Assistive Technology blog.

The changeable overlay of this is really cool, since you could use either upper- and lower-case letters, as shown, but also could potentially include braille or other relief texture to allow it to be better felt by those with sensory troubles.
The lighter touch needed for these keyboards could also be of use to those with minimal movement ability.

More importantly, how great are their accents? I saw 'Southeast', but did not first think of the Surrey and Sussex area.

Microsoft Sam And Lister

I am weirdly in love with the Windows XP Narrator. Even more so the Brit robot dude at spokentext.net. Of course, this may be mostly due to the subject matter I ask them to read to me. Captain Wentworth's letter to Ann Elliot, Jane Austen, Persuasion Ch. 23.

I can't embed it at this time. I'll work on it. It's like an English Steven Hawking, murmuring sweet nothings from the internet.

/swoon

Kashrut

So, I've decided. It's Elul, the month when one is supposed to concentrate on the year, the previous and the next. To think about being a better Jew.
I've kept away from pork and shellfish all this time. It isn't really that hard. Except at Chinese food. Ouch. I've been reasonably good at separating meat and milk. It's a bit tougher, but do-able. I even skip candies with gelatin in them.
But I think it's time for the next step - no non-kosher meat. Which, in Boise, Idaho, makes me more or less a vegetarian. The price of kosher meat is, well, high. Apart from Hebrew Nationals and Sinai Dogs, there's really not much kosher meat in the valley, far as I know.
So, yeah. Difficulty.

The need for cheese

I am a cheese snob. There's nothing inherently wrong with a slice of honest cheddar, I admit, but if it comes in a spray can, it's not cheese. If it's labeled 'American' and has the consistency of some sort of marital aid*, it's not cheese. Cheese can be smooth and creamy, hard and pungent, nutty and spreadable. I want, so badly, to go the Le Café de Paris, get a glass of red, a selection of cheeses (the Roquefort kicked my @$$ last time - I shall prevail), and curl up with my book. Cheese, wine, and a book. What's the matter with America today that I'm considering this to be 'special occasion' fare?

Morbier
Camembert
That other one
Roquefort
Chèvre

And a glass of the Macon Villages, if they've still got it. That's my dream for the afternnoon.


*favorite euphemism of the day.