SeroTalk Podcast 223: Autonomous Wheels, Bat Men, and the Mesh in Between

Listen to SeroTalk Podcast 223: Autonomous Wheels, Bat Men, and the Mesh in Between

The SeroTalk Podcast is back in business! And Audible continues to be a proud sponsor. If you haven’t downloaded your choice of free audiobook, what’re you waiting for?! Visit AudiblePodcast.com/SeroTalk to get yours now.

Then tune into your new SeroTalk Podcast team–Joe, Katie, Laine, and Steve–in a deep dive analysis of recent developments and headlines affecting the community!

From the Mainstream Files

Some of us are Goo-Goo for Google, but Are the Blind and Visually Impaired Being Left Behind? Laine doesn’t necessarily think so, but are assistive technology trainers themselves partially responsible for promoting this misconception? Check out Laine’s project, GoogleAX, for some helpful resources to tackle the interface. Also, be sure to read Trenton Matthews’ comments at this post for additional resources on Chrome.

Uber to Open Center for Research on Self-Driving Cars. How might this change the traveling dynamics for blind passengers?

Cisco Makes Its Annual Predictions on Mobile Data Traffic. 69% of the world is expected to consume content via mobile devices. With the impending congestion, it’s a good thing Google Fiber is coming to four more cities, and Everything You Love About Ting is Coming Home. Speaking of your home, Eero takes a crack at pushing mesh Wi-Fi through your whole house. Of course, if the Internet is poised to become so prevalent, you might want to keep your systems secure. Here’s a great page from Gizmo to get you started. They’re constantly updating that section of the site.

Apple Watch to start shipping in April. Are you planning on getting yours?

A T Pulse

A couple new apps are already rocking 2015. Be My Eyes relies on a global network of volunteers to help you identify objects and orient to surroundings, but should the app be welcomed with open arms or viewed with skepticism?

And remember VoiceDream Reader? Well, the developer hits it out of the park again with Voice Dream Writer. This is not like any of the writing apps you have on your device already.

Kurzweil 1000 version 14 improves learning experience for users with vision disabilities. Is it worth the update?

It’s always been said it’s okay to talk to yourself, so long as you don’t talk back. But, do the same social norms apply to our computers? J-Say says it’s okay to chit-chat with your PC to get things done.

Jonathan Mosen is out with a new book, Become an Amadeus Pro Maestro. If past offerings are any indication, this one is not one you want to pass up!

Lots of developments in assistive technology so far in 2015. If you haven’t checked out the BlindBargains’ coverage of ATIA 2015, visit their Audio Index for excellent coverage of the conference as well as new episodes from their podcast.

Of Special Interest

Brain Scans Reveal the Way Blind People See Isn’t That Different From Anyone Else. This article goes hand in hand with a recent Invisibilia episode, How to Become Batman. Crazy talk, or is there something to this method of getting around we aren’t fully utilizing?

Get in Touch!

Want to connect with our new hosts? Tweet us! Katie @holnan, Laine @laine_amoureux, Steve @steveofmaine, and Joe @ScribblingJoe.

For comments, questions and criticisms of the show, please e-mail them to resources (at) SeroTalk (dot) com, tweet them @SeroTalk, or use your iBlink Radio app to send us an iReport!

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