Thursday, September 25, 2008

Gems and Doubling Up On Freedom Scientific

These days it isn’t all about JAWS. Freedom Scientific also has a line of Low Vision Video Magnifiers. And they all happen to be named after precious gems. Today they introduce the Sapphire to go along with their Onyx, Topaz and Opal lines of units. Read more about the new unit at the link below.

http://www.freedomscientific.com/News/pressroom/2008/SAPPHIRE-Announced-9-25-08.asp

But honestly the buzz is all around Tandem. And now you can try it out for yourself. Download the beta and reach out and touch someone with your JAWS. Wait.. that didn’t come out the way I meant it .. oh well go download the new public beta at the link below.

http://www.freedomscientific.com/downloads/jaws/JAWS-public-beta.asp

Monday, September 22, 2008

The FSCast You Want To Hear!

I've been aware of a cool new JAWS feature for about two weeks now. But I couldn't say anything. Well .. I don't want to ruin it by giving off some lame description of what this feature is, so FS Cast to the rescue.

From the FSCast page..

"This month, Eric Damery returns to talk about the next public beta of JAWS® 10. Not only have we made changes in response to your feedback, but there are exciting new features to show you. We'll demonstrate the powerful out-of-the-box access JAWS users can now enjoy with iTunes® 8. Plus, we unveil a significant new feature that will change the way many JAWS users receive support and assistance. This is an FSCast you won't want to miss.

Find the audio for this podcast at"

http://podcast.freedomscientific.com/FSCast/episodes/fscast022-september2008.mp3

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Window Eyes 7 Released!

***

GW Micro is proud to announce the official release of Window-Eyes 7.0. The maturity of Window-Eyes has reached unprecedented levels in this latest version.

The addition of scripting support provides users with the tools to enhance the accessibility and usability of third party applications, the operating system, and even Window-Eyes itself. GW Micro has always stood by the statement that Window-Eyes does not include complicated and proprietary scripting support, and that statement remains true with Window-Eyes 7.0. Instead, the addition of an industry standard scripting interface using tools that already exist in the Windows operating system allows users new to scripting, seasoned programmers, and everyone in between to take full advantage of this powerful new feature without getting bogged down in a complex and rigid programming environment. Users not interested in creating scripts can still take advantage of scripts written by other users through an intuitive script management system.

GW Micro is also proud to offer a centralized script repository where both script users and script developers can gather to distribute and discuss Window-Eyes scripts. More information can be found at http://www.gwmicro.com/sc.

Window-Eyes 7.0 contains several other features, including many Browse Mode enhancements, the inclusion of a new Eloquence synthesizer, support for both Firefox 3 and Internet Explorer 8, and overall increased speed and stability. Window-Eyes 7.0 is fully Unicode compliant, allowing for more localization options for virtually any language. In addition, Window-Eyes 7.0 is the first screen reader to provide support for iTunes 8, including access to the Apple iTunes store.
Thank you to everyone involved in the public beta cycle. Window-Eyes continues to lead the way in adaptive technology because of the dedication of our customers.

Window-Eyes 7.0 is a paid upgrade for existing Window-Eyes users. If you own Window-Eyes 6.1, you may purchase an upgrade to Window-Eyes 7.0 for $175, plus shipping. If you already own Window-Eyes 6.1, and have an active SMA, you will be receiving your Window-Eyes 7.0 CD in the mail soon. Please be patient; all Window-Eyes SMA CDs are our first priority. You may also choose to download your Window-Eyes 7.0 upgrade for immediate installation. To download the Window-Eyes 7.0 upgrade, to check the status of your SMA account, or to determine your upgrade eligibility, go to the Window-Eyes Help menu, and choose the Window-Eyes Upgrade option. Alternatively, you can visit http://www.gwmicro.com/upgrade, and follow the instructions.

If you own a version of Window-Eyes older than 6.1, refer to the GW Micro Window-Eyes Upgrade Catalog page (https://www.gwmicro.com/Catalog/Upgrades/) for applicable upgrade costs.

Window-Eyes 7.0 supports Windows 2000, Windows XP (32-bit versions of Home, Professional, and Media Center), Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista (all 32-bit versions), and Windows Server 2008 (all 32-bit versions).

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us at 260-489-3671, or support@gwmicro.com.

Friday, September 12, 2008

Behind The Scenes: Heck And High Water

Sorry gang for not posting as much. I have friends and family in New Orleans and Houston. So you can guess that my mind has been elsewhere over the last few weeks. I'm glued to reports from local television streams and if you are interested hit the link below for the ABC station KTRK Channel 13.

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/feature?section=news/local&id=6102015

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

$30,000 In 60 Seconds

I was writing this up for ISN but I thought I would post it here as well.

As a movie buff.. No wait. As a guy who was once in radio.. um. In a world where one man could have a voice so recognizable that every movie, TV show and radio commercial emulated his style.. Well that is better but honestly there will be only one Don LaFontaine and only he can bring things to life on the screen like no other.

http://www.donlafontaine.com/DLF2007/Intro.html

It was once said that you needed $30,000 on the table just to get on the list for his work. For those of us who aspired to be as recognizable as Harry Sheerer, Howard Stern or Ken Nordene we looked to Don as a more obtainable goal because his gravelly voice and cadence was easier to achieve. However few people could get their voices that low for more than 15 seconds at a time let alone read copy the same way Don did.
Don was 68 but you would have never known it by hearing his voice. Aint It Cool has a nice write up with clips of his most memorable work. You can find that link below.

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/38150