go to sections menu

The Technology blog and podcast

This is for the technology blog and podcast Commentary, articles, and podcasts

header picture for Ingegno theme

You are here: August 2015

Go to Homepage [0], contents or to navigation menu



Some Parents Are Suing Their Son’s School Because They Think the Wi-Fi Is Making Him Sick | VICE | United States

How can you sue for something over WIFI? Check this story out. Thoughts are welcome. Wow. I didn’t think that was possible.

They claim the student suffers from electromagnetic hypersensitivity syndrome, a condition that causes symptoms like headaches and nausea from proximity to the Wi-Fi.

Source: Some Parents Are Suing Their Son’s School Because They Think the Wi-Fi Is Making Him Sick | VICE | United States

Comments (1)

New Spear Phishing Campaign Pretends to be EFF | Electronic Frontier Foundation

Google’s security team recently identified a new domain masquerading as an official EFF site as part of a targeted malware campaign. That domain, electronicfrontierfoundation.org, is designed to trick users into a false sense of trust and it appears to have been used in a spear phishing attack, though it is unclear who the intended targets were. The domain was registered on August 4, 2015, under a presumably false name, and we suspect that the attack started on the same day. At the time of this writing the domain is still serving malware.

Source: New Spear Phishing Campaign Pretends to be EFF | Electronic Frontier Foundation

Comments (0)

Six Nabbed for Using LizardSquad Attack Tool

I always love reading stories where people get caught for cybercrime of some sort, because it is hard to find people responsible. I read this the other day via Krebs on Security, and the article is entitled Six Nabbed for Using LizardSquad Attack Tool and it was an interesting story on how this came about. As the shadow always said “Crime does not pay.” Maybe this time, its without the evil laugh he always had.

Comments (0)

Apple Vis to announce a blog team

Well, earlier, I had let people who don’t visit apple vis know about their attempt to have someone for blogging on their platform. I just saw this blog post that is talking about a team which will be blogging for them. There are 6 on this team, and one of them we had on our podcast some years ago and sort of lost touch. A New Chapter in our History Opens With the Creation of the AppleVis Blog Team is the name of the post, and We’ll briefly mention who is all going to be on this team.

  • Amir Soleimani
  • Brian Giles
  • Darrell Shandrow

  • Mike Taylor
  • Morgan Watkins
  • Niall Gallagher

If you go to the blog post, you can read more about these people. This sounds like it is going to be an interesting endeavor, and hopefully we can all learn different things I know I’m knew to the apple world, only being here for a little over a year, and I’m giving a hand to The Transit App which I use practically every day. I’ve found some issues which they hope to fix. This is going to get interesting.

Comments (0)

Technology podcast 219 is now available!

OK folks,
The tech podcas is now available.


Welcome to podcast 219 for August 29, 2015. On this edition of the podcast, we talk about the Kindle for IOS app, the death of Jim Kitchen, and we also talk about some of the books I’ve read including: Paranoia and Spam Nation. I link to the books blog for these since I always tend to write what I’m reading about in case people want to take a look and comment. Contact information is at the end, and I hope you enjoy the podcast!


Get a copy through our RSS feed and I hope you’ll enjoy!

Comments (0)

Accessible Apps releases version 3 of Chicken Nugget

Hi folks,
Today, word got out that version 3 of a popular client called Chicken Nugget was released. There is overwelming response on twitter on how great this update is. It boasts some fixes including the ability of taking advantage of the longer direct messaging that Twitter announced some weeks ago. You can also quote tweets, and Windows 10 support. Herbie went to Windows 10, and I suggested he try out the nugget which worked under the prior version. Go to the accessible apps web site to learn more and download a copy. There is a 30 day trial, $15 to buy. The Qube from what I understand, doesn’t work under windows 10 at all. Other twitter clients are also being updated to accomodate the twitter changes. One other notable client for the blind is TW Blue which will release 0.8 at the end of the Month according to retweets I’ve seen. One other thing that the Nugget has is the ability of having different sound packs for different accounts. The Qube has had that for awhile now, so its nice to see in the Nugget. Any updates I’ve missed, feel free to post them as comments. Happy twittering!

Further reading:

Chicken Nugget Twitter Client Updated with a Mouthful of New Features Blind Bargains

Comments (0)

Windows 10 churning through data, blowing up usage caps | ZDNet

We should check this out. I’m not upgraded to windows 10 yet, and I’ve seen retweets of this story, so had to check this out. You should too.

Data caps on internet bandwidth might make some users think twice about downloading patches, which often include security updates.

Source: Windows 10 churning through data, blowing up usage caps | ZDNet

Comments (0)

NV access releases 2015 version 3 of NVDA

This blog post from NV access talks about their release of 2015’s third release. Window-Eyes and JFW support version 10 of Windows, at least Window-Eyes does. If you’re an NVDA user, please check out the blog post as it links to important information you should read before you chose to upgrade your Windows to version 10. Enjoy!

Comments (0)

Amazon Kindle app is being tested

Hi folks,
On podcast 219, I decided to do a test run of an app called Kindle – Read Books, eBooks, Magazines, Newspapers … and while I’m impressed with its ability to allow me to read from that and the Kindle for PC app I do find something that I do talk about and want to find out if others have tried this to see if we’re the only ones here at my location experiencing this or not. As a side note, if you are blind, just install Kindle for PC with Accessibility Plugin and it’ll give you the same app but with accessibility built in. With this app, it works with NVDA, JFW, and SAPI.

Here is what we’ve done, using the IOS app.

  • Look for a book using the built in bookshelf whether you search for the book, or pick one from the list that comes up.
  • If the book sounds interesting, download the sample so you can see if you can find the book worth buying.
  • If you’ve done this, you’ll get a screen telling you that you can add the book to your wish list.

There is no way to buy the book unless you have the unlimited subscription, and the book falls in that category. I’ve reported this to Amazon when I called them on the 22nd to have them help me with something else. If you have the same trouble, feel free to call them or send them a note so that more people are giving them feedback so this can be fixed. The representative says this should not be the case, but two of us here at home can reproduce this, and the only way to buy it and have it delivered is through the PC.

I think if you don’t have a PC, you’re screwed, and this is why I braught it up. Not everyone is going to have help, or want a PC to begin with. While I told them I was in a shared account for the two books i recently read, I wanted to move over to my account as I am not going to read that much I’ve got other sources as well between ibooks, BARD, and Kindle just gives me another avenue if I can’t find the book elsewhere. I should be able to buy via the app if I’m there. Let me know your thoughts and report it to Amazon so this can get fixed if this is a bug.

Comments (0)

Apple Vis is seeking guest bloggers

Hi folks, I thought people might want to know if they haven’t seen it that Apple Vis, a site that gives information on accessible apps, apps that aren’t accessible, and other IOS and mac topics is looking for guest bloggers. This Apple Vis post goes in to detail on what they’re looking for. I thought about applying, but I am not versed enough to write about IOS or Mac. I know very little about a mac, and I’m learning every day on IOS, but not enough to write full time. I have had articles published with my name, but they were published elsewhere, although my MENVI articles I’ve written have been cross-posted. I want to pass the word along in case people haven’t seen the post, and maybe I’ll see someone from here posting over there if they wish. Hope this finds you well.

Comments (0)

Ai Squared’s Commitment to Screen Reader Technology

Recently, it has come to our attention that there are unfounded rumors that Window-Eyes is a dead-end product. There is no basis for these rumors. Ai Squared is committed to our continued development of screen reading technology. This applies to both our full version of Window-Eyes, as well as Microsoft’s free Window-Eyes offer for users of Microsoft Office. We continue to invest in screen reading innovation and will continue to offer a smooth upgrade path to all existing Window-Eyes users. This commitment has been clearly evidenced in the recent release of Window-Eyes 9.2 that supports Windows 10, even before Windows 10 shipped to the public. All of our customers, whether low vision or totally blind, are extremely important to Ai Squared. Many of our customers have been with us for decades, and we want to reassure you that we plan to continue to provide great products for all of our customers.

If you have not yet upgraded to Window-Eyes 9.2, we encourage you to upgrade or consider purchasing a Software Maintenance Agreement (SMA) that will give you access to:

• Windows 10 and Preliminary Support for Office 2016
• Innovative access to Facebook and other popular web applications
• New auto-recovery support for Internet Explorer
• Adobe Reader DC support

Check out all of the details about the great benefits of 9.2 at the following link: http://www.gwmicro.com/Window-Eyes/Latest_Features/

We want to express our sincere gratitude for our loyal customers, and we look forward to continuing to serve you with the best technology on the planet for people who are blind or visually impaired.

The Ai Squared Team

Jeremy Curry
Director of Product Management
Ai Squared, Inc.
Phone: (802) 362-3612
Email:
Web: www.aisquared.com

Jeremy Curry
Director of Product Management
Ai Squared, Inc.
Phone: (802) 362-3612
Email:
Web: www.aisquared.com

————– next part ————–
An HTML attachment was scrubbed…
URL:
_______________________________________________
Any views or opinions presented in this email are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Ai Squared.

For membership options, visit http://lists.window-eyes.com/options.cgi/apps-window-eyes.com/jared%40lists.jaredrimer.net.
For subscription options, visit http://lists.window-eyes.com/listinfo.cgi/apps-window-eyes.com
List archives can be found at http://lists.window-eyes.com/private.cgi/apps-window-eyes.com

Comments (0)

Apple Releases iOS 8.4.1 with VoiceOver Improvements for Apple Music

I’m a bit late, but Apple vis posted a notice about 8.4.1 of IOS. It fixes some accessibility issues in regards to Apple Music, among other stuff. I also saw a post somewhere about some security fixes as well. Apple Releases iOS 8.4.1 with VoiceOver Improvements for Apple Music (apple vis)

Comments (0)

The death of Jim Kitchen

Hi folks,
I don’t know how many of you are familiar with Jim Kitchen’s games. On his web site there is a nice message talking about how he has passed away, and an E-mail address to family. The web site will be kept up as long as possible according to family, and his games live on. I saw tweets about it, so went up to Blind Bargains to take a look. Popular Game Developer Jim Kitchen Dies at 58 was the post being tweeted about. While writing this story, I found Jim Kitchen Mega Games Pack Released, Works with Windows 10 which is good news for people moving to Windows 10. I’m sure the people who enjoyed his games will miss him. I had sent an E-mail to him some days prior in regards to the baseball game and putting nnew features such as a pitch count in to the baseball game. He had mentioned he would give it some thought. I’ve talked to him a few times, and he was a very nice man. The first article links to his obituary notice. I hope this finds you all well.

Comments (0)

technology podcast 218 for August 16, 2015

Here are the show notes for podcast 218.


Podcast 218 talks about an article entitled: The Wheels of Justice Turn Slowly as well as covering a Dice World update, and moving apps around on the phone. The cast is about 1 hr 29 minutes.


RSS feed for download is here. Enjoy!

Comments (0)

An expresso machine run fully by app

John from Magnatune is interested in making an android application accessible to those who are blind if people are interested in an expreso machine which has no buttons but has an app which would be used to run it. Here is an E-mail he asked me to share with you.


Hi Jared, I’m working on a new project (while still keeping up with Magnatune), it’s the design and manufacture of a tablet-controlled espresso machine.

You can see it at http://decentespresso.com

The reason I’m writing you is that I’m thinking about sight impaired use of this machine.

There are two interesting aspects to this machine for sight impaired use:
1) I’m trying hard to not have any hot-enough-to-burn surfaces, something which isn’t the case for traditional espresso machines
2) it’s entirely controlled by an android tablet. This means it can speak to you, and (if there isn’t too much ambient noise) could be controlled by speaking
3) possibly… other android sight-impaired approaches ?

Can I ask you:
1) do you know, or could you find out, if there’s any interest from the sight impaired world, in a proper espresso machine?
2) any suggestions you’d have for making the android tablet sight-impaired friendly? I’m the programmer of the tablet (and the web site) and you know I take these issues seriously, and can deliver!

-john

To give him feedback, he has asked me to pass along the E-mail address of so please contact him directly if this is of interest to you. Thanks for reading!

Comments (0)

BMW wants you to know when traffic lights change

ok, should drivers be paying attention to the lights in the first place? I am confused. We as disabled people don’t get that luxery, but I guess we’ll see what happens.

Traffic lights are supposed to help keep driving orderly, but they often create more tension than they resolve. How do you know that the green light won

Source: BMW wants you to know when traffic lights change

Comments (0)

go to sections menu


navigation menu

go to sections menu