Top Tech Tidbits for Thursday, November 28, 2013 - Volume 433
The Week's News in Access Technology
A Flying Blind, LLC Publication
http://www.flying-blind.com/
This Week's Featured Advertisement: Giving Thanks
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Greetings,
Happy Thanksgiving here in the US. I never get to acknowledge Canadian Thanksgiving, since it happens on the second Monday in October, and as our name so clearly suggests, we publish on Thursday.
1) Not surprisingly, the "Thinking Outside the (Gift) Box" post from the Zoomed In blog, from AI Squared, has lots of ZoomText-related ideas, but has lots of other good ideas too:
http://www.aisquared.com/blog/2013/11/thinking-outside-the-gift-box/
2) From Gamasutra, read "5 Things We Learned About Developing An iOS Game for Blind Players":
http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/DianaHughes/20131120/205346/5_Things_We_Learned_About_Developing_An_iOS_Game_for_Blind_Players.php
3) Commercial interests have managed to make us think that the days surrounding Thanksgiving are created for shopping. If you want to join in, here is an accessibility review of the Black Friday iOS app that might help you do so:
http://www.horizons-blind.org/?p=1157&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
4) "Folk Music in America" was a set of 15 vinyl records compiled during the 70's at the Library of Congress. The 13-hour compilation has been digitized and can be downloaded, along with pdf files that contain lyrics and notes about the songs:
http://blog.dinosaurdiscs.com/post/54340976113/folk-music-in-america
5) The specialized iOS notetaking app, AFB AccessNote, has been updated to version 1.2, with an improved find feature, the ability to display .brf files on a braille display, and other fixes:
http://www.afb.org/community.aspx?AnnouncementID=1609
6) Blindspot is an open-source PC App that allows blind users of the premium version of the Spotify music service to access it with any screen reader:
http://blindspot.codeplex.com/releases/view/112250
7) GW Micro has published three articles related to the use of Outlook to its Knowledgebase
A.) Outlook Enhance Installation/Configuration/Troubleshooting:
http://gwmicro.com/kb2043
B.) Configuring Outlook for Window-Eyes:
http://gwmicro.com/kb2044
C.) Accessing HTML Email in Outlook:
http://gwmicro.com/kb2045
8) For more than ten years, the NFB has run the BlindMath mailing list for discussing all matters related to accessing math instruction. In order to make the most useful content from this huge list archive available, a volunteer has exerpted Blindmath Gems for clearer searches:
http://www.blindscience.org/blindmath-gems-home
9) Jonathan Mosen talks about his latest book, Tweeting Blind, on Tek Talk on GMT Tuesday, 3 December at 01:00:
http://conference321.com/masteradmin/room.asp?id=rsc9613dc89eb2
10) Odin Mobile claims to provide mobile phones for the blind, to provide a variety of accessible phones and rate plans, and to add extra accessibility features to the Nexus 4 that they deliver:
http://odinmobile.com/
11) APH Quick Tip Video #21 discusses how to use the GeoBeam feature of the Android Nearby Explorer app to get tactile and audio feedback for places near you:
http://www.aph.org/quick-tips/
12) The NLS has posted 12 videos on using the iOS BARD Mobile app to its YouTube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpAGnumt6iV7Aap_-C8b-8pR_HCxnh_Ls
13) Seminars Hadley will present "Online Shopping - Tips from Online Shopaholics," free as are all their webinars, on Wednesday, 4 December at 20:00 GMT. Learn more and register here:
http://hadley.edu/SeminarDetails.asp?sid=213
14) This MacWorld article gives a coherent answer to the question, "Mavericks Dictation vs. Dragon Dictate: How good is OS X's built-in tool?"
http://www.macworld.com/article/2066026/mavericks-dictation-vs-dragon-dictate-how-good-is-os-xs-built-in-tool-.html
15) This article from Time is called "30 Days with Microsoft's Surface Pro 2: It's a Keeper":
http://techland.time.com/2013/11/22/30-days-with-microsofts-surface-pro-2-its-a-keeper/r
16) Learn from CNET "How to get unlimited free holiday music on your phone or tablet":
http://howto.cnet.com/8301-11310_39-57613639-285/how-to-get-unlimited-free-holiday-music-on-your-phone-or-tablet/
17) AOL plans to remove Winamp from the web and kill off all associated web services on 20 December.
A.) People might want to download the latest version before that time so they'll still have the program for later installs.
http://www.winamp.com/media-player
B.) In the meantime, a group of developers and enthusiasts are trying to convince AOL to make the code open-source. You can sign a petition and learn about the effort here:
http://savewinamp.com/
18) EASI offers two webinars in December: "Even Easier Captions with YouTube," Monday, 2 December at 19:00 GMT, and "Accessible Digital Images," Thursday, 19 December at 19:00 GMT:
http://easi.cc/clinic.htm#november
19) Turning to a variety of audio content:
A.) Listen to FSCast Episode 84 to learn about Freedom Scientific's plan to dive into social media:
http://www.freedomscientific.com/FSCast/episodes/fscast084-november2013.asp
B.) Listen to the podcast, or read the transcript, of an interview with EasyChirp Creator Dennis Lembree:
http://www.interactiveaccessibility.com/blog/podcast-episode-21-interview-easychirp-creator-dennis-lembree?utm_source=buffer&utm_campaign=Buffer&utm_content=bufferc609f&utm_medium=twitter
The lengthy list of podcasts from AppleVis includes:
C.) Transform Your Mac into a Full-Fledged DJ System with Algoriddim's DJ App:
http://applevis.com/podcast/episodes/transform-your-mac-full-fledged-dj-system-algoriddim%E2%80%99s-djay-app
D.) Learn How to Use the VoiceOver Handwriting Feature in iOS 7 With the Help of DoItWrite:
http://applevis.com/podcast/episodes/learn-how-use-voiceover-handwriting-feature-ios-7-help-doitwrite
E.) Unboxing and Description of the AfterShokz Bluez Open Ear Bluetooth Wireless Headphones:
http://applevis.com/podcast/episodes/unboxing-and-description-aftershokz-bluez-open-ear-bluetooth-wireless-headphones
F.) iOS Basics: Making and Taking Calls on an iPhone when Using VoiceOver:
http://applevis.com/podcast/episodes/ios-basics-making-and-taking-calls-iphone-when-using-voiceover
G.) Using AirDrop to Share Items Between iOS Devices:
http://applevis.com/podcast/episodes/using-airdrop-share-items-between-ios-devices
H.) Accessing and Using iTunes Radio on your Mac:
http://applevis.com/podcast/episodes/accessing-and-using-itunes-radio-your-mac
I.) Wordventure: Brings the Mad Libs Word Game to your iOS Device:
http://applevis.com/podcast/episodes/wordventure-brings-mad-libs-word-game-your-ios-device
J.) Creating Ringtones on a PC Using iTunes and iRinger:
http://applevis.com/podcast/episodes/creating-ringtones-pc-using-itunes-and-iringer
K.) AppleVis Extra: DoItWrite:
http://applevis.com/podcast/episodes/applevis-extra-doitwrite
L.) And Loony Libs: Brings the Mad Libs Word Game to your iOS Device:
http://applevis.com/podcast/episodes/loony-libs-brings-mad-libs-word-game-your-ios-device
M.) iBlindTechEpisode #55 focuses on the DoItWrite iOS app for learning handwriting on the phone:
http://www.iblindtech.com/democast/doitwrite-ibt-55.html
N.) Episode #6 of The Cast addresses Talkback Gestures:
http://blindpodcaster.com/the-cast-episode-6-talkback-gestures-2/?utm_content=buffer03bc9&utm_source=buffer&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Buffer
O.) And Episode 7 demonstrates the Go Read app for Android:
http://blindpodcaster.com/the-cast-episode-7-go-read/?utm_content=buffer446ee&utm_source=buffer&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Buffer
P.) Episode #24 of Triple Click Home is out:
http://tripleclickhome.com/2013/11/27/triple-click-home-episode-24-luxury-versus-necessity/
Q.) We're creating this issue late enough that we can easily announce Serotalk Podcast #179:
http://serotalk.com/2013/11/26/serotalk-podcast-179-dont-auto-tune-birds/
R.) And lastly, check out the BlindBargains podcast on smart watches:
http://www.blindbargains.com/b/9898
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