Sterling Creations

is translated into an arrow, and even 🙂 becomes a happy face. Beyond spelling, AutoCorrect fixes certain common punctuation. It automatically capitalizes the first letter of a sentence. AutoCorrect capitalizes I when you forget to, properly capitalizes the names of days, fixes the iNVERSE cAPS lOCK pROBLEM, plus other common typos. How to undo an AutoCorrect correction You can reverse AutoCorrect instant changes, but only when you’re quick. The secret is to press Ctrl+Z (the Undo command) immediately after AutoCorrect makes its correction. The change is gone. When AutoCorrect fixes a word, a blue rectangle appears under the first letter. That’s your key to access AutoCorrect options and change the way AutoCorrect behaves: Point the mouse at the rectangle to see a button, which you can then click to see various AutoCorrect options. Here are your options: Change Back to “whatever”: Undo the AutoCorrection. Stop Automatically Correcting “whatever”: Remove the word from the AutoCorrect dictionary so that it’s not corrected automatically again. (But it may still be flagged as incorrect by the spell checker.) Control AutoCorrect Options: Display the AutoCorrect dialog box, which is used to customize various AutoCorrect settings and to edit or create new entries in the AutoCorrect library.]]>

John-Michael Bond @BondJohnBond Longtime Apple enthusiasts sometimes forget that the company is still gaining new fans every day. Apple sold 43,719,000 iPhones in the second quarter of 2014 alone. That’s a lot of people who may not know all of the capabilities of their devices, let alone how to make the most of the earbuds that come with said device. So if you’ve always wondered how to control your iPhone with just your Apple earbuds or you know a recent Apple convert, you’re in luck. We’re here to help. The Basics: Your Apple earbuds have three controls: Volume Up with a + sign, Volume Down with a – sign, and a Center Button in the middle. Even though there are three buttons on your earbuds, almost every single command is controlled via the Center button. The Volume buttons are strictly for controlling sound levels, so congratulations, you’ve already mastered them. Enjoy a cool drink. Advanced Earbud Controls or How To Master The Center Button: Now that you know the basics, let’s get down to the nine different ways you can utilize your Center button to control your iPhone. These controls also work on your iPad or iPod. 1. Play or pause media: Press the center button once to pause your song or video. When you’re ready to resume playback simply press it again. 2. Skip to the next track/chapter: Quickly press the center button twice to skip forward. 3. Fast-forwarding: To fast-forward, quickly press the center button twice and then hold down. 4. Skip back to the previous track/chapter: To go back to a previous track quickly press the center button three times. 5. Rewinding: You may be noticing a theme with this one. To rewind quickly press the center button three times and then hold down. 6. Answering or ending a phone call: Answering a phone call is like starting or ending a song, simply press the center button once. When you want to hang up press the center button again. 7. Decline incoming calls: Sometimes you don’t want to talk to people. Apple understands, so to decline a phone call simply hold down the center button for two seconds and then let go. You’ll hear two beeps once you let go to confirm that you successful declined the call. 8. Switch from a current call to an incoming call: If you’re talking to someone on the phone with your earbud microphone and another call comes in, you don’t have to pull out your device to switch lines. Just press the center button once to put your current call on hold. When you’re done, press it again to switch back. 9. Switch to an incoming call while hanging up on your current call: Sometimes you need to switch to an incoming call and hang up your current call simultaneously. Your earbuds have you covered. Just hold down the center button for two seconds and let go. Much like when you decline an incoming call you’ll hear two beeps to confirm you’ve hung up. 10. Use Siri: Maybe while you’re listening to your favorite playlist you suddenly need to know where Tom Petty is from or search for upcoming movie showtimes. When you’ve got your earbuds plugged into your iOS device you can activate Siri by pressing the center button once and holding down. If you’d like to continue a conversation with Siri, just press and hold the center button again whenever you want to talk. Find more cool tips here: http://www.tuaw.com/2014/07/15/10-ways-to-control-your-iphone-with-your-apple-earbuds/]]>

Peter (Spiceworks) Goodbye Windows XP ! By now you’ve heard about Microsoft Windows XP End-of-Life on April 8th, 2014. After that date, Microsoft will not release any more free hotfixes for XP, opening the door for hackers looking to exploit vulnerabilities in the OS. The security risks of running an unpatched operating system have prompted IT departments and home users everywhere to drop XP like a bad habit, signaling the end of an era. But before we say farewell to Windows XP forever, let’s reflect on some eye opening stats about the operating system and the impact that it’s had on the world since it launched on October 25, 2001. Approximately 500 Million copies of Windows XP are still in use Even though market share for Windows XP has decreased over the last few years, according to recent estimates by ComputerWorld, as of March 2014, ?XP still runs on approximately 30% of the more than 1.6 billion PCs in the world. That means that XP still runs on a mind boggling 500 million computers worldwide. Let’s wrap our heads around that enormous figure for a moment. 500 million is: * Greater than the population of more than 200 countries! Only China and India have populations larger than 500M * More than the number of cars produced worldwide from 2005 thru 2013 (496M) * More than the albums sold by Michael Jackson, who only ever sold 400 million records * 33 times more than the records sold by ?Justin Bieber, who has sold 15M records to date In addition, 500M Windows XP OS installs: * Assuming an average install size of 750MB, have a footprint of 375,000 TB of disk space. That’s enough space to store 75 billion 5 minute long MP3s or 133.9 million hours of HD video at the highest quality on Netflix. * Would take 57,077.6 years or ?849 lifetimes to install assuming a 1 hour install / set up time (but we know you’ve reinstalled the same copy of XP at least a few times in the last 12 years) Microsoft has released hundreds of Windows XP security hotfixes If you think that trusty ol’ Windows XP is rock solid by now and that you don’t have to worry about security after EOL, think again. New security vulnerabilities in Windows XP are discovered all the time. You can rest assured that hackers will try their best to exploit new weaknesses after XP EOL. ? Here’s the supporting evidence: As of March 2014: * There were 741 security related hotfixes for Windows XP, 57% of which were rated critical * ?On average 5 security updates were released each month over the 12.5 year lifespan of XP * 2500+ general (including non security related)? hotfixes were released for XP since 2001, more than 200 each month! Approximately 95% of all ATMs in the world used Windows XP ?ATMs around the world overwhelmingly currently run on or used to run on Windows XP. Despite years of repeated warnings from Microsoft to upgrade systems, most major banks around the world are not close to completing the migration process. In fact, according to ATM manufacturer NCR, on April 8th, 1.7 million automated teller machines will still be running XP?. As of March 2014, there were: * ?2.6 million ATMs in the world * 2.47 million ATMs that ran XP at some point in time * An estimated 1.7 million ATMs that will not be upgraded to a new OS by April 8th, 2014 Microsoft spent hundreds of millions on Windows XP launch “Madness” On ?October 25, 2001, CompUSA stores held “Midnight Madness” events, where customers could be among the first to spend $299 on XP pro, or $199 for the upgrade version of XP. Bill Gates himself signed autographs at the New York Columbus Circle CompUSA location. Later that day, ?Microsoft hosted multiple Windows XP launch events on several continents as a part of their “Yes you can” campaign that cost of over $200M. At the New York flagship launch event, Rudy Guliani and the singer Sting made guest appearances in addition to Regis Philbin, who hosted a Microsoft themed edition ?of “Who Wants to be a Millionaire.” On top of that, Microsoft obtained the rights to use Madonna’s “Ray of Light” song in a TV commercial promoting Windows XP. How much does $200M buy? * 668,896 copies of Windows XP Pro at the $299 retail price * 11,111 years of Office 365 Mid Sized Business subscriptions for 100 users ($15 per user per month) * 8 million adult tickets to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City ($25) ?In China, 9 out of 10 copies of Windows XP are pirated Perhaps the country that has the most to worry about post Windows XP EOL is China. Here are several eye opening facts about Windows XP, security, malware in China: * 57 percent of China’s Internet users rely on Windows XP systems to go online * ?70 percent of China’s Windows XP users had in the last 13 years never chosen to install the company’s security updates * In a recent Microsoft forensic investigation, 91% percent of store bought PCs in China were infected with malware. In the same 169 PC study, none of the machines bought from resellers had an authentic version of Windows installed. The Windows XP “Bliss” desktop background cost millions of dollars ?The famous default Windows XP background was taken by a former National Geographic photographer, Charles O’Rear, who snapped the photo in the rolling hills of Sonoma County, California. The image has no doubt been seen by billions of people worldwide and is rumored to be the 2nd most valuable photo ever sold, putting it in the range of several millions of dollars.? For comparison, the 3 most expensive photos ever sold that we have data on cost $4.34M, $3.89M, and $3.66M respectively. _________________________ From the pages of Donna’s travel diary The Ski for Light experience In late January 2010, I along with some friends from Toronto Canada traveled to Utah to take part in a week long event called Ski for Light. Each year, this event occurs in several countries around the world including the United States and Canada. It was founded over 30 years ago by a group of Blind Norwegian skiers and in so many words: It gives an opportunity to a blind person to learn to ski if they have not done so before or it gives a blind skier the opportunity to have some real fun. This marvelous event lasts for a week and each skier is provided with their very own guide. Match ups are carefully done using the skier’s experience and the skier’s preferences while they are there for the week. Accommodations are excellent and the skiing area is top notch. As a first time skier to this event, I did not go with any expectations but at the end of the week I was sure glad that I had gone. I met so many new people; both guides and blind skiers from different countries. I skied, fell, and enjoyed myself thoroughly. Every day I along with my fellow skiers were taken by bus to Soldier’s Hollow where we skied for most of the day. Everyone was so friendly, positive, and above all, they made you feel welcome. I was fortunate to get a terrific room mate and we have promised each other to remain friends and return next year; this time the event is going to be held in Colorado. At the best of times, blind persons are often challenged when it comes to finding ways to enjoy such types of events. So just imagine my elation at having been able to attend one of these. The guides and workers were so helpful and so committed. I was truly impressed and I hope that others like me will find a way to attend next year and in coming years. I am definitely going to continue my skiing efforts back in Canada and will add this to my ice skating activities. Visit www.skiforlight.org to learn more. I’m Donna J. Jodhan enjoying my travels. On your next trip you could enrich your down time with some of my audio mysteries. Take them with you wherever you go! In the car, on the plane, on the bbus or train, at the beach, anywhere! Affordable, portable, (computer or i device) and you could either purchase or Subscribe for unlimited access to my library at www.donnajodhan.com/store.html]]>

AGOGO https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/agogo-listen-to-news-audio/id632350781?mt=8 is like a party to which you can invite all of your favorite content. You build your own Go Channel and add to it all the things that you most enjoy hearing. You can have news and interview programs from NPR, alongside news and interview programs from various TV networks, alongside podcasts on anything from cooking to poetry to science, alongside your favorite music and comedy and, well, anything else audio. You can browse areas of interest on AGOGO-art or books or comedy or technology-and immediately add them to your own Go Channel; or you can browse and just listen for the moment. You can have radio, TV, and podcast favorites all piled together in your Go Channel-say, “Diane Sawyer,” “60 Minutes,” “All Things Considered,” and “The Daily Show,” all gathered together with, say, podcasts from the Poetry Foundation, the BBC, and AppleVis. When you play your Go Channel, content is constantly refreshed, so if there has been a new TED Talk or edition of Fresh Air produced since the last time you opened the app, it will be right there waiting for you. You can listen to music or programs and podcasts about music. You can listen to book reviews or snippets of new books or programs about books and the publishing industry. You can listen to news commentaries or hear text-to-speech renditions of small chunks of information from your favorite newspapers. You can browse the various channels already established as categories or simply listen to your own Go Channel or music collection (the one on your own iPhone or a service like Spotify if you are a subscriber). *The AGOGO Story J.D. Heilprin, AGOGO founder, is a media aficionado and entrepreneur who has been responsible now for four startups, all centered on a theme of compiling available media content for easier consumer access. His first was Rio, a player that brought music together in a single electronic location-not amazing by today’s standards, but before the iPod it was revolutionary. He later conjured a system that would pull together all legally downloadable television programming into a single application, which launched as Flicker and subsequently became TV_COM. AGOGO grew out of what Heilprin saw as a growing need for consumers to have media content of all varieties and to have it on the go, to combine media access with mobility. He wired the dashboard of his car with an iPad, an iPhone, and an Android device and drove from San Francisco to New York, curious to see how much of his favorite media (and with how much complicated maneuvering) he could enjoy hearing while on the road. The resulting brainstorm was that there had to be an easier way! If you are driving a car or riding your bike or otherwise engaged in ways that make looking at a screen less than advisable, there needed to be a way to hear your favorite news and music and podcasts and programs without constantly pressing buttons, changing screens, or even navigating among multiple devices. Heilprin describes AGOGO as a kind of sophisticated tuner. It indexes content and enables you to point to exactly what you want to hear without myriad excess steps involved in getting there. *Embracing Accessibility The AGOGO public beta launched in the fall of 2013 and its official public launch was March 27, 2014. The intervening months attracted a voluminous amount of user feedback, and many of those feedback messages were from people who are blind or visually impaired. “I wish I could say that I was smart enough to have set out to build something that was a completely accessible universe of programming to the blind community,” Heilprin said, “but it didn’t happen that way.” Blind people were not on his radar screen at all. AGOGO grew out of the desire to create something that people could use without looking at the screen, and the surprise was that there was this whole population of consumers who never looked at the screen and who loved the product. Heilprin was so enthusiastic about the concept of accessibility that he and his team decided to move it to the top of their list of priorities and to immerse themselves in learning how to do accessibility right. They engaged in conversations with many of those original testers who had provided feedback. Eventually, realizing that the San Francisco Lighthouse was in the same neighborhood as AGOGO headquarters, they reached out to Lighthouse CEO Bryan Bashin, and board president Joshua Miele (both of whom are blind) and formed a wonderfully productive partnership. In collaboration with the San Francisco Lighthouse, AGOGO has conducted usability testing, organized focus groups, and even secured some blindness training for a few of their engineers. AGOGO engineers pushed themselves to use AGOGO without looking at the screen, using VoiceOver exclusively to see what pitfalls in navigating the app might occur. *Content Categories In addition to categories of content that center on books, music, science, movies, and a host of other interests, AGOGO now has a channel called Universal Access. The name might change, but the focus is thriving. You may have noticed that earlier reference to AppleVis. It is just one of many familiar sources of blindness and assistive technology content available in the Universal Access channel. Want to add Triple Click Home or Blind Bargains to your Go Channel along with the “TODAY” show and “All Things Considered”? Adding any item with a simple tap (or double-tap in the land of VoiceOver) is all that is required, and AGOGO will provide you with the newest episode each time you open the app. Heilprin says that in making AGOGO more accessible to the blind community, his team has made the app better for everyone, and that he’s constantly adding more improvements to his wish list. People who are blind, for example, have requested an integrated book channel. There is an abundance of outstanding information on books, book reviews, and book samples on AGOGO. Heilprin’s vision, however, is that just as you can now do with music, you could hear a review of a book, buy the book, and begin reading it, all within AGOGO. If you don’t have an iPhone, you can still enjoy AGOGO from your computer, although the company is aware that the Web-based version has a few accessibility issues remaining and is addressing them. An Android version is also in process. The spirit of inclusion that Heilprin and his team have poured into this product is both commendable and wise. While they do not currently have a blind person on the team, the website says they’re hiring. Boasted benefits include ergonomic chairs and all the coffee you can drink! Together with an endless stream of deliciously stimulating audio content-well, for some of us it’s hard to imagine a better environment. Though we never have to complain about being bored again, one more feature Heilprin says they are trying to figure out-how to speed up the audio content-would make this app just about perfect! Sign up for AGOGO by visiting the site, http://www.agogo.com/ or go to the iTunes App Store on your iOS device and search for “AGOGO.”]]>

Accessibility I just heard that touchscreen devices like the iPhone are really useful for blind users. What do I need to know? Sherpa Derek Featherstone answers: This really is an exciting time for people with disabilities. Touchscreen interfaces on both iOS and Android, and even Windows Phone, continue to get better in terms of accessibility. And it isn’t just blind people who benefit from those interfaces. For example, the touchscreen doesn’t take a lot of strength to operate, so people with low hand or arm strength do well with such interfaces. (Of course, there’s a lot more to these mobile operating systems than just the touchscreen and just blind users, but that was your question, so I’ll limit it to that for now.) Here’s how I’d love for you to think of it: a person that is blind is just trying to accomplish something using that touchscreen. They have a goal. They want to buy a movie or a sweater, or they want to read an article about their favourite video game. The touchscreen with VoiceOver on their iPhone is really just a tool to achieve that goal. With user goals in mind, here are a few key things to know and understand: The iPhone and other touchscreens use gestures instead of traditional keystrokes. On a desktop computer with keyboard and screen reader, we might press the H key to move from one heading to the next on a page. Or we might pull up a list of all the headings that exist in a page. By comparison, on touchscreens we use gestures instead of a traditional keyboard. We might use the rotor in iOS to switch to headings mode and then flick down to move to the next heading, or flick up to move to the previous heading. (Incidentally, an iPhone user could connect an external keyboard via Bluetooth, and they could use more traditional keystrokes, but for simplicity, think of it more like the above.) The iPhone’s VoiceOver screenreader is highly configurable. There’s a decent amount of personalization and customization within VoiceOver. Options allow you to select how verbose the screenreader should be, whether or not you want it to speak tooltips or other help text hidden in the page, and which items on the page you want VoiceOver to use when you’re navigating through the page. You can even set up VoiceOver’s rotor to include ARIA Landmarks as one of the items that you can use for navigation. http://www.w3.org/TR/wai-aria/roles#landmark_roles But keep in mind that people “out there in the real world” may not have clue what landmarks are. As developers, it’s important to remember that the experience you get when testing is different than what you’d get working with real people. Always remember that their settings may be different than your testing setup. What’s the best way to learn about the impact of those settings? Test with real people. And, speaking of ARIA . ARIA support continues to evolve and improve. This isn’t specific to the iPhone, but it’s an important aspect of today’s technology: ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) support in mobile browsers and screen readers is becoming more robust and something that can be relied upon when being used by a VoiceOver user. That doesn’t mean ARIA is without its shortcomings. For example, it is still not supported by desktop voice recognition software. So yes, go ahead and use ARIA, but be aware of where it works well, where it doesn’t, and what the impact of your choices is on the person who is trying to buy that sweater or read that article. Where iPhone has VoiceOver, Android has TalkBack, and Windows Phone 8 has Narrator and/or Mobile Accessibility. I know you only mentioned the iPhone in your question, but it’s actually a good thing that users have many options. All platforms continue to improve their accessibility offerings. This competition is good, as it generally means that features implemented on one platform that prove useful may end up making their way onto other platforms. Which means more options for people who actually need the software. That iOS, Android and Windows Phone all include these tools at no additional cost makes it even better.]]>

http://www.aftershokz.com/2014/05/30/meet-bluez-2-transcending-wireless-bone -conduction-headphones/ Bone conduction technology dates back about 70 years, where it was first used in military applications for one of its most critical values: situational awareness. Our efforts to bring all the benefits of the technology to the public resulted in the first open ear wireless bone conduction headphones: our first generation Bluez, which hit the market in January 2013. While Bluez was an incredible innovation, and we were proud and humbled by the awards and accolades that rolled in to support our work, we weren’t satisfied. Our mission is to enhance lives, and we strive to do so at a standard of which other solutions are no longer ideal. When Bluez launched, we felt the product was the beginning of a new category of headphones-open ear headphones; that our design and open ear listening experience served a great purpose where there was a need. But delivering safety and comfort were just the start, and all this time we’ve been working on ways to take the user experience up a notch. Bluez 2 takes the remarkable to the extraordinary, in the only headphones that allow users to #beopen to their surroundings completely, while remaining connected to a mobile device for music and voice communication. Who says bone conduction can’t sound great? That’s where PremiumPitchT comes in. We didn’t reinvent the wheel completely here, we simply left no stone unturned. A paper soft beryllium copper spring is used to express the tiny details of the music so it sounds as it’s intended. With the help of sophisticated digital signal processing, we’re able to produce a richer and much more balanced sound-including bass. An improvement you’ll have to hear to believe, PremiumPitchT makes open ear bass via bone conduction technology possible. Natural sound leakage is normal. We fight it with LeakSlayerT. A common complaint about bone conduction audio is sound leakage, especially as it relates to people nearby. Though we’ve always agreed it to be a legitimate concern, some say the issue is so real that it leads them to believe bone conduction isn’t real, even though Beethoven composed that way! We found that drilling some holes in just the right places let the sound generated by the transducers cancel the sound created by the vibration of the housing. This beautifully simple solution has allowed us to “slay” leaked sound significantly, the benefit of which is improved audio output. We now confidently believe Bluez 2 bone conduction headphones rival the audio you’re accustomed to from most traditional headphones. Increased sweat resistance make Bluez 2 “everyday strong”. In addition to the protective film on the printed circuit board we’d built in to the first generation product, we’ve added watertight silicon rubber gaskets and nanotechnology chemicals to ensure Bluez 2 is intrinsically sweat resistant. They’re built for use everyday, powering through sweat sessions and even the elements. Extended comfort and a super secure fit: introducing OpenFitT. All this wouldn’t mean much if we didn’t make adjustments to ensure Bluez 2 was built to fit like it’s barely there. So we moved the circuit board and the battery to the sides of the headband (instead of the back) for balanced weight distribution. Though equally lightweight, the shift allowed us more flex in the headband, making them a better fit for a wider range of head sizes. Add in the fact that nothing is nested inside or covering your ears and you’ll find that the comfort, especially when worn for extended periods of time, is unmatched. Audrey SaysT voice prompts deliver a seamless user experience. You have a new friend in Audrey, the sweet-sounding companion that will guide you through power, pairing and playing. She’ll even gently let you know when it’s time to charge the battery, and will initiate a call upon your command. But be warned, this isn’t “Her”. She’s not going to fall in love with you-it’s strictly platonic. Dual noise-canceling microphones deliver clean and clear voice communication. Bluez 2 is equipped with two microphones, strategically placed to filter out unwanted sounds and leave only clear speech, reliable even in noisy environments. Equalization presets customize sound to personal preference. Because listening environments frequently fluctuate and music files aren’t always perfect, we felt it vital to add functionality that allowed for easy equalization adjustments. Bluez 2 EQ presets also help to deliver that bass that was missing from the first generation product. Kick the function into gear when music is playing with a simple press and hold of the multifunction button until you hear two beeps; then you can filter through a handful of presets that’ll boost bass or decrease vibrations to your liking, all while your mobile device remains tucked away. When it comes to wireless connectivity, a little shift can make a big difference. On the first generation Bluez, the antenna transmitter was nested into the back of the headband. Customer feedback led us to take potential signal blockage by the body into consideration when designing Bluez 2, and that’s why now you’ll find the antenna slimly set into the right side of the headband. This design change means your headphones can hear your music and calls better; therefore so can you! What else is in the box? . 1 waterproof storage pouch . 1 micro-USB charging cable . 1 adjustable tension band – for those needing a snugger fit . 2 reflective stickers – for increased visibility in darkness . Infinite peace of mind Our Price: $99.95 OPEN EAR WIRELESS STEREO HEADPHONES The only BluetoothR stereo headphones that allow you to tune in to music or calls without tuning out the world, all with complete wireless freedom. Our open ear bone conduction headphones guide mini vibrations through your cheekbones to your inner ears, ensuring you can be open to ambient sound, even when you’re plugged in, working out or on the go. Contact Information AfterShokz 6311 Fly Road East Syracuse, NY 13057 315.218.0308 Web Site: http://www.aftershokz.com/product/bluez-2/]]>

Basic Tips for Computer Users with Low Vision Computers seem to be getting more and more complex, and with new versions of Windows and Microsoft Office coming out every couple of years, it’s easy to get lost in the shuffle. Sometimes performing even a basic task like checking e-mail or opening a file on your computer can be difficult because of the hard-to-read text and icons used by Windows and most computer programs. Fortunately, there are some steps you can take to make your Windows PC more accessible. Below are some basic tips for how to configure a PC to make it more accessible for users with low vision, including information on how to change the display colors and increase the size of the on-screen text in Windows, Internet Explorer, and Mozilla Firefox. Improving the Accessibility of Windows There are a number of settings you can change in Windows to make the text and icons larger and easier to see. All versions of Windows use “themes,” which set the color and size of the system text. This setting applies to the Start menu, the desktop, and My Computer and My Documents. The default theme uses fairly small type in a white-on-black scheme, but this can be changed to something that might better suit your needs. *In Windows XP, modify this setting by following these steps: 1. Open the Start menu and select Settings. Under Settings, open the Control Panel. 2. In the Control Panel, open Display. 3. In the Display dialog box, select the Appearance tab, which is located in the row across the top of the window. 4. One of the items under Appearance is Color Scheme. There are four different high contrast color schemes to choose from. Keep selecting “H” until you find a scheme that works well for you, then select Enter. 5. There is a drop down menu directly underneath Color Scheme called Font Size, where you can increase the size of the text in Windows. If the settings you find here don’t work for you, select the Advanced button and choose your own color combinations and text sizes. *Windows Vista and Windows 7 both have a feature called the Ease of Access Center, which replaces and improves the Accessibility Tools found in earlier versions of Windows. Follow these steps to open the Ease of Access Center: 1. Open the Start menu and select the Control Panel 2. In the Control Panel, open the Ease of Access Center. Once the Center opens, you can activate accessibility tools, such as Magnifier or Narrator, and change the fonts and colors used by Windows. 3. Select “Get recommendations to make your computer easier to use.” This will bring up a wizard that will ask you a series of questions and automatically change the text size and color settings based on your answers. In all versions of Windows, the changes made to the text size using the above steps will affect text created by Windows, which includes the Start menu, desktop, My Documents, My Computer, and the top title bar for all programs. It will not affect the size of text in webpages, Word documents, or most other programs. The changes to the color scheme, however, will carry over to web browsers and Microsoft Office, in addition to the desktop, Start menu, My Computer, and My Documents. Be warned, however, that there will still be some non-Microsoft programs that will use their own color scheme. Improving the Accessibility of Web Browsers There are ways to make sure that nearly every webpage uses high-contrast colors and larger text. To do so, follow the steps below for your preferred web browser: Internet Explorer 1. Pull down the Tools menu and pick Internet Options 2. A new window should open up. In this new window, choose the “Accessibility” button by pressing Alt-E. 3. Check the boxes labeled “Ignore font styles specified on Web pages” and “Ignore font sizes specified on Web pages.” Select “OK” in the dialog box and again in the Internet Options dialog box. This will return you to the page you were viewing. 4. Now, whenever you want to increase or decrease the size of the text on a webpage, pull down the View menu (Alt-V) and select Text Size (X). Here, you can choose any option, ranging from largest to smallest. If you select largest, all pages will display an enlarged text size (size will fluctuate from page to page). Mozilla Firefox 1. Pull down the Tools menu and pick Options 2. A new window should open up. Choose the “Content” tab, which is located in the row across the top of the window. 3. Choose the style and size you prefer using the Default Font and Size drop down menus. 4. Select the “Advanced” button to the right of the Size drop down menu. In this new dialog box, make sure the box for “Allow pages to choose their own fonts” is unchecked. Select “OK.” 5. Now, you should be back in the Content options for Firefox. Below the “Advanced” button there is a button labeled “Colors” where you can adjust the font and background colors used by Firefox. In the Colors window, choose the colors that you would prefer, and make sure that the box for “Allow pages to choose their own colors” is unchecked. Select “OK” to return to the webpage you were viewing. 6. The pages should now be using the fonts and colors you specified. You can increase the size of text on screen any time by hitting Ctrl +, or by going into View and selecting Zoom. *Windows Eight: Windows 8 can be frustrating because nothing seems to be where it used to be. Here are >Two tricks that help you find things. They will make ordinary tasks much easier to carry out. 1. Quick and easy way to access all the settings in Windows 8 One of the annoyances of Windows 8 is trying to find all the various system settings. Here is a way to make them readily available in one big list. 1. Go to the Desktop 2. Right-click an empty spot on the Desktop 3. Choose “New-Folder” 4. Give the folder this name: All Settings .{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C} 5. Open the folder to see a complete list of settings (This works in Windows 7 also where it is sometimes called “God Mode”.) If using a screenreader, to create an empty place which is the same as unselecting anything on the desktop, do the following: Go to the desktop. Hold down the control key and tap the space spacebar until you hear an incon’s name spoken followed by “unselected.” Then follow all the other steps mentioned above regarding creating the folder. 2. How to shut Down Windows 8 quickly Shutting down Windows 8 the usual way involves multiple steps. You have to open the Charms bar, click “Settings”, then “Power”, and finally “Shut down”. Here is how to create a desktop shortcut that will reduce these four steps to just one. 1. For mouse users; a. Go to the Desktop b. Right-click an empty spot on the Desktop c. Choose “New-Shortcut” d. Go to the line labelled “Type the location of the item.” e. Enter: shutdown.exe -s -t 0 (The last character is “zero”.) f. Click “Next” g. Type a name like Shutdown h. Click “Finish” 2. For keyboard users: a. Go to the Desktop (windows key plus letter m) b. Hold down the control key and tap spacebar until hearing an icon’s name followed by “unselected.” c. Press the letter w until hearing “new” followed by tapping enter. d. Press the letter s for shortcut. e. You are placed into an edit field. Enter the following: shutdown.exe -s -t 0 (The last character is “zero”.) f. Press enter or tab to next and h it enter. g. Type a name like Shutdown h. Tab to next and hit enter. The sshortcut is now made. You can creat a hotkey for this shortcut. a. highlight the new shortcut. b. Press the application key or shift plus f10. c. Press the letter r. d. Tab until reaching “hotkey field equals none.” This is usually pressing tab twice. e. Press the letter s followed by tapping enter. Now pressing alt plus control plus the letter s will shut down the computer. >15 Essential Windows 8 Keyboard Shortcuts 1. Windows Key + C: Displays Charms menu. 2. Windows Key + X: Brings up a menu of advanced system options, including Windows Control Panel, Command Prompt, Task Manager and File Explorer. 3. Windows Key + I: Displays the Settings menu for the current app. For example, if you’re in Internet Explorer 10, this key shows Internet options. If you’re on the Start menu, it shows general OS settings. One of the Charms is Settings. To avoid calling out the Charms bar then choosing Settings it’s possible to go directly to Settings: Windows +I. This will reveal the Power button, too. Click on that to reveal the Sleep, Shut down and Restart options, options users say are way too hard to find. 4. Windows Key + Q: Brings up the apps search menu that allows you to search your list of installed programs. 5. Windows Key + D: Activates desktopDescription: Description: http://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adTypes/icon1.png mode. 6. Windows Key + Tab: Brings up the Task Switcher and toggles between Windows 8-style apps. 7. Windows Key + H: Brings up Share menu for the current app. For example, hitting Windows Key + H in Bing Maps, lets you email or share map information on social networksDescription: Description: http://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adTypes/icon1.png. If you are in an application and want to email or share its content with someone on a social network, hit Windows + H. 8. Windows Key + M: Opens desktop mode and minimizes all windows. 9. Windows Key + W: Opens universal search menu and sets it to search settings. 10. Windows Key + F: Opens universal search menu and sets it to search files. 11. Windows Key + R: Opens Run menu where you can launch programs by typing in their executable file names. 12. Windows Key + E: Opens File Explorer to the “My Computer” view which shows all your drives. 13. Windows Key +Number Key (1-9): Switch to desktop mode and make the Nth application on the task bar active where N is the number key you hit and 1 is the furthest taskbar icon to the left. 14. Windows Key + . (period key): Docks the current Windows 8-style application to the right or left, depending on how many times you hit it. 15. Windows Key + Z: Brings up app menu, which shows contextual options for the active app. * > Windows magnifier hotkeys There is a “to do this” and “press this key” columns along with nine rows in this table. Use tab and shift plus tab to move between the columns. Use up/down arrows to move through the rows. Windows logo key Description: Description: Windows logo key+plus (+) or minus (-) To do this Zoom in or out Press this key Ctrl+Alt+Spacebar To do this Preview the desktop in full-screen mode Press this key Ctrl+Alt+D To do this Switch to docked mode Press this key Ctrl+Alt+F To do this Switch to full-screen mode Press this key Ctrl+Alt+I To do this Invert colors Press this key Ctrl+Alt+L To do this Switch to lens mode Press this key Ctrl+Alt+R To do this Resize the lens Press this key Ctrl+Alt+arrow keys To do this Pan in the direction of the arrow keys Press this key Windows logo key Description: Description: Windows logo key+Esc To do this Exit Magnifier Description: Description: expcol_imgs Closing Comments These tips are designed to help you take advantage of the built-in tools offered by Windows and web browsers. While changing the color themes and text size can go a long way towards making the text and icons on the computer easier to see, adjusting these settings still falls short of the accessibility and comfort provided by a standalone screen magnifier such as ZoomText. Experiment with your screen magnifier and the settings described above to find the solution that best suit your needs.]]>

that might help ease the passage of learning, but none of those seem to be able to hold a candle to this vibrating glove that will be able to let one pick up Braille thanks to the wonders of passive haptic learning. Researchers over at the Georgia Institute of Technology have managed to come up with a glove that will allow users to learn how to read and write Braille, even when they are focusing on unrelated activities. How does it work? This wearable computer will rely on miniature vibrating motors that have been sewn into the knuckles, and it was discovered that motor skills in participants were being developed without requiring them to focus on the movement of their hands. It is said that only 10% of the 40 million blind persons worldwide learn Braille, with the main barrier being schools neglecting this aspect of learning. Thad Starner, College of Computing Professor at Georgia Tech and technical lead/manager on Google’s Project Glass, said, “The process is based on passive haptic learning (PHL). We’ve learned that people can acquire motor skills through vibrations without devoting active attention to their hands.” Vibrating Glove Teaches Braille , original content from Ubergizmo . Read our Copyrights and terms of use . Description: Description: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ubergizmo?d=yIl2AUoC8zA Description: Description: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ubergizmo?d=qj6IDK7rITs Description: Description: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ubergizmo?i=5I2qgnfGMHE:s3NdXTLHXdk:gIN9vFwO qvQ Original Article: http://www.ubergizmo.com/2014/06/vibrating-glove-braille/?utm_source=mainrss]]>