Ever wanted to know who represents your local area? Facebook has made it easy to find out who represents you in your state legislature and in the U.S. Congress. You will also get access to your Governor, lieutenant governor, the vice-president, and the President of the United States.
Here are the instructions on how to use Town Hall:
NEWS
UberAssist Arrives in Another Location to Help People with Disabilities.
Uber announced that UberAssist will start running in Macau, which is sometimes called the Vegas of China. People who are disabled can choose the UberAssist button from within the app to let Uber know that they will need special assistance. For now, Uber has trained 100 drivers in Macau to handle special needs. They can communicate in sign language; they have been trained on how to fold wheelchairs; they know how to help people in and out of the car; and they have been trained on how to help people who are blind or visually impaired.
Once a person with a disability request an Uber
Assist ride, a qualified driver will call them to make sure of the meeting place, and ask if there are any special needs. The cost is the same as an UberX ride, which is the least expensive version.
This program is already running successfully in neighboring Hong Kong, and Uber hopes to bring it to many more locations.
The Brains of Blind People Really Are Wired to Enhance Other Senses
I lost my sight at the age of twelve and ever since then I think I’ve heard just about every stereotype there is for people who are visually impaired. My childhood friends waited for the day I could hear like Daredevil and warned them when our parents were coming back home. Family members pitched in and bought me a keyboard and insisted that I become the next musical sensation. Although I can still play a decent rendition of “Chopsticks” I am no closer to becoming a rock star.
TalkBack 5.2 Public Beta is Now Available for Download.
The Google accessibility team released a public beta version of TalkBack 5.2 for people running Android Lollypop or higher. The interesting features now are a new verbosity setting that lets you control the amount of spoken feedback your device relays, and new earcons that are much more pleasant than the extremely annoying sounds in the previous version for some. I might be able to run TalkBack with the sounds on.
If you would like to try out the beta version of TalkBack 5.2, first join the Eyes-Free Google Group, receiving posts from this group is not a requirement. Sign up to become a Talkback beta tester.
Orbis Flying Eye Hospital: Get on Board and Help Fight Blindness.
The volunteers at Orbis have been tirelessly working to fight blindness around the world sense 1982. They provide eyecare screenings, eye surgeries, and training for other eyecare professionals. Per the World Health Organization, 80% of worldwide blindness is either preventable or curable.
With the Flying Eye Hospital, which was donated by FedEx, Orbis can reach more people in need than ever before. FedEx also provides volunteer pilots for the plane, and they also donate maintenance and parts as well.
The Flying Eye Hospital has an operating room in the center of the plane and a classroom in the front. Teachers and students can watch the eye surgeries without having to be in the operating room.
Spotlight with Charlene Xia of Team Tactile: Creators of Tactile: A Real-Time Text to Braille Device
3D Ultrasounds for Expecting Mothers and Fathers Who Are Visually Impaired
Many years have passed since I had the experience of finding out I was going to be a parent. My youngest is ten now but, none-the-less I still remember the awe and wonder I shared with friends and family as I passed around each of my children’s ultrasounds.
Squirrel Devices Creates Tools for Blind Students in STEM Courses.
Pranay Jain and Anshul Singhal, two graduate level students at MIT have founded Squirrel Devices, a company which provides measuring and drawing tools for Blind students in STEM courses.
The Tactile Caliper allows students to measure and draw straight lines with an accuracy of 1/16 of an inch. The Caliper is 12 inches, or 30 Centimeters, and is a mechanical device with no battery or electrical source. Amazingly, when locked in place, the device displays the measurement in braille.
There is also a Tactile Protractor, which is also mechanical. When opening it, it clicks each time you reach a degree. This makes it remarkably easy to measure an angle, or draw one as well.
VIP: To Measure Or Not to Measure?
Join Jessica, James, and Nelson for another exciting VIP as they discuss the latest happenings in accessible tech. Lots of excitement this week, and we’ve got you covered! Here are our stories
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A future option in computer memory might be Optane, and it’s here today
Do you ever wonder what the next big speed boost to computers might be? Ask any person today, and they will tell you that using an SSD is one of the biggest and as of 2017, cost-effective ways of speeding up system performance. While processors have increased in speed and decreased in power usage, the relative need for performance has gone down – and thus we accept computers with lower clock rates. This has placed more diversity in the CPU world. A few years back, ram capacity exploded, and it, too, has stabilized since to have a projectable curve of growth. We have finally moved past 1 GB devices to consider 2 GB at the low end,, with 4, 8, and 16 dominating the mid to high-performance systems. And 32 is becoming more and more common for some enthusiasts.
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