows and Apple operating systems on the same machine. Gordon smith has recorded his presentation, which will air during the first hour of Main Menu, and you can download it ahead of time here:
http://www.tft-bbs.com/demos/vm-demo.mp3
16) LostInTheStacks is a mailing list for those who enjoy audio books. You can join by sending a blank message to
LostInTheStacks-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
17) petrakigianos giasou, tireless advocate for accessibility of Replay A/V and other programs, was a guest on the 21 April edition of Breakfast Bytes.
http://www.wgtd.org/breakfastbytes_archives.asp
18) Tara annis, is an intern with American Foundation for the Blind, spearheading a research project into the accessibility, or lack of it, of mobile phones in the U.S. the survey might lead to the filing of a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission. to voice your thoughts on the subject, e-mail Tara at
tannis@afb.net
19) SBK is a program which lets you use six keys on the standard pc keyboard as a braille keyboard. You can write in contracted braille in any application and the results will be instantaneously reverse-translated into text. You can download a free trial, and for a couple weeks the price of the program has been reduced to $26.00 from $40.00.
http://www.oss-globe.com/sbk
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