access

The usual suspects are already sharpening their knives against AT&T's announced acquisition of T-Mobile's U.S. business.

Within hours, the Media Access Project announced that "if approved, this deal would further increase costs and decrease choices for the public." Media reform group Free Press headlined its press release, "Consumers lose when there's less competition." And Public Knowledge condemned the deal as "unthinkable."

That sort of rhetoric is par for the course inside-the-beltway where, for some reason, every combination of business assets is presumed to be hostile to consumers. These … Read more

Microsoft Office handles so much business that eventually two things are bound to happen: 1) critically important files will be corrupted or damaged, and 2) there will be no backup. You'll then have two choices: 1) panic, and 2) attempt to recover the file. That's where Advanced Office Repair (AOFR) from DataNumen comes in. It's an enterprise-class tool for recovering and repairing not only Word, Excel, Outlook, and Outlook Express files but also Access databases. It can repair files on damaged or corrupted media like floppies, Zip drives, and CD-ROMs and handle legacy files, including Access 95, … Read more

A Web site and app out of Germany applies the wiki approach to maps, enabling users around the world to use the OpenStreetMap platform to rate and comment on the wheelchair accessibility of a wide range of establishments, from bars and shops to underground metro stops.

Called Wheelmap, the free app for iOS devices is in English, German, and Japanese, and while still in beta (version 1.1 adds Japanese), it already includes details on some 30,000 locations, with roughly 300 new user ratings every day.

Wheelmap is the brainchild of Raul Krauthausen, who wanted to create a service … Read more

If you ever wanted to dig into data about broadband availability around the U.S., now's your chance.

The Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has launched the National Broadband Map in time for today's deadline set by Congress. According to the NTIA, the broadband map is designed to be a public tool offering data that could eventually be used to help expand broadband access in areas around the country that need it most.

A map of the state of U.S. broadband access has been a long time coming. Back in 2008, the … Read more

You're stuck in a cross-town taxi. An important meeting is just getting under way at the office. What do you do? What do you do?

You can dial in, of course, but then you'll be missing out on all the visuals: slide decks, spreadsheets, and so on.

Solution: fire up Join.me, a universal application that lets you connect to remote meetings or screen-sharing sessions. It's free, and nothing short of fabulous.

In case you're not familiar with it, the Join.me service offers fast, hassle-free Web conferencing. Whoever is hosting the meeting merely downloads and … Read more

A Microsoft job posting has provided clues into Microsoft's strategy to make its Office Web applications more friendly to touch-screen devices.

A listing that went up over the weekend for a software development engineer touts some of the successes of Microsoft's Outlook Web App (OWA), saying it has "made a huge difference in the daily lives of millions of users all over the world" but that the company is looking for someone to take OWA to "the next level" with a "next generation" client. That client would be for both the desktop … Read more

A man who has been blind since he was 5 years old will drive an exhibition lap on Saturday, as part of the prerace activities for the Rolex 24 at the Daytona International Speedway at 11:30 a.m. ET on Saturday, January 29.

Mark Anthony Riccobono will get behind the wheel of a specially equipped Ford Escape hybrid that will allow him to drive the Florida race track.

"I am looking forward to getting behind the wheel and demonstrating to the world that being blind does not prevent me from engaging in any activity I choose as long … Read more

A new plan will offer a PC and peripherals for 98 pounds ( $157) to help get low-income Britons online, according to the recycling project that will provide the hardware.

The plan, which launches this week, will provide a computer, flat-screen monitor, keyboard, mouse, and telephone support in the sub-100-pound package, E-cycle marketing manager John Busby said Tuesday. The initiative is a part of the Race Online 2012 project, which aims to have the whole U.K. adult population online by the time of the London Olympics in 2012.

"We have an opportunity here in the U.K. to make … Read more

MetroPCS is violating the FCC's recently approved Net neutrality rules by blocking certain Internet content, say several public interest groups.

A letter (PDF) sent Monday to the Federal Communications Commission from Free Press, Center for Media Justice, Media Access Project, New America Foundation Open Technology Institute, and Presente.org accuse the wireless carrier of playing fast and loose with Net neutrality by apparently blocking services such as Skype and Netflix under certain lower-cost data plans.

MetroPCS is offering a new 4G plan that promises unlimited talk, text, Web browsing, and YouTube access for $40 a month. But another category … Read more