Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe TEXT MESSAGING FOR THE BLIND A way to enable sight-impaired or blind people to use text messaging has been developed by BTexact Technologies in Britain, the British Broadcasting Corp. reports. Advertisement BTexact has come up with technology that allows users to send text messages to a handheld computer, which in turn reads the message to them, the BBC says. The natural-sounding voice can recognize text messaging shortcuts and if it does not recognize a word, it will read it out phonetically. The idea came about after a group of partially sighted youth visited a BT technology project last year and told researchers not being able to receive text messages left him feeling socially excluded. BEEFED UP ONLINE ENCYCLOPEDIA Encyclopaedia Britannica isn't just a bunch of heavy books anymore. The Britannica Online School Edition provides students and teachers a suite of reference works, including the Encyclopaedia Britannica and other encyclopedias serving students of all ages, periodicals, an Internet guide and a variety of classroom learning materials. A new release is now available with historical timelines, new study guides and language-arts resources for students. Historical timelines show people, events and discoveries in graphic form, with points on the timelines hot-linked to related articles. Advertisement MATERNITY SEAT BELT The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists reports about 67 percent of all trauma during pregnancy results from car accidents. Until now, the only option for pregnant women has been education on the importance of seat belt usage and the correct lap belt positioning. A study by the Society of Automotive Engineers finds a majority of the pregnant participants complained the seat belt naturally rode up. "The Maternity Seat Belt is the only patented and tested seat belt repositioning device for pregnant women," says Christina Kitterman, president of Inventive Minds Inc., in a statement. NOT DAD'S ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT Gone are the days of rallying support one-on-one by passing out quick-print flyers in the street detailing anti-war information. Today's anti-war movement revolves around the Web. Rallies and marches still serve as the important public face of the movement, but these days physical demonstrations have mainly become a way for those who have met online to come together and connect face-to-face, Eric Garris, Web master of Antiwar.com, says in a statement. The 7-year-old Web site features anti-war news and opinion from all over the political spectrum and from all over the world. Advertisement "This is not your father's anti-war movement," says Garris, who was in that anti-war movement since he has been a political activist since the 1960s.
