Listen to SeroSpectives: This Month in Technology for May, 2012
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Maurie Hill lives in Vermont with her husband and eight-year-old daughter. She has Stargardt’s Disease, which only affects her central vision. She walks to work at Ai Squared, maker of ZoomText, where she writes for their blog. Before blogging, she worked in tech support for AI Squared. Previously, she was a process computer technician at Wyeth Nutritionals, and before that, a field service technician at Digital Equipment Corp. Recently, she became one of the co-hosts of High Contrast, Serotalk’s newest podcast.
In her own words, she “did a little crazy white water canoeing before losing too much vision and now I like to jog and bike. I love travelling to new places and seeing the world through an 8-year-old’s point of view.”
Deb Cook lewis is Technical Assistance Coordinator for the center on Technology and Disability studies at the University of Washington in Seattle. She has worked in assistive technology since 1984 providing assessment and training to consumers, consultation to government and industry, and consultation to software and hardware developers. She and her husband operate The Ride Radio. They have a dog and a cat. The cat likes to send tweets and is also suspected of having an email account. You can follow Deb on Twitter.
Joshua Loya is an assistant instructor at the Guardian Academy of Martial Arts in Spring Valley, California. Despite being completely blind since 1996, he has earned 2nd degree black belts in Guardian Jujutsu, Guardian Karate, and Guardian Kobujutsu. He also holds a green belt in Guardian Kempo, the advanced program offered by the Guardian Academy, and is one of only three students to be given Guardian Kempo rank under the new system rules. Joshua has also worked as an assistive technology trainer and consultant for blindness specific and mainstream organizations.
Learn more about Joshua by visiting his website or following him on Twitter.
SMART PHONES
How the Blind Are Reinventing the iPhone
20 improvements I’d like to see in iOS 6
Samsung leapfrogs Apple as top smartphone vendor worldwide
IBM worries iPhone’s Siri has loose lips
iOS or Android for the visually impaired: nine reasons that count
New iOS app, Blindsquare, uses Foursquare to help blind people find places.
COMPUTING
Why Mac Computers Are Becoming More Favorable Among the Blind
Microsoft angers users by cutting Media Center out of Windows 8
Microsoft developing Kinect-like controller that uses sound waves
SpokenLayer Helps You Listen to the Web
Over-reliance on technology is undermining spelling skills
COMMUNITYIn a Digital Age, Braille Is Still Important
The Power of Braille by Jamie Pauls
Victor Reader Stream updated to version 3.5
Best Buy Takes Pre-orders for the Narrator
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