Isaac.Eiland-Hall.com

Lawsuit over web site accessibility for the blind becomes class action
A lawsuit brought in 2006 by a blind student at the University of California-Berkeley has now morphed into a class action case against US retailer Target. A federal judge has just certified a nationwide class in the case, which alleges that Target’s web site is not fully accessible to the blind. It’s a case that could help establish the ways in which the Americans With Disabilities Act applies to the Internet, and it has already generated a ruling that, in California at least, commercial web sites must be accessible.

This is definitely something to keep an eye on.

A few months ago, I installed the ‘noscript’ extension for Firefox – it essentially blocks scripts from running on domains unless I give explicit permission. I have been very disappointed to see how many sites do not operate correctly with scripts disabled. I believe this issue is very related to the issue of disabled website visitors.

I think it would be no bad thing to require certain standards be followed, and would eliminate some really poor website design choices (i.e. all-flash sites, at least most of the time).

The AudioFile: Understanding MP3 compression: Page 1
But what is MP3? The usual explanations usually take one of two forms. The long version, available in technical papers, is written in jargon and filled with math. The short version, often used by newspapers and nontechnical periodicals, simply states that the process eliminates parts of sound not normally heard by the human ear. But this one-sentence description raises more questions than it answers for any reasonably tech-savvy reader: how does it find those unheard sounds, and how does it get rid of them? Whats the difference between the different bit rates and quality levels? If youre anything like me, youve often wanted to know the mechanics of MP3, but not to the point of writing your own encoder.

This is a very well-written article, intended to try and bring more understanding of exactly how the MP3 format works to non-engineer—types, and I think it succeeds pretty well. It’s still a little heavier than some might wish; but if you stick with it, I think you’ll have a better understanding of the general process of making an MP3. I think it helps to have a basic understanding of what an audio waveform basically means (in regards to how it relates to the makeup of frequencies), but I’d imagine even folks who don’t have that understanding can still glean some [hopefully] interesting information.

First visitors step onto canyon skywalk – Yahoo! News

Quote: HUALAPAI INDIAN RESERVATION, Ariz. – Indian leaders and former astronauts stepped gingerly beyond the Grand Canyon’s rim Tuesday, staring through the glass floor and into the 4,000-foot chasm below during the opening ceremony for a new observation deck.

It’s open!

I’ve been hearing about this project off and on for at least a couple of years…

I’d like to go.

IOL: ADHD drug use grows dramatically
Washington – The use of drugs to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, has more than tripled worldwide since 1993, US researchers reported on Tuesday.

________________

In other words, the world is beginning to catch up to the US.

In other words, it’s real, folks.

Link to Article: Strawjet Project

Quote: The desire to use straw as a building material is as old as the agricultural revolution, but straw based products have always suffered from the apparent lack of strength of the plant itself. Previous technologies from straw bale construction to the recent development of compressed straw-board and straw panels have all begun with crushed, chopped straw. The fundamental advance embodied in the Strawjet technology is the use of the whole undamaged plant stem. The compressive strength of straw when loaded parallel with the stem is impressive. The Strawjet system seeks to use that strength by bundling the plant stems into “cables” about 2 inches in diameter.

So as they harvest the fields, they’re creating these continuous cables, which are cut into 8’ lengths.
(although I would assume this could be changed—I can imagine spooling up the cables and transporting them elsewhere for projects that require different lengths)

So far, they are then typically covered in papercrete (concrete made from cement and paper instead of cement and rock, basically, for a lighter substance that can be sprayed onto forms – something my uncle does).

Basically, you end up with a building substance that is very strong and environmentally friendly. Here’s a picture of a wall-segment for testing:

This is potentially revolutionary. It has been pointed out that, if nothing else, it gives farmers a cheap building material for their own use. It can also provide income for something otherwise viewed as waste.

My only question is in regards to how important plowing the straw back under is for sustaining the land. But I trust someone will be thinking about this… Assuming that’s not a major concern, this could well be very revolutionary.

I don’t know the amount of material that could be made, but surely it could replace a non-trivial percentage of the building materials used. Seems like if it caused less reliance on wood, that couldn’t be a bad thing—assuming that would allow for more mature forests, although a cynical point of view might be that fewer forests of any type (natural vs. renewed) would be the result… Still, that’s merely a cynical point of view, and surely this would be a valuable tool to help the environment.

And surely this would help not just the United States, but other countries as well…

I’m no expert, but I don’t see much of a downside, even trying to be pessimistic.

Link to Article: Treehugger: Holographic Solar: New Method of Concentrating Sunlight Could Be Cheaper

Quote: Prism Solar Technologies in New York has developed a proof-of-concept solar module that uses holograms to concentrate light, possibly cutting the cost of solar modules by as much as 75 percent, making them competitive with electricity generated from fossil fuels.

Now that seems like a worthy goal…

Although I don’t have an engineering or scientific level understanding of the various ways to generate energy, technologies like solar cells, wind and hydro power seem to be surely among the best, from an environmental point of view.

So it seems like generally speaking, any technology that enhances the practicality of these technologies is a Good Thing™.

Link to Article: Digital Mars – The D Programming Language

Quote: D was conceived in December 1999 by Walter Bright as a reengineering of C and C , and has grown and evolved with helpful suggestions and critiques by friends and colleagues.

I have no idea of the usefulness of the language, or if it is truly worthy of taking on the name, but I thought it was cool anyway.

C shares that story for being named—it was created as an enhanced alternative to B, as you can read about here.

So I have hope that D will take off successfully, since that would be neat. And maybe in another few years, we can have E to follow up…

Incredible Machines – Google Video

These really are incredible machines!

Rube Goldberg machines, I believe Japanese in origin. Definitely well-above-average in design—there are truly some remarkable ideas expressed! Nearly thirteen minutes in length, and you’ll probably watch it a couple of times to try and catch everything.

Awesome.

Thief takes Scouts’ cookie money, runs: South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Quote: Whoever he is, he had better not show up at their cookie booth again, the girls said.

“I’d say, ‘You are a bad man,’ ” she said.

Charming story about what would otherwise be dismissed as a random petty crime…

‘Spidermen’ deliver unfinished vehicles across Mexico

Quote: TEPEJI DEL RIO, Mexico – As the sun sets over Mexico’s Interstate 57, barreling down the road comes a bizarre sight: a man balanced on a wooden seat, zipping along on what appears to be nothing but four wheels and an engine.

Excellent read.

It’s sad when it’s cheaper to pay people to drive these incomplete trucks for 12-17 hours from factory to factory, vs. shipping via train or special trucks…

ABC News: Scientists: Donner Family Not Cannibals

Quote: There’s no physical evidence that the family who gave the Donner Party its name had anything to do with the cannibalism the ill-fated pioneers have been associated with for a century and a half, two scientists said Thursday.

Which is not to say that the story is complete bollocks – the news here is that the Donner family were not staying at the site where the cannibalism did happen…

Still, good news for any poor souls with the Donner last name, who might just have to put up with a slightly smaller amount of heckling…

[NSFW: Lanugage]

Nerve.com – A History of Single Life by Ken Mondschein

Quote: Looking at it more than sixty years after the fact, the results of taking the healthy male youth of America, putting them together in the locker-room environment of the Army, giving them good food, ample pocket money, fresh air and exercise after years of the Great Depression, and then sending them out into the world to kill or be killed are as unsurprising as they were unavoidable.

Nice article on sexuality during WWII…

The Blog | Andrei Cherny: A New American Democracy | The Huffington Post

Quote: But now we all know that America is changing yet again. We’re moving from cities to suburbs and exurbs, from a national economy to a global economy, from the top-down hierarchies of the industrial age to the bottom-up workplaces of the information age, from assembly lines to iPods.

Those of us who believe in American democracy now have a choice to make – and it is just like the choice a hundred years ago. We can try to hold back change: say no to globalization or no to technology replacing manufacturing jobs and bank tellers being replaced by ATMs.

A good read. It doesn’t address detailed solutions, but please check it out.

I think things in this country are coming to a head. Something is going to have to change.

Politicians are out of touch, and extremists from all sides are polarizing the country—which is stupid. The vast majority of Americans can work out our differences. I’m sure we could come up with some compromises on all these issues that are being blown out of proportion…

We need to reboot democracy in this country—excellent way to put it. That’s now my new motto. It expresses exactly what I feel.

So-called democracy here is dead—but it doesn’t have to stay that way.

Sightwave’s Digiviewer digital binoculars – Engadget

Quote: With a 22x optical and 10x digital zoom, the Digiviewer produced a pretty good picture up until the optical-to-digital handover, thanks to the built-in autofocus. Only a few prototypes exist now, but that’s what CES is all about—impressing buyers and getting some distribution love for your product.

Digital binoculars?

That’s an idea I hadn’t thought of, even though I suppose it’s an obvious step…

Sounds like a good idea—but then I think: Why not seperate the display from the camera? And furthermore, this would make a good platform for taking pictures—put the camera on a tripod, and have a controlling device on a wire (or…. wireless?)...

Hmm…

Interesting.

Maybe in a couple of decades we’ll see some REALLY cool products…

Do Burned CDs Have a Short Life Span? – Yahoo! News

Quote: “Unlike pressed original CDs, burned CDs have a relatively short life span of between two to five years, depending on the quality of the CD,” Gerecke says.

I learned about the short lifespan a couple of years ago, and I’ve been trying to spread the word. So this article, which is rather boring, serves as a good reminder—CDRs do not last.

What’s the best way to keep your documents and other data longterm?

My recommendations:

1. Get a second hard drive: They’re getting cheaper now, and usually there’s plenty of room to store copies of software you download, as well as digital music—and the documents you want to keep. Having a second copy (one on each hard drive) means you have an easily accessible backup in case one hard drive crashes. (Of course, if the computer is stolen, burns, or otherwise becomes wholly inaccessible, both copies are lost)

2. Annual checkups: Go ahead and burn those CDRs, but check them annually, and burn new copies of the most important things. At least check every two years… But burn multiple copies of important documents, in particular. As technologies progress, DVDs hold several CDRs – so what once took several CDRs might take only one or two DVDs. Of course, you’ll accumulate more and larger data over time, but the storage media will grow as well….

3. Online storage: Google gives a large amount of space—emailing important documents to your Gmail address is a good option. However, as a free service that might disappear at any time, it shouldn’t be your sole option—but none of these are intended as total solutions. In addition to free services like Google, I’m developing a (paid) internet storage solution. (The project I’m working on will allow you to map an ‘internetwork drive’ – a drive you can access via Windows like any other drive on your computer, but that will be pysically located on my server, thus giving you storage outside your home that you can easily access from your home—or anywhere).

I don’t recommend a single one of these options—the more important the data is, the more options you should use. Something very important, like digital (or scanned) photos of a life-changing event (e.g. wedding, etc) that simply cannot be replaced should get the most attention. I would consider having one set on your primary hard drive, one set on your secondary hard drive, a couple of burned (CDR) copies, as well as a copy stored offsite somewhere.

But for things that are important, but less important—you might choose only one or two backup methods… I’ve taken a number of digital pictures that are important to me, but that wouldn’t completely depress me for months if I lost them. So I might store them on both hard drives and on my server, and decide that’s enough…

Point is – match the effort to the importance; and take the time to make whatever backups you think are needed. Your hard drive will crash some day; your CDRs will become unreadable—times are changing, and you need to consider how to make the data you want to keep available for the future.

The good news is that it’s not really hard.

(Feel free to contact me if you’re interested in the internetwork drive I mentioned – setup is easy, and I’m still in beta testing mode; if the service does go fullblown live, my beta testers will get cheap or free services in thanks for testing…)

t r u t h o u t – Michael Schwartz | The Top Ten Reasons for Staying in (Leaving) Iraq

Quote: When the war comes up in the media or in casual conversation, these are the issues that are raised by those who think we have to “stay the course” – and among those who oppose the war, these are the lurking, unspoken questions that haunt our discussions. So here are my best brief answers to these key issues in the crucial, ongoing debate over Iraq.

Excellent read.

Behind the Curtain at TCG: NASA ditches IE in favor of Firefox

Quote: A little birdie told me today that NASA has given up entirely on Internet Explorer. Now every time you go to a page using IE, you get up to three prompts telling you how risky it is to run scripts. The official line is that the newest IE vulnerability was the proverbial straw, and now NASA’s standard browser is Firefox.

Sweet.

News

Quote: You can literally carry the material in your pocket without any kind of safety precaution. The reason is that the tablet consists solely of ammonia absorbed efficiently in sea-salt. Ammonia is produced by a combination of hydrogen with nitrogen from the surrounding air, and the DTU-tablet therefore contains large amounts of hydrogen. Within the tablet, hydrogen is stored as long as desired, and when hydrogen is needed, ammonia is released through a catalyst that decomposes it back to free hydrogen. When the tablet is empty, you merely give it a “shot” of ammonia and it is ready for use again.

If this is true, then it may truly be revolutionary.

I hope at least SOME of these types of things are true…........... :-S

Outpost Nine :: Editorials :: I Am a Japanese School Teacher

Quote: I have a broken collarbone. I don’t feel like writing too much. So here’s some more pretty pictures.

Good update.

Just a friendly reminder to you all to keep up to date.

(oops, I mean: ^_ )

CNN to start live Net video service | ajc.com

Quote: One goal is to get people to use CNN Pipeline on their computers while at work, especially if they don’t have a TV nearby. Pipeline also is meant to have a much different feel than CNN or CNN Headline News. Among other things, CNN Pipeline will feature raw video — of the latest car chase, weather disaster or congressional hearing — with relatively little commentary from anchors.

Very interesting indeed.

If it works as well as it sounds, I hope it’s a success!

Gone Spear-Phishin’ – New York Times

Quote: In May, Israeli investigators opened their bag of goodies, disclosing that the Trojan horse on Mr. Jackont’s computer had also galloped onto the networks of about 60 other Israeli companies, unleashing the biggest corporate espionage scandal in Israeli history. Prosecutors indicted members of three of the country’s largest private investigation firms on criminal fraud charges in July. And some of Israel’s most prestigious corporations are now under investigation for possibly stealing information from companies in such assorted fields as military contracting, telephony, cable television, finance, automobile and cigarette importing, journalism and high technology.

Very interesting read. Something to keep an eye out for if your business has competitors…

(And what business doesn’t? Well, besides monopolies, I suppose… )

Professor Loses Weight With No-Diet Diet – Yahoo! News

Quote: SALT LAKE CITY - When Steven Hawks is tempted by ice cream bars, M&Ms and toffee-covered almonds at the grocery store, he doesn’t pass them by. He fills up his shopping cart.

I think you have to be in the right state of mind for this.

I also suspect that you have to surround yourself with healthy, enjoyable options, as well.

I can see this approach working for me… To have the option of eating steamed veggies when I feel like it, or maybe a steak AND a candy bar—whatever I feel like.

I can see this approach failing if I surrounded myself with junk food, though…

But… I’m sort of doing this right now—I’m not paying a whole lot of attention to what I eat, and my weight is pretty stable… So putting a little thought into it might not hurt…

The bizarre world of Patrick Byrne’s Overstock | The Register

Quote: These days things are looking pretty awful for the online retailer. It faces mounting losses. It has suffered through an IT collapse. And as we’ve discovered, it forces buyers to endure the most shocking customer service we’ve ever encountered. All the while baffling Wall Street with a riddle wrapped in an enigma of a CEO.

Wow.

This makes for a very very interesting read.

With all the advertising they do on television, which will surely generate more sales—this will hurt all internet shops, as people have bad—nay, horrible experiences with this company.

How can they stay in business?

The Sun Online – Life: Worst quiz answers ever!

Quote: Daryl Denham: In which country would you spend shekels?
Contestant: Holland?
Denham: Try the next letter of the alphabet.
Contestant: Iceland? Ireland?
Denham (helpfully): It’s a bad line. Did you say Israel?
Contestant: No.

Many, many more out there on the site…

There’s just no hope for homo sapien…...........

The Sun Online – Life: Worst quiz answers ever!

Quote: Daryl Denham: In which country would you spend shekels?
Contestant: Holland?
Denham: Try the next letter of the alphabet.
Contestant: Iceland? Ireland?
Denham (helpfully): It’s a bad line. Did you say Israel?
Contestant: No.

Many, many more out there on the site…

There’s just no hope for homo sapien…...........