Top tech tidbits for Thursday, October 19, 2006

1)  HumanWare announces the release of Trekker version 3.0, the gps system for the blind, featuring more maps and maps with broader coverage, turn-by-turn instructions when in a vehicle, and other enhancements.
http://humanware.ca/web/en/NewsGetFile.asp?file=20061018.html

2)  Here is a link to download an audio tutorial on how to create 'maps" for the Supernova screen reader/screen magnifier combo.
http://www.tbrn.net/arfy/mapping%20supernova.ogg

3) window-Eyes version 6 public Beta is now available.
http://gwmicro.com/Window-Eyes/Beta/
It is the subject of this week's installment of ACBRadio's Main Menu.

4)  One mailing list user re commends Greg Epley's Weather Gale, a program for keeping track of weather forecasts and conditions.
http://www.thinkzo.com/products/WeatherGALE.htm

5)  You can hear an australian Rules football match in London this Saturday at 12:e0 GMT via BBC Radio London.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/articles/2005/10/12/live_commentaries_feature.shtml

6) I seem to recall this article from before, but here's a good compendium of information about how best to use Google, courteous of the Fred's Head Companion.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FredsHeadCompanion/~3/38592746/getting-more-out-of-google.html

7)  From the same source, we learn that the Georgia Tech Center for Assistive Technology and Environmental Access has launched a Wiki, a grassroots-created encyclopedia, on assistive technology.  the site presently contains 54 articles.
http://atwiki.assistivetech.net/ATWiki_Home

8)  And also, we learn of a page with instructions for finding old computer games which may be playable by folks with lo vision, and for making the games playable on modern operating systems.
http://www.pcreview.co.uk/articles/Windows/Free_Old_Games_for_Your_New_PC/

9)  chris Judd presents a free online training on Coping With the Many Challenges of Online Shopping this GMT Tuesday 24 October at 00:00 as part of the Accessible world series.
http://www.accessibleworld.org

10) Enhancements and fixes continue to come thick and fast with the accessible text editor TextPal, which has now attained version 1.9.
http://www.empowermentzone.com/palsetup.exe

11)  with the release this week of Internet Explorer version 7, window-Eyes users of version 6 are safe to upgrade to it, but JAWS users are advised to wait for version 8 sometime in November.  In preparation, here is a Fred's Head Companion article on Internet Explorer keyboard use.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FredsHeadCompanion/~3/37879853/keyboard-lovers-guide-to-internet.html

the rest of this issue consists of repeats of several items from last week which were printed incorrectly.  Most of the errors were caused by a change in software which had unforeseen consequences.

11)  Among many useful technology-related items emanating from Fred's Head Companion this week, here's a post with a lot of information about caring for, using and copying cd's and dvd's
http://fredsheadcompanion.blogspot.com/2006/10/cds-and-dvds.html

12)  blindmoviebuffs is a mailing list for discussing movies and sharing audio described movies.  to join, send a blank message to
blindmoviebuffs-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

13)  this installment of Fred's Head Companion diswcusses a way to use the Notepad program for logging and organizing.
http://fredsheadcompanion.blogspot.com/2006/10/notepad-accessible-way-to-organize.html

14) this edition tells how to prevent your computer from being taken over by malware and what to do if it is.
http://fredsheadcompanion.blogspot.com/2006/10/has-your-computer-been-turned-into.html

15)  and we never weary of listings of sites for online books.
http://fredsheadcompanion.blogspot.com/2006/10/project-gutenberg-and-other-online.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.