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Top Tech Tidbits for Thursday, December 12, 2013 - Volume 435
The Week's News in Access Technology

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

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Greetings,

1A) According to LifeHacker, these are the best Windows tips, downloads, and guides for 2013:
http://lifehacker.com/most-popular-windows-downloads-and-posts-of-2013-1478269903

1B) And the equivalent listing for the Mac:
http://lifehacker.com/most-popular-mac-downloads-and-posts-of-2013-1479756456

2) The December 2013 issue of AccessWorld contains "An Overview of OS X Mavericks, the New Apple Operating System for Macs","Leveling the Android Playing Field with the EqualEyes Launcher and Suite of Accessible Smartphone Apps", "A Comparative Review of iPhone Magnifier Apps", "Audio Description in Theaters: Making Theaters More Accessible", and more:
http://www.afb.org/aw/main.asp

3) According to the AT blog from the NFB, accessibility in the Kindle Fire HDX has made some notable progress, but the device still has a long way to go before it can claim to be really accessible:
https://nfb.org/blog/atblog/kindle-fire-hdx

4) The same blog gives a positive report on the Sprint Kyocera Kona talking feature phone:
https://nfb.org/blog/atblog/sprint-kyocera-kona-talking-feature-phone

5) It takes a bit of work to accomplish some of what is described in this article, but doing that work could be quite rewarding. Kelly Pierce has written an article entitled "iPhone on the Cheap: How to enjoy wireless service for less than $30 a month, get a new iPhone for less than half retail, and have popular apps free":
http://www.applevis.com/guides/carrier/iphone-cheap-how-enjoy-wireless-service-less-30-month-get-new-iphone-less-half-retail

6) In cooperation with Space Camp and SCIVIS, the St. Louis Lighthouse for the Blind is offering full scholarships and transportation assistance to children of unique cultural diversity to attend SCIVIS 2014:
http://www.tsbvi.edu/space/lighthouse.htm

7) GW Micro announces the release of Window-Eyes 8.4, with support for three new synthesizer options (eSpeak, Microsoft Speech Platform, and Vocalizer Expressive), better Skype integration, and various bug fixes:
http://www.gwmicro.com/News_&_Events/Latest_News/?newsNo=297

8) The Mushroom FM Internet station has gone away, but you can still listen to Jonathan Mosen's flagship program, The Mosen Explosion, most Sundays at 19:00 GMT for four hours:
http://mosenexplosion.com/

9) And Jonathan has written a post, "Bringing the Blind and the Sighted Together Through Games":
http://mosen.org/index.php/bringing-the-blind-and-the-sighted-together-through-games/

10) Speaking of games, the AbleGamers Charity has released its "AbleGamers 2013 Holiday Gift Guide":
http://www.ablegamers.com/ablegamers-news/ablegamers-2013-holiday-gift-guide

11) AFB offers a $29 webinar recording, "Low Vision Nonoptical Devices: Improving Visibility for People with Low Vision":
http://www.afb.org/store/Pages/ShoppingCart/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductId=eLowVisNonOpDevices&ruling=No

12A) The Job Accommmodation Network offers a free 105-minute webinar, "Funding of Assistive Technology Through State Vocational Rehabilitation Agencies", December 18, 2013 at 19:00 GMT. To register, or for registration questions, write to:
lurquhart@nls.org

12B) The flier is here:
http://www.nls.org/files/Disability%20Law%20Hotlines/National%20AT%20Advocacy/TeleconferenceFlyerFundingATthruStateVRAgencies12-18-13.pdf

13) The Chris Cole Rehabilitation Center in Austin, TX seems often to be in need of adaptive technology trainers, and so they are now in need of two:
https://jobshrportal.cpa.texas.gov/ENG/careerportal/Job_Profile.cfm?szOrderID=246336&szReturnToSearch=1&&szWordsToHighlight=technology

14) The Cast blog and podcast has recently become more active. The theme of the blog is "Being confident in your ability, not your disability." The podcast is oriented to Android:
http://blindpodcaster.com/

15) And speaking of podcasts:

A) The Cast Episode 9 concerns Instapaper:
http://blindpodcaster.com/the-cast-9-instapaper/

B) And Episode 8 Concerns the Audible Android App:
http://blindpodcaster.com/the-cast-episode-8-audible/

From AppleVis come: C) Overcast: a Free and Accessible Weather App for iOS that Does What it Says on the Tin:
http://applevis.com/podcast/episodes/overcast-free-and-accessible-weather-app-ios-does-what-it-says-tin

D) AppleVis Extra: FREEQ and the Power of Advocacy:
http://applevis.com/podcast/episodes/applevis-extra-freeq-and-power-advocacy

E) A Dark Room: A Text-Based RPG for iOS:
http://applevis.com/podcast/episodes/dark-room-text-based-rpg-ios

F) And TimeTuner: A Full-Featured Radio Alarm Clock for iOS:
http://applevis.com/podcast/episodes/timetuner-full-featured-radio-alarm-clock-ios

G) Hear the Smart Watch (FreevoxTouch) Blind / Low Vision Touch Screen Watch Demo:
http://davidwoodbr.podbean.com

H) And finally, an Audioboo demonstrating how to launch the accessibility features of the Kindle Fire HDX:
http://audioboo.fm/boos/1788190-demonstration-of-enableing-the-accessibility-feature-of-the-kendle-fire-hdx

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