ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY BLOG | INVENTIONS FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

While I was on vacation last week, I received a Press Release from CS Odessa about the release of the new MindTweet feature that was now integrated into to their flagship product ConceptDraw MINDMAP, and just today I had a chance to give it a try. Once you install the latest version of ConceptDraw MINDMAP V 7.1.0 you will now see the familiar Tweet icon on your toolbar. To start using the MindTweet feature you will need to authorize ConceptDraw MINDMAP to access your Twitter account which was quick and flawless. Once your account is authorized it is a cinch to use the feature to tweet directly from within ConceptDraw MINDMAP. Being able to tweet from within ConceptDraw MINDMAP is really a great idea and lets you get an overview of  what you have been tweeting. Having access to the brainstorming tool within ConceptDraw MINDMAP makes it a snap to quickly go from ideas to tweets with a click of the icon.

To get started tweeting from within ConceptDraw MINDMAP you simply type your tweet within a topic and then click on the Tweet icon on the toolbar. Once you do this the Tweet dialog box comes up where you can preview or edit your tweet before sending it. ConceptDraw MINDMAP also allows you to automatically place a check mark within the topic to give you a visual cue that it has been tweeted. If you have hyperlinked a URL to a topic it will also come over in the tweet which is handy. With ConceptDraw MINDMAP you can quickly create a dashboard for your tweets so that you can see how your campaign is coming along. It would be nice if in future release if you were able to set the date and time of when your Tweets were sent. Likewise it would be great if you could generate a ConceptDraw MINDMAP from a Twitter hashtag or from a particular person you are following. Overall, ConceptDraw MINDMAP does a great job of integrating tweeting and provides me with a dashboard for my tweets - which gives me a great overview within a powerful mind mapping application.

"Looking ahead, the Learning Ally Audio app will include text to speech functionality, enabling learners to enjoy the best of both worlds: human narration as well as text content of their books and reading materials." 

Click read more below to see screen shots of the updated app.

As a presenter and consultant, I am on the road a great deal doing presentations and am always on the look out for new tools and gadgets that makeS my life easier for me. I would like to share a couple of these tools with you which I think you will enjoy using. The first gadget is the Monster Outlets to Go300USB - this little device cost less than $20 dollars and gives you 3 additional outlets as well as a USB Quick Charging outlet, in a very small and concise package. With the USB Quick Charging  port you can charge your digital camera, cell phone or other devices. The power cord management is exceptional and the small size makes it easy to store in your laptop bag.

For the past couple of years I have been searching for the perfect speakers for my laptop that would give me good sound and really amplify the output. Using a lot of text to speech applications as well as audio it is very important that my participants can clearly hear the output from my computer. Just recently I purchased the Logitech Laptop Speaker Z305 Portable speakers which are powered via the USB port. The Logitech Laptop Speaker Z305 Portable speakers can be found for around $39.99 and really does a great job of amplifying the sound. The Logitech Laptop Speaker Z305 Portable speakers clips on to the screen and has volume controls to increase and decrease the volume. To configure and power the Logitech Laptop Speaker Z305 Portable speakers you simply plug it in to your USB port. The Logitech Laptop Speaker Z305 Portable speakers work with Mac and Windows. The Logitech Laptop Speaker Z305 Portable speakers comes with a soft pouch for storage and the USB cable fits firmly in the track that is on the bottom of the speaker for easy storage.

I also recently started to carry the Woods 4907 25-Foot Extension Cord Reel with 4-Outlets and Circuit Breaker which has come in handy when I get to a venue that don't have outlets close by. The Woods 4907 25-Foot Extension Cord Reel with 4-Outlets and Circuit Breaker provides me with a 25 foot extension cord with 4 outlets and a handy reel to wind the cord when I am done using it. I now keep the Woods 4907 25-Foot Extension Cord Reel with 4-Outlets and Circuit Breaker in my car and take it with me whenever I am doing a presentation. I'm sure many of you have lots of gadgets you rely on and it would be great if you could share some of them with us.