I’m not, or can’t go to this but do what you must to get the word out!   |

   Right now, in Geneva, at the UN's World Intellectual

   Property Organization, history is being made. For the first time in

   WIPO history, the body that creates the world's copyright treaties is

   attempting to write a copyright treaty dedicated to protecting the

   interests of copyright users, not just copyright owners. At issue is

   a treaty to protect the rights of blind people and people with other

   disabilities that affect reading (people with dyslexia, people who

   are paralyzed or lack arms or hands for turning pages), introduced by

   Brazil, Ecuador and Paraguay. This should be a slam

   dunk: who wouldn't want a harmonized system of copyright exceptions

   that ensure that it's possible for disabled people to get access to

   the written word?

 

   The USA, that's who. The Obama administration's negotiators have

   joined with a rogue's gallery of rich country trade representatives

   to oppose protection for blind people. Other nations and regions

   opposing the rights of blind people include Canada and the EU.

 

   Update: Also opposing rights for disabled people: Australia, New

   Zealand, the Vatican and Norway.

 

   Update 2: Countries that are on the right side of this include,

   "Latin American and Caribbean region including (Uruguay, Argentina,

   Chile,

   Jamaica)

   as well as Asia and Africa."

 

   Update 3: Canada is upset with me. That's fine, I'm upset with Canada.

 

   Activists at WIPO are desperate to get the word out. They're tweeting

   madly from the negotiation (technically called the 18th session of

   the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights) publishing

   editorials on the Huffington Post, etc.

 

   Here's where you come in: this has to get wide exposure, to get cast

   as broadly as possible, so that it will find its way into the ears of

   the obscure power-brokers who control national trade-negotiators.

 

   I don't often ask readers to do things like this, but please, forward

   this post to people you know in the US, Canada and the EU, and ask

   them to reblog, tweet, and spread the word, especially to government

   officials and activists who work on disabled rights. We know that

   WIPO negotiations can be overwhelmed by citizen activists -- that's

   how we killed the Broadcast Treaty negotiation a few years back --

   and with your help, we can make history, and create a world where

   copyright law protects the public interest.

 

   I am attending a meeting in Geneva of the World Intellectual Property

   Organization (WIPO). This evening the United States government, in

   combination with other high income countries in "Group B" is seeking

   to block an agreement to discuss a treaty for persons who are blind

   or have other reading disabilities. The proposal for a treaty is

   supported by a large number of civil society NGOs, the World Blind

   Union, the National Federation of the Blind in the US, the

   International DAISY Consortium, Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic

   (RFB&D), Bookshare.Org, and groups representing persons with reading

   disabilities all around the world.

 

   The main aim of the treaty is to allow the cross-border import and

   export of digital copies of books and other copyrighted works in

   formats that are accessible to persons who are blind, visually

   impaired, dyslexic or have other reading disabilities, using special

   devices that present text as refreshable braille, computer generated

   text to speech, or large type.

   These

   works, which are expensive to make, are typically created under

   national exceptions to copyright law that are specifically written to

   benefit persons with disabilities...

 

   The opposition from the United States and other high income countries

   is due to intense lobbying from a large group of publishers that

   oppose a "paradigm shift," where treaties would protect consumer

   interests, rather than expand rights for copyright owners.

 

   The Obama Administration was lobbied heavily on this issue, including

   meetings with high level White House officials. Assurances coming

   into the negotiations this week that things were going in the right

   direction have turned out to be false, as the United States

   delegation has basically read from a script written by lobbyists for

   publishers, extolling the virtues of market based solutions, ignoring

   mountains of evidence of a "book famine"

   and the insane legal barriers to share works.

 

   Source:

  http://www.boingboing.net/2009/05/29/usa-canada-and-the-e.html

 

In this eppisode I explain about a worm like thing on twitter. I try and explain how to to get rid of it should you fall victom to it. Don't install anything you don't now about or use any websites you don't trust and change your password if you fall victom to it.

this is a fun podcast where I take clips from 2006 and 2007 and look back on the whole of tffp. it is a bit rushed but enjoy.

This is from yesterday. Enjoy. No audio for this one.

Tidbits doesn't appear on Thursdays when I don't send it, like last week.  Even when I do send it, when I send it late on Thursdays as I have done for a long time, the current distribution process means you probably don't see it until a day or so later.  God forbid, I might have to start sending it earlier! 


1)  EASI will offer a free 1-hour clinic entitled Tools to Turn Text Documents into MP3 Audio, Thursday 6 December at 19:00 GMT.  You need to register in advance to get a space, or to get the link to the recording.  You can also read about other free and fee-based offerings from EASI.
http://easi.cc/clinic.htm


2)  A new version of Fedora, a Linux installation made accessible via the Speakup screen reader, is available.  It can be installed with no sighted assistance by those with hardware synthesizers, and guidance and telephone support is available to those without hardware synthesizers.
http://speakupmodified.org/


3)  Jim Kitchen has added a new free self-voicing game to his web site: Homer on a Harley.
<http://www.kitchensinc.net>


4)  The November, 2007 issue of AccessWorld is available, featuring reviews of accessible mp3 players, an article on Blackberry access, the search for accessible exercise equipment and more.
http://www.afb.org/accessworld


5)  A user has found a program, Nokia AudioBooks which appears accessible, and which allows owners of Simbian 60 3rd edition phones to play audio books with bookmark and resume features.
http://www.nokia.com/betalabs/audiobooks


6)  JAWS for windows version 9 has been released.
http://www.freedomscientific.com/fs_products/software_jaws90fea.asp
Eric Damery of Freedom Scientific will discuss the release, how it works with Office 2007 and windows Vista, and answer questions at the Tek Talk free online training to be held on GMT Tuesday, 4 December at 01:00 (stateside Monday evening.)
http://conference321.com/masteradmin/room.asp?id=rsc9613dc89eb2
If you live in the US and received a JFW 9 cd that doesn't seem to install, the company is apparently aware of the problem and is sending replacements.


7)  The team at Accessible World, providers of the Tek Talk weekly training events, have begun to collaborate with Level Star, the makers of the portable Icon and its derivative device, the Braille Plus.  They offer weekly trainings on the use of the device on Thursdays, and past trainings are or soon will be in the archive.
http://www.accessibleworld.org


8)  Jim Fruchterman, founder of BookShare, gave a presentation discussing the future of BookShare, discussing plans to serve students and non-US readers.  You can download the presentation, and find a wealth of other material of interest to those interested in books and reading.
http://www.friendsofbookshare.org/


9)  OpenBook version 8, the scanning-reading program from Freedom Scientifric, is due to be released in December.  Owners of the previous version can upgrade for $100 if they do so by the end of the year.
http://www.freedomscientific.com/fs_products/software_open.asp


10)  An Easy-To-Use document diary for 2008 both in word in a size of 14PT and 20PT and plain text formats is now available for you to download from the website:
http://www.moving-mountains.com


11)  the Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired in San Francisco will present a 2-hour seminar on GPS (Global Positioning Systems) for the blind on Friday, 7 December starting at 21:00o GMT.  People can take part in person, over the phone or via the net. If you want to participate via toll-free phone or online, e-mail
info@lighthouse-sf.org


12)  Here is a blog entry concerning AXSJAX, a Google initiative for making some "Web 2.0" content such as AJAX, and some of the Google online programs, potentially accessible.
http://google-code-updates.blogspot.com/2007/11/introducing-axsjax-access-enabling-ajax.html


13)  Some people may be able to obtain a refurbished computer for $`100 through the Texas Center for the Visually Impaired. These are computers running Windows XP,  and come with a 7-cassette tutorial and demo copies of window-Eyes screen reader and ZoomText magnification software.
http://www.handicapability.org/computers.html


14)  The Assistive Technology Center will offer several online seminars in December, both free and fee-based.
http://www.atechcenter.net

Feel free to forward individual Tidbits, or the entire tidbits issue, to interested people (but make sure they don't already receive it; a lot do!)  When doing this, please have the courtesy to cite your source, perhaps directing them to the tidbits web site (see below.)

tidbits is intentionally concise, but I know a lot of people don't understand many of the items because little explanation is given.  If a Tidbit brings up a question in your mind, feel free to ask, and I'll answer as time, knowledge and inclination permit.

Visit the Tidbits page at www.topdotenterprises.com/tidbits.htm where you can subscribe to the rss feed and grab back issues.  All that welcome information for future issues can come to me at dean@topdotenterprises.com.


the web page for subscribing or unsubscribing to Tidbits is
http://topdotenterprises.com/lists/

This is just a blog post so no audio guys.

I found this while browsing a technical news group I'm on.

..."Asked to comment about multiple lost-message reports in 11
different threads created in September and October in the Gmail Help
forum, a Google spokesman declined to address any of the specific
situations, citing privacy reasons.

However, he did emphasize that, as far as Google is concerned, "most
issues like this are a result of phishing attacks or compromised
passwords -- or sometimes simply messages mistakenly deleted or marked
as spam -- not a data corruption issue."

That explanation makes little sense to savvy and experienced Internet
users like Sessum and Squazzo, who are aware of phishing scams and
know better than to reply to suspicious messages -- let alone include
in them confidential, sensitive information, such as passwords. In
addition, they say they are the only ones with access to their
respective accounts.

[ ]

Sessum, who also uses the hosted Google Docs applications and other
Google services, expected a more helpful answer from the company,
considering the extent of her data loss.

"In many respects, I'm building my small business on the back of
Google. And I believe that's what Google wants us to do. So it's
imperative that they provide at least a little support when something
goes wrong," said Sessum, who hosts her blog on Google's Blogger
service.

Although consumer Webmail services such as Gmail are generally free,
the user expectation is that the data stored in them will not be
corrupted, Gartner's Cain said."...

<
http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/11/14/Disappearing-Gmail-messages-baffle-users_1.html>

or
http://preview.tinyurl.com/ywhuct

--
Well that's it for this little blog post. You can teather contact me by email or you can call the comment line at 206-337-0681

No audio for this one. but i came across this late in my inbox.

Enjoy

I am writing to tell you about a new, free service for the blind community: Read This To Me is a free reading service for the blind, powered by volunteers
and Internet collaboration.

ReadThisToMe allows blind and low-vision people to have printed documents read to them over the phone. All the blind person needs is a phone line and a
fax machine (no computer is required.) Here's how it works:

The blind person faxes the document to be read to the ReadThisToMe toll-free fax number: 1-877-333-8848. The first page of the fax needs to be a cover page
that includes the client's first name and callback (voice) phone number. The document itself can be just about anything: a handwritten letter, a bill,
a can of food, a multi-page magazine article -- just about anything that can be faxed Then, one of ReadThisToMe's volunteer readers will call the client
back and read the document.

The service is available throughout the U.S. and is absolutely free, though donations and business sponsorships are accepted.

More information is available at
www.ReadThisToMe.org.
Or, a recorded message describing how to use the service can be heard by calling 1-877-333-8847.

I created this service as a tool to help the blind. I hope you'll consider announcing it on the Marrie.org blog and wherever else is appropriate.

If you have any questions about this service, please contact me at
info@readthistome.org

This is going to be a random thing. If I find anything in here of interest then  it will go up on this blog portion. Sorry. no audio for this one.

1)  The annual five-hour Holiday Stocking Stuffers ONLINE EVENT sponsored by the Accessible Worldwill take place Saturday, 3 November from 17:00-22:00 GMT.
 This free event lets you learn about affordable gifts, gizmos and gadgets which can be of use to those who are blind or visually impaired.  http://conference321.com/masteradmin/room.asp?id=rs5affc3cfa191

2)  On the same Day, Kathy Ann Murtha is offering a 2-hour, $100 seminar on PowerPoint 2007 with window-Eyes.
http://tinyurl.com/3acu5d

3)  Serotek now lets you access its full product line without commitment for $39.99 per month.  You can also buy the product line for $24.95 per month for
48 months.
http://www.serotek.com/

4)  John Gunderson will offer an On-Line Web 2.0 Accessibility Course using the W3C ARIA Specifications for $495, Mondays and Wednesdays at 20:00 GMT from
26 November to 19 December.
http://www.cita.uiuc.edu/courses/web20online/

5)  In a development which might have benefit to us, the iPods to come next will have built-in speech.  You can test the synthesizer they will use at this
site
http://say.expressivo.com
and read an article about the development here:
http://news.scotsman.com/scitech.cfm?id=999772006

6)  the topic for the free weekly training from Tek Talk this tuesday, 6 November at 00:00 GMT will be J-Ware, Specialist Interfaces Using the JAWS for
Windows Screen-reader, discussing voice-input options JSay and J-Vis, Outlook calendar enhhancement J-Days, and iTunes enhancement J-Tunes. this is a direct
link to the voice chat room:
http://conference321.com/masteradmin/room.asp?id=rsc9613dc89eb2

7)  thanks to the Blind Bargains newsletter and blog, we learn about this listing of the top 25 sites for blind gamers:
http://7128.com/top25/top25sitesblind2007.html

8)  the Blind Bargains creator has also brought us Bargain Hunting 101: How to shop around for the best Deal, revealing many techniques they use to gather
the information for their blog and newsletter.
http://www.blindbargains.com/tips/hunting101.php

9)  Fred's Head Companion brings us a useful short course on chat lingo for those who want to be part of online communities:
http://fredsheadcompanion.blogspot.com/2006/03/do-you-know-your-chat-lingo.html

10)  Developments of the OpenBook OCR program haven't come often of late, but a major upgrade, Version 8, is around the corner.  Read about what will be
in this new version here.
http://www.freedomscientific.com/fs_products/software_OB80.asp

11)  Accessibility reviews of various programs, including unzip them all version 1.0 and windows live messenger version 8.0 have been added to the AccessWatch
database.
http://www.accesswatch.info

12)  The installment of ACBRadio Main Menu to be heard on Wednesday, 7 November at 01:00 GMT will feature full coverage about the new Mac version Leopard,
particularly focusing on the features of Voice Over.  this should be quite interesting, as some enthusiasts are claiming that the new version provides
excellent support of the web, while others are expressing disappointment with that same support.
http://www.acbradio.org

13)  the User Agent Accessibility Guidelines provide guidance on designing Web browsers, media players, assistive technologies, and other 'user agents'
to be accessible and to increase accessibility of Web content for people with disabilities. the Web Accessibility Initiative has developed Version 2 of
these guidelines, and they invite comments.
http://www.w3.org/TR/2007/WD-UAAG20-requirements-20071031/

Feel free to forward individual Tidbits, or the entire tidbits issue, to interested people (but make sure they don't already receive it; a lot do!)  When
doing this, please have the courtesy to cite your source, perhaps directing them to the tidbits web site (see below.)

tidbits is intentionally concise, but I know a lot of people don't understand many of the items because little explanation is given.  If a Tidbit brings
up a question in your mind, feel free to ask, and I'll answer as time, knowledge and inclination permit.

Visit the Tidbits page at www.topdotenterprises.com/tidbits.htm where you can subscribe to the rss feed and grab back issues.  All that welcome information
for future issues can come to me at dean@topdotenterprises.com.

the web page for subscribing or unsubscribing to Tidbits is
http://topdotenterprises.com/lists/

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Here, I get transcripts from the colledge and get stuck there for almost 5 hours.

This is an odd podcast. i tested a cf card in my r9 and went through the testing processes that I go through.

this is an update on Rail Racer, and I also take  a look at a product I started using 2 years ago called mushers secret wax, a breatheable layer for the dog's feet.

This is exactly what the title says. e talked about some stuff pluss an interesting site where you can get free podcasted books. Go to www.podiobooks.com for more info.

This is not a regular post for tffp but the world of online broadcasting is about to change come may 1 2007. I promosed a link in the show notes and hear it is. I hope you will take the time to write to our US representatives and tel them how you feel.

This is a song I recorded on christmas day before I new I was going to have a cold. Enjoy and may 2007 bring us new adventures.  I didn't leave my contact info but I will do it now.

email: tffp@marrie.org

phone: 206-202-3259
 Happy new year everybody!C

/this is an update reguarding the comment line and how I got the idea for this podcast from anoher podcast at www.blindcooltech.com