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Top Tech Tidbits - Volume 192
The Week's News in Adaptive Technology

Distributed by Flying Blind, LLC
http://www.flying-blind.com/

For questions and comments regarding Tidbits, please e-mail Dean Martineau at dean@topdotenterprises.com. Dean Martineau provides adaptive technology training by phone, online, and in person, with flexible arrangements, and at affordable prices.

I am seeking to acquire a Book Port, the device formerly sold by American Printing House for the Blind. To contact me about this, (or, for that matter, whenever you want to write a message regarding Tidbits,) please do not hit reply, but rather write to dean@topdotenterprises.com.

1) Two tech-related articles appear in the January, 2009 issue of the Braille Monitor: Making CAPTCHA More Accessible for the Blind
http://www.nfb.org/images/nfb/Publications/bm/bm09/bm0901/bm090108.htm
and Converting Your TV from Analog to Digital
http://www.nfb.org/images/nfb/Publications/bm/bm09/bm0901/bm090111.htm

2) Recent additions to SeroTalk include a 42-minute chat about Netbooks, the exciting new smaller laptops that cost much less than laptops generally do and do everything most of us need
http://serotalk.com/podcasts/TechChat001.mp3
and a 35-minute discussion about portable devices and the new Serotech product, the Socializer, which eases access to instant messaging and social network sites.
http://serotalk.com/2009/01/08/serotalk-podcast-5-on-portable-devices/
Speaking of Netbooks, in order to avoid the common phenomenon where the screen reader costs more than the computer, you can buy a version of System Access that will only work on a Netbook for $149.00.
http://www.serotek.com

3) Fred's Head Companion lets us in on a new free Windows game playable by anybody with hearing: Saber Duel invites you to don a pair of headphones and block lightsaber attacks coming at you from various sides.
http://www.wanderingpandacomics.com/blog/games/saberduel/saberduel.php

4) The NFB Access Technology Blog offers A Comparison of Mobile Geo and Wayfinder Access (Two GPS solutions for different mobile phone platforms)
http://www.nfb.org/nfb/NewsBot.asp?MODE=VIEW&ID=404&SnID=1332588961
and a description of Walking Hotspot, a way to use your mobile phone as a wireless router for your laptop.
http://www.nfb.org/nfb/NewsBot.asp?MODE=VIEW&ID=400&SnID=1332588961

5) The Gw Micro Blog has awakened, and recently contains a post discusses the value of examining the html source of web pages to solve some accessibility problems: Sleuthing Sources Solves Snafus
http://www.gwmicro.com/blog/index.php/all/?title=sleuthing-sources-solves-snafus&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1

6) This site, Laptopical.com, is constantly updated with laptop news and reviews.
http://www.laptopical.com/

7) A contributor to the above-mentioned site contributed to Gizmo's Tech Support Alert her take on the Top Five Best Video Download Sites, and also included short descriptions of many others.
http://www.techsupportalert.com/top-5-video-streaming-websites.htm

8) Denny Huff Reviews Outlook 2007 and 2003 On Tek Talk GMT Tuesday, 27 January at 01:00.
http://conference321.com/masteradmin/room.asp?id=rsc9613dc89eb2

9) A lot of people use and follow the progress of the chat system Skype, so this article, entitled Skype’s new super-wideband codec might be of interest:
http://www.wirevolution.com/2009/01/13/skypes-new-super-wideband-codec

10) This Fred's Head Companion post is called Lesson Plans On The Net and includes a good number of online resources.
http://www.fredshead.info/2005/09/lesson-plans-on-net.html

11) The upcoming February edition of the British fee-based audio adaptive technology magazine Infotech will feature a comprehensive review of the Plextalk Pocket DAISY recorder among other articles.
http://www.tandt-consultancy.com/infotech.html

12) American Foundation for the Blind is about to release a book through AFB Press, Assistive Technology for Students Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired: A Guide to Assessment. The book costs $49.00 in print or as a text-based cd.
http://www.afb.org/store/product.asp?sku=978%2D0%2D89128%2D890%2D9&mscssid=XUXLEUTWHVSH9GDT8HT44G486LJXFWVF

13) Petro Giannakopoulos has produced a series of podcasts on Replay Converter, one of the suite of programs that comes with the Replay a/v suite from Applian Technologies. You can subscribe to the podcastor download recordings here:
http://www.bavis.co.uk/podcasthosting/blindreplay/feed.php

14) Adobe has posted a survey, active until 31 January, asking what features people want in the next version of Adobe Reader:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=pB4MaoGVDuwofD4dKj8PTg_3d_3d

15) EASI will hold a free webinar on Cascading Style Sheets and Accessibility on Tuesday, 27 January at 19:00 GMT.
http://easi.cc/clinic.htm
They are preparing their Barrier Free Design course to re-launch in February, and are updating it to conform to the recently-adopted Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.
http://easi.cc/workshop.htm

16) Bookshare has considerably renovated its web site, and they invite you to a training on its use on GMT Thbursday, 29 January at 02:00.
http://conference321.com/masteradmin/room.asp?id=rs7867a2369e0e

17) AccessComputing Alliance provides a nationwide resource to help students with disabilities pursue computing fields. Students with disabilities can become part of the AccessComputing Team and engage in an on-line community of peers and professionals as they transition to college, graduate school, and employment. AccessComputing will also identify opportunities for paid internships and research, especially with college students.
http://www.washington.edu/accesscomputing/team_app.html

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