Top Tech Tidbits for Thursday, September 13, 2012

Top Tech Tidbits for Thursday, September 13, 2012 - Volume 370
The Week's News in Access Technology

A Flying Blind, LLC Publication
http://www.flying-blind.com/

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Greetings,

1) GW Micro has updated its free ad-supported Skype client, GW Connect, to version 2.1 , reducing start-up time and fixing a variety of bugs.
http://www.gwmicro.com/App_Central/Apps/App_Details/?scriptid=1353

2) Accessible Devices Program #31 deals with the Quest from Envision America.
http://www.accessible-devices.com/feed.xml

3) The JAWS 14 public beta is out, featuring better voices, improved Office and web support, and more.
http://www.freedomscientific.com/downloads/jaws/jaws-public-beta.asp

4) With the coming release of Windows 8 we'll share some articles in preparation for it. Here are three:

Windows 8 Simplifies Computing
http://betanews.com/2012/09/11/windows-8-simplifies-computing/?utm_medium=betane.ws-twitter&utm_source=t.co&awesm=betane.ws_oA9&utm_content=twitter-publisher-main&utm_campaign=

Windows 8 Review, Part 1, The Desktop
http://www.winsupersite.com/article/windows8/windows-8-review-part-1-desktop-144218?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Five Reasons to Make the Switch
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/261955/five_reasons_to_make_the_switch_to_windows_8.html#tk.rss_news

5) ZCaptcha is a new service blind users can try for solving CAPTCHAs. There is a minimal cost to use the service because the people doing the solving are themselves paid a small amount.
http://www.azavia.com/zcaptcha

7) A student discusses his GPS experiences on Tek Talk on GMT Tuesday, 18 September at 00:00.
http://conference321.com/masteradmin/room.asp?id=rsc9613dc89eb2

8) JAWS scripts for the Tween Twitter client have been released.
http://www.dlee.org/tween/

9) Humanware has released the Deaf-Blind Communicator, a $99 iOS app that allows a deaf-blind person with a braille display and an i-device to communicate with the sighted speaker writing on the phone. This is an iTunes link:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/humanware-communicator/id550473985

10) Several helpful articles from the HowToGeek site:

Is ReadyBoost Worth Using?
http://www.howtogeek.com/123780/htg-explains-is-readyboost-worth-using/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=070912

How Windows Uses The Task Scheduler for System Tasks
http://www.howtogeek.com/123460/htg-explains-how-windows-uses-the-task-scheduler-for-system-tasks/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=100912&utm_content=emailsidebar

How Windows 8's Backup System Differs From Windows 7's
http://www.howtogeek.com/123713/how-windows-8s-backup-system-differs-from-windows-7s/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=060912

11) Several recent Viewpoints podcasts dealt with products on display at the AER conference in July.
http://interactive.wxxi.org/viewpoints

12) Read recent posts from the AT blog of the NFB regarding the $99 Humanware Communicator, the new Google YouTube app for the iPhone, and Kindle's complete failure to include accessibility features in their announced new Kindles.
http://nfb.org/at-blog

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