Blind Chance: David Faucheux's Audio Web Log

Twenty-first Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act: Thoughts from a Blind Consumer

2008-05-07T10:54:00.001-04:00

By DAVID FAUCHEUX

I've just received an email from AFB about a proposed law that will would make things better for blind cell phone users and may make TV more accessible by both adding video description and accessible onscreen menus.

I do not have a cell phone yet; I'm probably one of the last people on earth to not have a cell phone. A telephonic dinosaur. I do not have one because I am both worried about the effects of radiation despite assurances that it won't hurt my brain and I am a little intimidated by learning yet another piece of technology that may not be fully blind friendly.

Making a telephone speak menus helps to make it accessible but if all the layers or levels of software do not speak, my accessibility is only skin deep. (Like Braille on a drive thru banking window--me drive!) I know I'll get a phone within the next several years.

I was pleased to learn that they are again trying to make video description fly on television. They tried it several years back but it flopped. I simply can't understand why producers find this such a hardship. I rarely watch TV now because it's too confusing for me. I don't want to work that hard to sit in front of the idiot box and veg out. I sadly lack sufficient genius to decode all the sounds made by various people, devices, and animals and to instantly recognize any voice I hear and store it in my brain. I want to know what people look like, wear, what physical actionhappens on a show, and then some! I'm really letting down the blind brotherhood by such an admission.

The sighted world will think I am an incompetent since they all know a blind person who can tell you what denomination any piece of paper money given to them is by feel; who can cross streets anywhere in the world listening to the traffic going any direction, turning on right or even when a quiet hybrid car happens by; who can hear the sounds of walls and other building structures and instantly map out a cartography of sound and travel anywhere and even go skating while never bumping into anyone because of facial vision; who can read Braille at 500 words per minute; who can use a slate and stylus to produce 100 words a minute in Grade 3 Braille while taking college notes; and who plans to become a medical or naturopathic doctor/tax lawyer/mountain climer/Olympic medalist/actor/singer/inventor/millionaire/model/world solo traveler/Nobel Laureate/politician/chef/humanitarian/minister/professor all before age 30! Yawn.

IMAGINE That!

A good virus?

2008-04-28T18:55:00.001-04:00

By DAVID FAUCHEUX

Today I received an e-mail from journalist Tom Avril; and while I am not certain whether we have ever exchanged e-mails, I did find a link of interest. It discusses a virological approach to treating a unique sub-type of RP. I hope more gene therapy makes blindness nothing more than the memory of a mere nuisance.

One wonders where the next 50 years in medicine will take us provided we don't help greenhouse the planet to death or something even worse!

IMAGINE That!

Optacon: Memories

2008-04-17T23:55:00.001-04:00

By DAVID FAUCHEUX

The optacon--the name is an acronym for optical tactile converter--was the first portable reading machine.

Consisting of a small camera attached to a display via a thin cable, it turned images into tactile shapes by means of vibrating pins. If I recall correctly, it was invented by a scientist for his blind daughter in the mid 1970s. This was several years before even the earliest synthetic speech reading machine, clunky with a funny garbled accent and the size of a microwave and the cost of a car, was introduced.

I remember that day in eighth grade when we were introduced to the optacon. I forget which group of people from where came to the school for the blind to demonstrate it. I found it novel and interesting but tricky. You had to glide the camera over each page of text, not swerving off each line and then read with the other hand which was resting on a shallow trough full of vibrating pins. It could be confusing to me. It sounded a bit like a mosquito attack. My left index finger sometimes got tired of the vibrations. I recall several times feeling like I was falling when I used it to read. Some of my friends were whizzes. Some still use one to read bills and to read the addresses on envelopes that they receive in the mail. I had hoped one could be made that changed the print letters into Braille using refreshable Braille display technology--nothing doing, I was told!

I receive Dean Martineau's weekly tech sheet and the following announcement caused me to remember this nearly forgotten chapter in my early life.

>>>

1) The Optacon was the first portable reading device that was widely used by the blind, and many people still swear by it. Efforts are being made to keep it alive. You can find documentation and other information about it here.

>>>

IMAGINE That!

Write it right without sight: 'Robotic pen guides the hand of the blind'

2008-04-11T14:33:00.001-04:00

By DAVID FAUCHEUX

From the New Scientist news service, April 4, 2008...

"The 'McSig,' a forced-feedback pen, has been developed by University of Glasgow researchers to help blind and visually impaired children write clearly and consistently by gently guiding their hand. In addition to haptic feedback, the system offers audio cues, with stereo sound panning to the left and right as the pen moved horizontally..."

Could this help blind students learn shapes kinesthetically?

IMAGINE That!

Cookies, anyone?

2008-03-25T05:23:00.001-04:00

By DAVID FAUCHEUX

The past several months have not been great for me. I think I crashed head long into that proverbial anxiety-ridden bugbear plaguing the male of a certain age--not the quarterlife crisis, nothing that trendy, but rather the midlife crisis! It's all about careers vs. jobs and niches, health vs. just hanging on with a chronic medical condition, life vs. family, and just wondering when or if the radio reading service that several friends and I have been working on in Southwest Louisiana will actually take off and change so many lives! I could write more on any of the items listed above, but won't at this time. Employers can read blogs too and who wants to shoot oneself in the cyber-foot or look ineffectual.

I have been reading with Suzanne Beacher's online book clubs--oh, why did I not have a cool idea like that?--since Illinois-librarian, Lori Bell, told me about them in late 2004--and I finally won some of Suzanne's famous chocolate chip cookies. They are good. My picture should be online with other cookie winners.

* * *

If you've never won some of my homemade chocolate chip cookies, please enter the drawing today. I'd love to bake for you! To enter and see photos of some of last month's winners, go here. The "how-to-enter" information is on the third page of photos. It's easy to enter. Simply tell me how long you've been reading at the book clubs, (I'm just curious) and why you'd like cookies. Then submit your email to the "enter" address and your name is in the drawing. I'll be choosing at least four winners this month.

* * *

I interviewed Mrs. Beacher several years ago for my blog, but concerns with the audio portion of this blog are causing potential archive problems.

Best to all who celebrating Easter this weekend and/or headed out for Spring Break. I realize Passover comes in late April this year.

IMAGINE That!

David Faucheux

'Future Blogger community launched'

2008-03-02T13:16:00.001-05:00

From KurzweilAI.net:

MemeBox has announced the public
beta release of Future Blogger, a
blogging community dedicated to
exploring the future. Visitors can
post their thoughts, predictions and
scenarios. Community ratings then
determine page ranking for posts.
The site's Future Scanner also
aggregates and organizes information
about the future by year and and category.

(Found by David Faucheux.)

Tech tips: Three for the price of one

2008-02-03T19:50:00.001-05:00

By DAVID FAUCHEUX

Top Tech Tidbits, an e-mail e-newssletter, is Dean Martineau's compendium of interesting developments in the tech world.

Condensed, the following items from the newsletter should be of interest.

The KNFB cell phone, which reads seemingly anything. The link to the NPR story was interesting as you could hear the phone determining the correct currency by scanning a bill. This is not a standalone scanner but a high-end Nokia cell phone with MP3 capability and high-speed Internet capabilities, too. I do hope we don't end up with a digital divide of haves and have-nots in the blindness community, but it seems to be happening. Perhaps, the price will continue to come down as the original hand-held scanner was, if memory serves, about $1,000.00 more than this Nokia phone with software.
The impending release of the new version of the KNFB Reader, expected to ship around February 15. The Reader software will run on a Nokia N-82 phone, making it a very portable and convenient way for those on the go to scan print material. The Reader software will cost $1,500, with the phone costing around $550. Here's an audio link to the NPR news story on the topic, and here is the official page.
DailyLit, a collection of books which they will send in installments using RSS or e-mail. Public domain books are free; others carry a small charge.
Storyline Online, a site containing children's stories read by Screen Actors Guild members. Along with the story, a video of the actor reading it and its illustrations is available, and there are downloadable activity guides.
----

Visit the Tidbits page where you can subscribe to the RSS feed and grab back issues. Information for future issues, much welcome, should to dean@topdotenterprises.com.

IMAGINE That!

A different take on audio

2008-01-17T18:40:00.001-05:00

By David Faucheux

An e-friend of mine, who e-mailed me originally because she happened across my blog while doing online research, told me that her first experience with audio books was not great. I thought that a different opinion might be just the thing for today's blog entry. With her permission, I am including the link. She had e-mailed me to inquire about how blind people play Scrabble, not my favorite game; and we started talking from there. She needed to know because a character in a young adult novel she is writing that is nearing publication plays Scrabble with his blind grandfather!

Sometimes, even I meet interesting people online, but sadly, nowhere near as many as I had originally thought I'd meet. I recall reading/hearing a book in about 1999 called Webonomics about how the world was going to be radically different with the WWW-based business model. It may be that, but I haven't ridden that wave very far yet.

IMAGINE That!

Travel for the blind

2007-12-31T23:53:00.001-05:00

By DAVID FAUCHEUX

Some of you may know travel is my bête noir. Rather than give you a summary of 2007 (What's Hot, What's Not!) according to any number of bumptious celeb journalists or much-visited in-your-face Web sites run by 20somethingbillionaires--neither group needs my humble plug--I'll end the year with the following I received today. I was amazed at the brain power behind this science fair to end all science fairs! It blows me away; would that they could bottle and sell the creativity and intelligence.

"Prototype for Autonomy: Pathway for the Blind" project wins top honors at Intel International Science and Engineering Fair

Each year, 1,400 high-school students from more than 40 countries are invited to compete in the prestigious Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF), the world's largest precollege science contest. The select group of young scientists is chosen from the several million students who compete in local and regional science fairs throughout the year.

Participants compete for $3 million in scholarships and prizes, presenting projects in 15 categories including medicine, biochemistry, computer science and zoology. Earning top honors isn't the only goal for contestants. Nineteen percent (or 274) of the finalists at the 2005 competition held last month have already begun the process to patent their projects.

Ammem Abdulrasool, a senior at the Illinois Junior Academy of Science, won top honors at this year's Intel ISEF for his project, "Prototype for Autonomy: Pathway for the Blind." He walked away with $70,000 in prize money and a free trip to October's Nobel Prize ceremony. Abdulrasool developed technology that allows visually impaired individuals to navigate themselves from one location to another by using the Global Positioning System. Individuals wear a half-kilo Walkman-size device, a bracelet on each arm and a pair of earphones. After entering a starting and ending location into a personal digital assistant (PDA), they are guided with verbal commands tha tell them when and in what direction to turn. Simultaneously, a bracelet vibrates signaling the correct direction. To test his device, Abdulrasool recruited 36 blind adults and asked them to visit five landmarks in his neighborhood. The navigational tool saved people an average of 26 minutes in travel time and reduced the number of errors (wrong turns and missed locations).

"Looking at how hard it was for them to travel and how they were dependent on everyone else motivated me to do something," he said. Abdulrasool hopes are applying for a patent and then plan to market the product commercially.

In the fair's 56-year history, a number of projects have been implemented for commercial use. Michael Nyberg, a 2001 competitor, hoped to reduce the number of West Nile virus infections through acoustics. With a bucket of mosquito larvae and a sound generator, Nyberg discovered that a 24 kHz frequency resonated with the natural frequency of mosquitoes' internal organs: larvae that absorbed the acoustic energy would explode. His sound-emitting device, Larvasonic, is now sold online. Tiffany Clark, a 1999 competitor, found evidence that bacteria produced the methane gas found inside coal seams in Wyoming's Powder River Basin. This suggested that injecting nutrients into coal seams might provide an unlimited supply of natural gas. A Denver-based technology firm is now continuing Clark's high-school research. And someday soon, blind people around the world may be wearing bracelets that issue GPS commands.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/edu/2007-12/27/content_7323918.htm

and

www.vipconduit.com

IMAGINE That!

What happened to 'Broadband Changed My Life'?

2007-12-23T15:28:00.001-05:00

By DAVID FAUCHEUX

Visitors to my blog may recall an item I ran several months ago, a contest that related to broadband. Here is an e=mail I received from the contest organizer.

I want to thank you for helping to promote our public awareness campaign called "Broadband Changed My Life" on your blog. In case you or your readers were wondering about the outcome, the winners have been selected and you can read their stories here. (The $1000 went to a single mother of four and Internet Trainer for Navajo Nation.) Feel free to share the news!

Keep up the great blogging and, of course, use of broadband!

Joy Howell

Director

Broadband Changed My Life Campaign

IMAGINE That!

Talking book archive

2007-12-08T13:36:00.001-05:00

By DAVID FAUCHEUX

Visitors to my blog will have long realized my love of books and reading and the spoken word. I was recently intrigued to learn that AFB has put together an online archive of its 75 year relationship to Talking Books. I am familiar with the particular Scourby recording of the Bible and of Angelou's "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings." Both are outstanding!

It amused me back in the early 1990s to read of this great new development in commercial publishing--audio books. Hello. Yes, we, the blind, have long known of the joys of spoken-word-recordings and are glad that you, our sighted confreres, are also able to enjoy this aural experience, too!!

Details:

This month, AFB commemorated 75 years of involvement with Talking Books with the launch of a new, web-based
Talking Book Archives. The multimedia exhibit includes photographs, letters, press clippings, and audio clips from celebrated narrators and authors such as Alexander Scourby's recording of the Bible, Maya Angelou's recording of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, and Eva LeGallienne's reading of The Happy Prince.

Of Mysteriously Disappearing Fabric Softener Sheets

2007-12-02T06:33:00.001-05:00

By DAVID FAUCHEUX

Recently, I was drying clothes. Would that I had a valet. I carefully made sure that I had all my socks and even my hand towels and dish rags all accounted for! The hand towels and dish rags tend to hide, and the socks want to file for divorce whilst vacationing in the communal laundry room. I have been known to use a small mesh zipper bag for white clothes, rings from bottles to hold socks in wedded bliss, or even safety pins to make sure no separations, legal or otherwise, will occur. But this last time I laundered, I noticed upon taking my clothes from the dryer that my fabric sheet was gone. I looked everywhere, did everything short of calling 911 and the National Guard, asked sighted neighbors, but, alas, that sheet had been kidnapped sans ransom note. I seem to recall that popular humorist, Irma Bombeck, once did a shtick on disappearing clothes in the dryer. Perchance, this might require academic study by a professional garbalogist. Perhaps, the author of the following can help us out?

Gone Tomorrow: The Hidden Life of Garbage

Rogers, Heather. Read by Kerry Dukin. Reading time 8 hours 15 minutes.

IMAGINE That!

Should blind people bank online?

2007-11-06T09:59:00.001-05:00

By DAVID FAUCHEUX

Fred Gissoni is an employee of the American Printing House (www.aph.org) and has always been a pleasure to email and has always endeavored to help me with any concern I may have had regarding any product APH sells.

The APH database of helpful hints and an accompanying blog have been named in his honor.

See his thoughts on Web-based banking for the blind. I have not attempted online banking as yet. There have been times I have not had a bank account because I must be very careful not to have more than $1,900.00 in it lest my government benefits including the medical insurance be withdrawn!

IMAGINE That!

MP3 Player for the Blind

2007-11-05T16:09:00.001-05:00

By DAVID FAUCHEUX

I am always encouraged to learn of a company that develops products that blind consumers can use with ease. You can't imagine how I hate to struggle to use a product and know that I am only using the most basic features of the product. Sometimes, that is how I feel about my computer and my Braille note-taker. This company, see below, in Great Britain has developed a blind-friendly MP3 player.

http://www.viplayer.co.uk

and download an audio interview about it here

http://media.libsyn.com/media/bct/bct1135ViPlayer.mp3

IMAGINE That.

Fax a Reader

2007-10-13T11:51:00.001-04:00

By DAVID FAUCHEUX

I have really been under the weather--thus scant postings lately! I think I need a fairy chefmother to magically make and/or produce all the all-natural, wholegrain, organic, raw milk, Suconot/xylitol and other such things for me to get better on.

And I need to win a lottery to afford the kind of osteopathic or naturopathic physician that might help me, too.

Here is the item that caught my attention recently. Since we can't fax ourselves to the reader, the documents must go in our stead.

Meanwhile let me tell you about Read this to Me, a free service letting blind folks in the U.S. fax documents, labels, or any other print material they want read to them to a toll-free number and a volunteer calls them and reads the document.

IMAGINE That!

Origins: Not as it once was

2007-09-29T10:35:00.000-04:00

By DAVID FAUCHEUX

Long-time readers to my blog may recall during one holiday season, I chose Origins as one of my little luxuries. I am now removing them from my list. During the past year I have had no end of trouble with the Store-in-Store in the Dillards in the Acadiana Mall when I was buying Origins products.

After arranging at considerable trouble to get there, I often find the counter unstaffed or understaffed.

One of the cosmeticians turned her nose up so far when I returned a product, had a bird been flying, she'd have had serious sinus problems. I then had to go online, arrange to ship it thru the post office, and experience $10 worth of trouble for a $25 product! I have emailed the company several times about this matter and have often gotten a concerned person on the other end.

Just Wednesday I emailed again letting them know about this understaffing situation and about my concern that their bath salts that come in a nifty old-time glass bottle with metal ring device are not as reusable (the plastic label is impossible, I tried everything, to remove) as the skin scrub that comes in a plastic antique-looking jar. I wonder what they'd have done if this had been Oprah?

>>>

Dear Mr. Faucheux,

Thank you for your interest in Origins.

We are truly sorry for any inconvenience experienced at the Origins counter in Dillard's. Every effort is made to ensure that our retail store accounts provide sufficient coverage by trained representatives at our counters. We therefore share in your disappointment, and appreciate your bringing this matter to our attention. Your experience has been communicated to the appropriate executives, as we know they will be interested in your remarks.

Recycling has always occurred at the manufacturing stage, where worldwide manufacturing programs take maximum advantage of locally available options. To be successful, this effort must continue at the consumer level. As you probably know, consumer recycling is determined by the local municipality, dependent upon the type of collecting and sorting program available in the area.

Our Environmental Affairs personnel continuously explore state-of-the-art recycling initiatives. In this regard, we will be sure to share your comments with them, as we know they will appreciate your interest.

Once again, thank you for this opportunity to respond to your concerns. We look forward to having you visit your favorite Origins location in the near future. We hope you will continue to look to Origins for product honesty, performance and concern for the environment.

Sincerely,

Global Consumer Communications

2,746,9xx

>>>

Secret Admirer

2007-09-28T07:36:00.000-04:00

By DAVID FAUCHUEX

On the 26th I received the following e-mail. I was never able to determine who sent it, but this person likes my blog and gave me a link to a blog he/she is doing.

Hello, I wanted to let you know I came across your blog and I love it! I am a Talking Books Librarian and have recently started blogging about related topics. I included a link to your site in one of my recent posts; be sure to check it out!

If you like my blog, please feel free to tell others about my blog. Also, if you have any suggestions on things/topics for me to include on my blog, or ways I can improve it, please let me know. I am definitely open to any and all suggestions!

Keep up the great work on your blog!!!

- The Talking Books Librarian

IMAGINE That!

If they won't let you join them, make your own party so good they'll want to join you instead

2007-09-25T13:18:00.001-04:00

By DAVID FAUCHUEX

Yesterday morning, while waiting in a doctor's office, I had to recently fire one, but that is too painful to relate here. I came across this amusing article, Tilt!, in the June 2007 issue of the Braille Forum. It's written by Carl Jarvis and I include the link below. Read it, and see if you don't agree with his unique perspective.

Ghana on the Internet:

2007-09-18T09:18:00.000-04:00

By DAVID FAUCHEUX

A friend sent me a link to a blog that her friend, Erica, is writing discussing her posting to Ghana as a Peace Corps volunteer. It is so fascinating to journey with her as she begins this phase of her post-college life.

I don't read many blogs or participate in many Internet forums or discussion groups; just the thought of all that information makes me ill. I think of a Titanic's worth of interesting information and don't dare get too entranced, else I spend 28 hours a day engrossed. That is the one drawback of all the information out there now. It's really embarrassing, too, because as a supposed information professional, I should be able to make information dance to my tune, do as I command; but alas, it calls the tune and I try not to dance too hard.

Perhaps, it's a technology or adaptive software thing; perhaps, it's a personal Highly Sensitive thing; perhaps, it just is? Shit happens and all that!

But anyway, check out the link and stay tuned as I still need to do a review of the AudioPuzzles CD book. (I got delayed as I have been unwell; where are people like Andrew Weil when you need them or Dr. Mercola or Dr. Grossman? Well, if Medicare paid for these kinds of complementary medical services ...)

I did enjoy the magnetic Sudoku board and sent it to my friend, Mary, who is entranced with it and telephoned scant hours after receiving it to thank me. She needed a lift because she had had a bad nasal surgery. I'd rather send the game, than have the surgery--and hope by so doing to keep that kind of bad medical karma away.

IMAGINE That!

Guide dogs

2007-09-10T03:24:00.000-04:00

By DAVID FAUCHEUX

I received this interesting e-mail last night. I thought, perhaps, my visitors might enjoy a free audio download. Reference the item below. It brought back Nader memories. Nader was my yellow Labrador guide dog from October 1988 to February 23, 1998. He had quite a voracious appetite as most Labs do; perhaps, his father was a vacuum cleaner? He loved organic carrots and even brown Basmati rice. He even ate the pulp after I juiced carrots. I had to quit the juicing thing because my fingertips got orangEy. I'd have never attempted library school without him. He died unexpectedly during my time at library school, about at the halfway point. I almost quit. Several friends helped else I'd have vanished.

>>>

Subject: Re: Audiobook about blind person and guide dog, free for download

Hi, I'm Will Addison, the author of an audiobook called Luminescence, which I've decided to make available completely for free Mp3 download at my Web site.

I saw your name on a Web article and thought you may want to know about this free resource.

God bless,
Will Addison
>>>

IMAGINE That!

Broadband contest

2007-08-25T17:42:00.000-04:00

By DAVID FAUCHEUX

Today, I received the following e-mail. Just when i think I should stop blogging entirely, I get something like this or the e-mail about the audio-puzzles, and I decide to then go on a little longer. I may try to enter the contest myself but am not sure as I barely have broadband and can’t say that it has changed my life that much. Maybe, if I figure out how to make broadband work for me and use it to telecommute…

By the way, I did receive the double CD set of the puzzles and plan to review it soon. Also, I found a magnetic Sudoku board. (I wished for somethinglike that in a recent blog item), and found it interesting. Indeypendent Living Aids imports this product from Germany. My only concern is that for me to get the special sale $70 price, $9 dollars off, I had to order it online as the telephone customer service people could not take the order via phone. I think 9x9 Sudoku puzzles make my head hurt toomuch so I better try to find a Braille book with 4x4 puzzles--are you listening, NBP?

>>>

From: Joy Howell

To: triviaguy@bellsouth.net

Sent: Friday, August 24, 2007 4:26 PM

Subject: The "Broadband Changed My Life" Campaign

Hi David,

My name is Joy and I am the director of a new public awareness campaign called "Broadband Changed My Life." Being a blogger active in disability issues, I am sure you can appreciate our mission – to encourage broadband deployment and adoption in the United States and to raise awareness of the benefits of advanced broadband in today's world. I blog about the topic frequently at the Alliance for Public Technology blog.

I think Blind Chance readers will be very interested in participating in a contest we are running. The Broadband Changed My Life Contest

is an opportunity for folks to share their personal stories about how high speed internet access has improved their life and thereby earn a chance to win up to $1000.

Thanks for your consideration and all of your hard work!

Joy Howell

DirectorBroadband Changed My Life Campaign

www.broadbandchangedmylife.org

202-302-5932 cell

jhowell@apt.org

>>>

IMAGINE That!

Katrina Video Archive launched on the Web

2007-08-25T17:34:00.000-04:00

By DAVID FAUCHEUX

The second anniversary of Katrina is nearly upon us. Much has been written about who did what, who did not do what, and what they should have done. I won't attempt to sort out the blame game here. I recently received this item from a friend and thought I'd post it on my blog. I hope special attention is considered for the stories of Katrina survivors with disabilities as they can often get lost in the floods of ink and miles of video utilized to bring the macro picture to America.

I am not sure I'd want to return to New Orleans. The August 2007 issue of National Geographic suggests that it's just a matter of time before the entire scenario replays again; implying that each time the city has been hit by hurricanes and subsequent floods, the damage is worse because more and more people are living there. Reminds me of a skip in an old vinyl record.

>>>

We all know the headlines dominating the public conversation around Hurricane Katrina: politicians making declarations but doing very little, levees not being rebuilt, and thousands of people who want to return home but can't.

But we rarely get a chance to hear Katrina survivors speaking in their own words, talking about where they are today and how they are moving forward to rebuild their lives. On the second anniversary of Katrina, we wanted to connect folks around the country, as directly as possible, to Katrina survivors -- creating a window into their lives. And we wanted to provide a platform for Katrina survivors to make their stories heard, now and into the future.

The result is VoicesFromTheGulf.com. Check it out and participate here.

Hurricane Rita devastated Southwestern Louisiana a month after Katrina, and I issue a challenge to someone out there! Do for Rita survivors what these generous people have done for Katrina survivors.

>>>

IMAGINE That!

Virtual Mobility, anyone? Let your fingers do the walking in a virtual environment

2007-08-21T20:37:00.000-04:00

By DAVID FAUCHEUX

Recently, while reading an email from KurzweilAI.net, I let my mind take a flight of fancy. Not a virtual flight. Though that may come sooner than you think. I envisioned a world where chemistry could be taught haptically to blind students who could examine atoms and arrange them virtually, morphological concepts would be a touch away, and studying design and architecture would be around the next click. Perhaps, virtual haptic Web Braille could be downloadable into a library. Imagine reading Braille on your fingertip, with a sleeve that used technology not as delicate as the tiny pins that tend to want to weaken and die.

Could be the start of something wonderful. Your treadmill walk might be thru an exciting virtual cityscape. You might learn to play haptic piano, sculpt in a haptic medium, or develop an environment never before dreamed of. Perhaps, a strange Jell-o-like world with spheres and parabolas.

>>>>

New devices promise touchy-feely
computing

NewScientist.com news service August 20, 2007

*************************
Haptic technology, which exploits
the sense of touch, could have a
range of applications, researchers
say, from telesurgery and robotic
remote control to more immersive
computer...

Boudin: More than a Sausage

2007-08-03T14:35:00.000-04:00

By DAVID FAUCHEUX

Say the word boudin to most people; and if they know anything, they think of eugène Boudin, the 19th-century painter famed for his Norman seascapes. But that is not the boudin we, in South Louisiana, know and love.

I was up too late today or too early and caught a segment on NPR-affiliate radio station, KRVS, www.krvs.org, and learned about The Boudin Boys. They seemed to be the Cajun version of Good Ol' Boys with a mission. They have gone around the Acadiana area reviewing and ranking the output of local boudin purveyors.

Their Web site, www.boudinlink.com discusses this spicy, rice-based pork sausage concoction that is a hallmark of Cajun cooking!

I like to squeeze it, hot, right out of the casing. Most of us don't eat the casing, a surprising factoid as most Cajuns eat most things. I often eat the hot spicy mixture on bread with a little mayo as a kind of sandwich.

Bon Appétit, Cher

IMAGINE That!

Audiopuzzle , anyone?

2007-08-03T14:31:00.000-04:00

By DAVID FAUCHEUX

On Sunday, July 29, I received an interesting email from a Donna August. She had this to say:

Hello Mr. Faucheux,

I understand from various web postings that you enjoy audio-oriented content, and I would like to introduce you to a new audiobook genre. We have created what we believe is the first Audiopuzzle game--a collection of 40 brain teasers, logic puzzles, and lateral thinking puzzles that are presented in an audio format. Some of the puzzles cannot be presented in print because they include audio sound effects. Others are variations on what you might find in printed puzzle books, but challenge the listener to visualize what is being described--an alternative mental workout. I have posted three audioclip samples from our Audiopuzzle game on our website, which is www.audiopuzzles.com .

I thought it was a clever idea and nice to get a visitor with such a unique product. I hope everyone can take a moment to visit the site and check out the samples. This book would make a cool gift for a blind person as we don't always get included in puzzles. Puzzles are supposed to keep our brains young, too!

Now if only someone would publish all the 4x4 Sudoku puzzles in Braille and invent a magnetic board with number tiles for us to play the 9x9 puzzles, too. Are you listening National Braille Press?

IMAGINE That!