Kestrell

AccessWorld's December issue is out, and includes its
https://www.afb.org/aw
annual holiday gift guide
https://www.afb.org/aw/21/11/17297

Worth mentioning is a couple of changes this year: all the products are either produced or sold by blind businesspeople and, unlike in previous years, the prices are much more in the affordable range.

The Accessible Kitchen Holiday Shopping Guide
https://www.afb.org/aw/21/11/17296
also works as a crash course in making a kitchen more accessible, whether it is a love one's or your own.

The online shopping guide
https://www.afb.org/aw/21/11/17298
provides detailed descriptions of the apps for three online stores: Amazon, Bed Bath and Beyond, and PetSmart.

The news section
https://www.afb.org/aw/21/11/17294
includes a reminder that the annual
NonVisual Desktop Access Virtual Conference is on December 4-6
https://www.nvdacon.org/
NVDA Con is a virtual conference held online each year by the community of users of the NVDA screen reader. The conference presents sessions on various topics related to NVDA, offers spaces where NVDA users can network, and ends with a keynote address from the developers of NVDA.

Lastly, For the Apple user, Tech Juggernaut has just posted their holiday gift guide. You can access it either as a podcast or read highlights on
the blog post
https://ttjtech.net/2020/11/25/ttj-2020-holiday-gift-guide-now-available/

Most years, I am really into trying to surprise people with unexpected gifts.

This year, however, I decided to take a different approach and just ask people: "Is there anything, that is within my power and my budget, that would make your pandemic a little better?"

So far, responses have varied from a request to write that person a poem, to finding an old PC that another person needed to take apart for an online computer class, to contributing to someone else's favorite Patrions so that he could unlock more features.

I keep thinking of all the small things that make me feel better: a completely frivolous book, fresh chocolate chip cookies, maybe a silly app or Amazon skill (just a reminder: the Samuel Jackson voice for Alexa is only 99 cents, and he'll even read you _Go the F*** to Sleep_).

It's turning out to be quite fun, and I'm beginning to feel like a character in Bruce Sterling's story, "Maneki Neko."
https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/maneki-neko/