You can’t make this stuff up. I present: Baby Toupee.com
Awesome! Capitalism and creativity are a dangerous combination. I’m just jealous I didn’t think of it.
As soon as I showed this to Steph, she told me about Wiggles Dog Wigs. Amazing. I love America.
found on digg:
The discovery of wreck of the Titanic was a cover story to camouflage the real mission of inspecting the wrecks of two Cold War nuclear submarines. When Bob Ballard led a team that pinpointed the wreckage of the liner in 1985 he had already completed his main task of finding out what happened to USS Thresher and USS Scorpion.
I love all thing modular…found on digg:
There are countless numbers of empty, unused shipping containers around the world just sitting on the shipping docks and taking up space. Some creative designers have begun using these strange surplus structures to build amazing home and office buildings.
I’m going offline until Tuesday. I’m off work tomorrow and my birthday is Sunday. I might post digg stuff, probably not. If anyone needs me, you better know the secret #.
ttfn
Steph kicks butt. The sink was leaking and Steph fixed it. My mechanical aptitude is minimal and fixing such things is beyond my ability. To reiterate, Steph is awesome…and the sink no longer leaks.
Blogging is becoming a chore. Once you fall out of the habit, it’s difficult to get back in the swing. During my hiatus at ADAPT, I stopped blogging and it’s hard to get started again.
I just finished prepping dinner and have a few minutes until Steph comes home. Nonetheless, a quick update…
Still crunching numbers at work. Ugh. I’d like to become the recipient of some benevolent benefactor that would fund what I enjoy, without the often cumbersome restrictions. Hell, who wouldn’t like that?
I returned my Blackjack II, because I’m waiting for a subsidized 3G iPhone. I didn’t want the original version, but the new one is rumored to have 3G and real GPS–not triangulation. If it is subsidized at $199, as the rumor mill speculates, I’m there.
I’m sitting on Sweeney Todd, from Netflix, and hope to watch it this weekend.
I’m taking off Friday to extend my “birthday weekend”. I need a break.
That’s about it.
Had a good membership meeting today. The folks I work with were in fine form and executed their advocacy skills with their usual samurai precision. It was a fine day.
On that note, I’m going offline for the weekend.
See ya’ll Monday.
There’s a new Viva Pinata game coming out this year. Woo Hoo. I loved the original, a terrific timesink. Check out some initial impressions at xbox360fanboy.com. Now, if only they would hurry and release the DS version, for Steph.
Tomorrow is Steph’s birthday…and I still need to finish my shopping.
My wife is damn near perfect (trust me, I’m no peach) and tolerates an incredible amount of crap, not just from me. So, in spite of her near perfection, I can’t think of an appropriate gift. I’ve been looking for things for several weeks. I’ll probably end up wussing out and getting a gift card. This, for a woman who walks the dogs, makes me hot tea every morning and makes a wicked shrimp soft taco… I need to think of something soon.
Contrary to my complaining about the intrusion of technology… I’ve setup a twitter account. On the right sidebar of my page is a little gray box that connects to my twitter account, it’s experimentation for another possible project. The nice thing is that it connects to my cell phone and allows texts to appear on my webpage. However, this is another example of my tech/connectivity addiction.
from Engadget and Ryan Block:
Dean Kamen’s done a lot of work over the years building technologies for the disabled, which lends a bit of irony to the fact that his most well-known consumer transport, the Segway, is seeing some increased use by veterans. A non-profit by the name of Disability Rights Advocates for Technology (DRAFT) has snapped up some 150 units over the past few years — 30 of which just went out last week — to help amputees get around quicker and further than with your run of the mill wheelchair. Results of the Segs-4-Vets program sound positive, but at $6k a pop the price continues to be prohibitive for wider rollout and donation, even at discount directly from Segway.
Found this pic online. Make fun if you will, but this would be something of a dream home for me. It even has a pond! It needs ramps though.
I’ve complained about the intrusion of digital technology into my life before, but I can see it starting again. I have a new cell phone with increased capabilities, and I’m checking e-mail via smtp/pop. It’s already starting to get a little obsessive. The constant connection to email, web research at home and ondemand/tivo is starting to fry me a little.
During our vacation to Jamaica, my favorite thing was the digital disconnect. Our cell phones didn’t work, the hotel didn’t have internet and the tv stations were minimal. I think I need something similar again. However, with the house hunting and the need to take off work for that…I don’t see a real vacation anytime soon. Besides, gas is getting prohibitively expensive.
Anyway, I think I’m going to have to make some new rules for accessing cyberia at home. I won’t give up the DVR, it’s too useful. But I am going to severely limit my webreading/researching, eliminate work email and cutback on blogging and so forth.
Well, I vented
I feel better.
from digg and Popular Mechanics:
As startups vow to beat the once stubborn agency back to the moon, officials and analysts say NASA has begun to shift its priorities—and cash—toward a dependence on the growing independent market for spacecraft.
I’m still recovering from ADAPT and looking forward to the weekend, although tomorrow is a busy day at the center. ADAPT always takes a couple of weeks to recover from, well, it does if you put in your time. I have the pleasure of being both a foot soldier and working with Tom Olin on the pictures. It’s always mentally energizing, but physically exhausting. Having said that, it’s good to get back to work and to get ready for the increased activities that happen over the spring and summer.
Here we go…
Updates in the usual places:
-Enemies List
-Friends List
-Consumption List
-Xbox Live
-MySpace
-Facebook
-Digg
-YouTube
From the Observer Reporter
By Barbara Miller
Often at odds over polling places they considered inaccessible to the disabled, the Tri-County Patriots for Independent Living have invited Larry Spahr, Washington County elections director, to be one of two speakers at the group’s membership luncheon next week.
Asked if this meant TRIPIL was declaring a truce in its battle with the county, Andrew Cooper, the organization’s deputy director, said Tuesday, “It means we still have an open dialogue. It was not always an open dialogue. We’re continuing to work with them, but our goal is 100 percent accessibility. That won’t change.”
Spahr said he considered the quest for completely accessible polls “always an evolving effort. You’re not going to hit 100 percent satisfaction at one time.”
With an eye on this year’s presidential election, TRIPIL conducted a survey of the majority of Washington County polling places and found many of them deficient because they lacked designated parking spaces for the disabled, ramps or door handles that could be opened by pressing a bar.
Last year, a Washington County intern measured doorway widths to determine if polling places had entrances with three feet of clearances - wide enough to accommodate a wheelchair - and evaluated other aspects of all 185 precincts.
“We compared notes,” Spahr said of TRIPIL’s and the intern’s surveys.
Scott Fergus, Washington County director of administration, said the county spent about $22,000 before the April 22 primary on hardware and mobility mats to make polling places more accessible.
Another example of the communication that developed between TRIPIL and the county was the group’s participation in eight training sessions for local election board members.
Disabled voters explained to the boards the difficulties they have experienced when attempting to vote.
For the April 22 primary election, the county appointed Joyce Thornburg as accessibility services supervisor in charge of fielding questions on the issue.
“It was quite smooth,” Thornburg said Tuesday. “Nobody called.”
Forty-four polling places potentially could pose problems for people in wheelchairs because of doorways narrower than 36 inches.
“We didn’t want to say they were inaccessible because we didn’t want to scare people away,” Fergus said.
TRIPIL also asked Spahr to review the Help America Vote Act and its significance to disabled voters. Cooper said he’s also hoping Spahr will take questions from members.
The advocacy group just completed a survey of polling places in Greene County, and it will next tackle the issue in Fayette County, Cooper said.
Also addressing the estimated 75 to 100 TRIPIL members will be Washington Mayor Sonney Spossey, who is reviving the Mayor’s Commission for Disabled Individuals.
“We have work on pulling that back together,” Spossey said. “Sometimes it takes something like this to get you going.”
I helped solve a problem today using diplomacy and information/referral. It felt good. Usually I’m prone to semi-confrontational advocacy. Diplomacy has its place. I need to work to perfect this skill. It’s valuable. I sometimes forget this.
I’ve been protesting for the past week with ADAPT. I was arrested on Monday. This was a new experience for me, as I was processed and held in “real” jail, I even earned a couple of rides in the meat wagon. During my previous arrest, I was processed with a group of ADAPTers in a hearing room, in one of the Senate office buildings–it was almost cushy by compare. This time was more intimidating.
Nonetheless, the direct action is over and we had some real success. Two more Pennsylvania legislators signed on to the Community Choice Act. The hotel is full of displays chronicling the history of ADAPT. It’s a very powerful, interesting and moving exhibition. However, reading all of the history and watching the video made me realize how much I miss my friend Roland.
There’s not much more I can say. Or much more that I feel like saying. So, here are some links to some content about the most recent action: