TVI's wanted for equation study

· TVIs Needed for Linear Equations Study

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has built accessibility into another Quantum Artificial Intelligent (AI) Mathematics Tutor; this time a Linear Equation Tutor. If you have any visually impaired student(s) covering this topic, your assistance is requested for this field study. Each TVI is eligible for a stipend of $150. If you can participate in this field testing, contact dittel@quantumsimulations.com.

Tech Scheming

So, I'm not sure that anyone has read or will read this blog, and I'm thinking about putting a stats counter to measure the hits that I get. Also, the ads aren't generating any hits, so I'm wondering at this point how to atract hits. I'm also looking for a way to obtain a domain for a low price or free. I've got the web space, but I want to put up my website again. Once I do, this blog will redirect to a subdomain on that TLD. I'm thinking about doing tech support via phone, skype or email to people all around the country, starting out with blind but expanding. As this probably won't generate much income to begin with because connections have to be established first, I am also thinking of building customized desktops and selling those to anyone with Linux on them. I would sell to blind with screen reader and magnification support enabled by default, and probably a standard version of Ubuntu for nonblinks. If anyone reads this, can you please let me know what ideas you have about how to go about getting this implemented? It is going to take some funding to advertise, maintain the site, purchase hardware, etc etc but maybe there are some grants that I can apply for? I haven't done much research into all this yet. I also wouldn't need to advertise too much because word of mouth would get me enough clients. As long as I got my site search engine optimized, I should be OK. This is just an idea of mine that I'm throwing around, I don't know yet how it's going to take off. I don't see myself finding a job in this tight economy in the arena of assistive tech, although God always has his plans. If I do, then I'll be happy. But if I don't, then I have to have some plan for generating a cash flow, and this might be a way to do it. Unfrotunately all this is long-term ...

Check out thunderbolt!!

Check out thunderbolt!! This is a port going on the new macbook pro. As I understand it, it will allow you to connect existing devices via available adapters and achieve speeds of 10.00 GB of throughput in both directions. In addition, it will allow you to connect multiple devices simultaneously without the use of a hub or a switch, without sacrificing performance. Personally, I can't wait to see this out in all notebooks!! Please check this out!!

Vinux 3.01 has been released!!

Vinux, an accessible version of Linux for the visually impaired based off of the Ubuntu distrobution, has been released with added stability and an extensive feature list. New in this release are 78 new voice variants, an audio book converter, addition of emacs and emacspeak as an alternate navigation tool, and many other new apps. Also, many bug fixes have been implemented making this version of Vinux one of the most responsive to date. Distrowatch has mentioned Vinux in its weekly list of updated distros. If you want an alternative operating system to windows that is accessible out of the box, fast and most importantly free, check out Vinux!!

NVDA 2011.1 has been released!!

The latest version of NVDA has been released!! New features include automatic announcement support in Mirc, CRT, color announcements in some apps, as well as bullet and number announcements in microsoft office. Also included is support for several models of braille displays. Please check this out by clicking here!!

Looking for a hard drive?

This is the perfect hard drive!! It is the cheapest that I've been able to find, it is external and is USB 2.0 compatible. It does require a power plug, but it is good for backups and other data storage!! Please click here to purchase this drive and receive free shipping!!

Shutdown of internet in Libya

Hello,

This blog post is not intended to dish out information. All information contained is of the opinion of the author.

I have been praying for my friends in Libya. It seems as if the government there is bombing its own people. This makes me real glad to be in the USA. It also appears as if they have cut off mobile and land line access, as well as all internet traffic. Egypt tried this, and this didn't work too well. There are ways around the blocks. A quick google search will show anyone how, although if internet is blocked it will be up to those outside of Libya to get in contact with people in Libya to inform them of how to do this. So, here's a question, and all comments are welcome: Should governments have access over ISP's and shutting down the internet? The United States has been talking about an internet kill switch, other countries obviously are now cutting off internet access any time they feel like it, and I haven't seen too many posts analyzing whether this is ssomething that ought to be done or not. In my opinion, the internet belongs to the people as a whole. It is not the United States' internet, or Egypt's internet, or Libya's internet. It blongs to all of us. When government cut off internet access, it makes the people who are affected double their efforts to make information available to the wider world and to access information that they lack. Do governments really believe that cutting off people's internet solves any of their problems? It only makes them look like the tyrants that they are.

Orca version 2.91.90pre released

Orca version 2.91.90pre has been released. I am running it here with no issues. Please follow the instructions for your distro to obtain and install orca. This release enhanced support for libreoffice and openoffice.org by reducing lock-ups and crashes. This version also made it so that if there is a screen reader running, it will autostart. Enjoy, and if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me!!

Increase your odds for a job in the tech field

With the economy down and jobs being hard to find, you have to do whatever it takes to get the edge up on most people. This is especially true in the tech industry because there are many people that are now entering the technosphere. Therefore, companies have to be able to distinguish between who is qualified and who isn't. In my experience, most jobs are obtained by networking and getting to know an employer. However, there are a few things that you can do. One of those things is to sit down and get an education. A degree in the field of IT, computer science or something similar helps out. Most employers though look for experience. They want to know that you did more than read a textbook, and that you can actually perform on the job. Certifications are a mixture of education and experience, and hence are a good way to get noticed by an employer. The Gild is a site that allows you to be able to take free certification tests. The site also has job boards, and other tools to aid you in your job search. Furthermore, they also have partnerships with companies such as ebay and Oracle, so big tech companies are looking at these cert results. When you take the test, results are put up on a public profile. They also have certs in writing, which is a vital skill in the workplace.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Vinux: A free and open-source Operating System!!

I began using Linux on and off in 2003. I've tried out Ubuntu, Knoppix, Open-Solaris, and Open-Suse. They all have accessibility in some way. They all incorporate the gnome desktop, and thus are able to use the Orca screen reader. However, it often took many work-arounds to get things working as they should. You might have to enable it to allow you to access administrative applications, you might have to install accessible applications to do some things because the app installed was not accessible or usable with orca, etc etc. Tony Sales recognized that there was a place out there for an accessible Linux Distrobution that would enable accessibility out of the box and would allow blind and visually impaired users to use it as an alternative to windows and mac. In windows, if someone wants to be truly productive, they have to buy a screen reader which costs $900 or above and was extremely buggy. If you wanted a mac, while accessibility was built in, the hardware is extremely expensive. Vinux, or visually impaired Linux which is now a variant of Ubuntu Linux enabled access to the entire operating system for blind and visually impaired individuals. It also does not need a very powerful machine to run. And it is possible to install Vinux without relying on someone's assistance right out of the box without using an automated script. Not only was Orca installed and configured and optimized for speed and efficiency, but other apps such as yasr (a screen reader for the terminal), thunderbird (an accessible email client) and firefox have been enabled and in some instances optimized to work even better for the blind individual. Also, high-contrast appearances and fonts were installed to improve its look for visually impaired individuals. Over the past couple of years, I have been using Linux and now Vinux full time. I head up the documentation team as well as the testing team. I urge everyone to at least take a look at this operating system. It is possible to run it from a CD, from a USB thumb drive, as a virtual operating system inside of windows, or you can install it on the hard drive alongside windows or on its own. Please click here to visit the vinux homepage and to find out more. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Thefriendmail

The friend mail is a service that allows you to access facebook features from your inbox. It will send you newsfeed updates, wall posts, birthday reminders, friends' profiles, etc etc. You can update and request information from facebook by using different email addresses. For example, you can send an email to status@thefriendmail.com and it will allow you to update your status. You can place links and they will be shortened, and you can attach pics that will be uploaded. To learn more about thefriendmail feature list and about how to use it, please check out the user guide located here and if you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact me.

Thanks.