Reading in the dark
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Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in the "Kestrell" journal:[<< Previous 20 entries]
10:02 am
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Vicodin and antibiotics are your friends Yesterday alexx_kay and I took another trek to the Lahey Clinic to see the surgeon who will be doing my eye surgery, and it turns out that the headache I have had for the past two weeks is due to an infection. I am now taking Vicodin and antibiotics, which leaves me feeling not particularly brain-enabled, so I think I will spend the next two weeks resting up for ReaderCon and just doing some beach reading. Of course, my idea of beach reading tends to include the word "gothic" in the titles...The surgeon also moved up the date of my surgery to July 24.
I expect to be mostly offline although I will be checking e-mail if anyone wishes to contact me. I also want to recommend the most wonderful waiter ever: Jason at the Bertucci's at Alewife station. By the time alexx_kay and I crawled in for some dinner, I was feeling pretty miserable, and this wonderful man plied me with food and kept appearing with more water before I even knew I had finished the previous glass. The big bonus was he was very good about telling me where he was putting things on the table. Seriously, having someone spoil you like this when you're feeling sick and exhausted is just the thing for picking up your spirits.
Current Location: aerye Tags: health
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08:42 am
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Links: Reviews of low-cost screen readers, accessible 3Gs iPhone, +accessible meeting site, more Kes: note that after the TTT snippets I have posted an online article from the NFB Braille Monitor which reviews four free or low-cost screen reader. From Top Tech Tidbits http://www.topdotenterprises.com/tidbits.htm
1. If you have some vision, you can help solve enormous barriers to online access by the blind by joining the legion of volunteers to the Solona project. There is no commitment of time or frequency; simply, if you are willing, sometimes while you're on the computer, to take 30 seconds or so to anonymously solve a captcha barrier for an equally anonymous blind user somewhere in the world, you can play a key role. To look into it, e-mail mysolona@gmail.com or fill out the form at http://solona.net/learn/contact.php
2. The RNIB has produced a guide to accessing pdf documents: http://www.rnib.org.uk/xpedio/groups/public/documents/publicwebsite/public_accessingpdf.hcsp#P53_3631 <http://www.rnib.org.uk/xpedio/groups/public/documents/publicwebsite/public_accessingpdf.hcsp> 5. Serotek Tech Chat 21 discusses the New NLS digital TalkingBook Player and also the OverDrive Book Service which many public libraries use to provide downloadable audio books. http://serotalk.com/2009/06/19/tech-chat-21-new-nls-digital-talkingbook-player-and-overdrive-book-service/
6. This week's broadcast of Innovations concerns several demonstrations from Sight City of mobility aids, braille devices and a new screen reader from Baum. Innovations is first heard on GMT Tuesday at 17:00 with repeats on Thursday at 00:00, Friday at 14:00, Sunday at 09:00 on the Global Voice. http://www.theglobalvoice.info>.
7. Back to Serotek again: Serotek has released Accessible Event, an online platform that makes group meetings ,webinars, lectures and other events accessible to the blind, deaf, and deaf-blind. It works with presentations designed in the Microsoft® Word, Excel®, and PowerPoint® or Adobe® Acrobat®, with those featuring displays in Microsoft Outlook®, or web pages in Serotek SAMNetâ„¢, Microsoft Internet Explorer® 7 or higher, or Mozilla® Firefox®, and with online meeting services such as Cisco WebEx, Citrix® GoToMeeting® and GoToWebinar®, Adobe Acrobat Connect®, Microsoft Live Meeting and more. http://serotek.com/promotions1 End of TTT snippets, beginning of article on four low-cost screen reader block quote start NFB Braille Monitor, May 2009 Edition
Low-Cost Screen Readers by the Access Technology Team
>From the Editor: In the following article the International Braille and Technology Center Access Technology Team reviews four free or low-cost screen readers: Thunder, NVDA, System Access, and WebAnywhere. This is what they say:
Thunder Thunder is a free screen-access program as long as its use is personal. If Thunder is being used in a work setting, the company is asked to contact Screenreader.net CIC to discuss pricing. Thunder can be downloaded from [ Error: Irreparable invalid markup ('<www.screenreader.net>') in entry. Owner must fix manually. Raw contents below.] Kes: note that after the TTT snippets I have posted an online article from the NFB Braille Monitor which reviews four free or low-cost screen reader. From Top Tech Tidbits http://www.topdotenterprises.com/tidbits.htm
1. If you have some vision, you can help solve enormous barriers to online access by the blind by joining the legion of volunteers to the Solona project. There is no commitment of time or frequency; simply, if you are willing, sometimes while you're on the computer, to take 30 seconds or so to anonymously solve a captcha barrier for an equally anonymous blind user somewhere in the world, you can play a key role. To look into it, e-mail mysolona@gmail.com or fill out the form at http://solona.net/learn/contact.php
2. The RNIB has produced a guide to accessing pdf documents: http://www.rnib.org.uk/xpedio/groups/public/documents/publicwebsite/public_accessingpdf.hcsp#P53_3631 <http://www.rnib.org.uk/xpedio/groups/public/documents/publicwebsite/public_accessingpdf.hcsp
3. SeroTalk Podcast 17 Discusses and Demos the New iPhone 3G S. Links given here also lead you to two other podcasts on the iPhone as well as to documentation: http://serotalk.com/2009/06/23/serotalk-podcast-17-discusses-and-demos-the-new-iphone-3g-s/
4. You can read the National Federation of the Blind's response to the criticisms of the Braille Monitor review of the Voiceover screen reader for the Mac here, http://www.nfb.org/nfb/NewsBot.asp?MODE=VIEW&ID=447 and read an editorial taking issue with that reaction here: http://www.lioncourt.com/the-nfbs-review-of-voiceover-and-its-aftermath/ <lj-cut text="more links/info below cut"> 5. Serotek Tech Chat 21 discusses the New NLS digital TalkingBook Player and also the OverDrive Book Service which many public libraries use to provide downloadable audio books. http://serotalk.com/2009/06/19/tech-chat-21-new-nls-digital-talkingbook-player-and-overdrive-book-service/
6. This week's broadcast of Innovations concerns several demonstrations from Sight City of mobility aids, braille devices and a new screen reader from Baum. Innovations is first heard on GMT Tuesday at 17:00 with repeats on Thursday at 00:00, Friday at 14:00, Sunday at 09:00 on the Global Voice. http://www.theglobalvoice.info>.
7. Back to Serotek again: Serotek has released Accessible Event, an online platform that makes group meetings ,webinars, lectures and other events accessible to the blind, deaf, and deaf-blind. It works with presentations designed in the Microsoft® Word, Excel®, and PowerPoint® or Adobe® Acrobat®, with those featuring displays in Microsoft Outlook®, or web pages in Serotek SAMNetâ„¢, Microsoft Internet Explorer® 7 or higher, or Mozilla® Firefox®, and with online meeting services such as Cisco WebEx, Citrix® GoToMeeting® and GoToWebinar®, Adobe Acrobat Connect®, Microsoft Live Meeting and more. http://serotek.com/promotions1 End of TTT snippets, beginning of article on four low-cost screen reader block quote start NFB Braille Monitor, May 2009 Edition
Low-Cost Screen Readers by the Access Technology Team
>From the Editor: In the following article the International Braille and Technology Center Access Technology Team reviews four free or low-cost screen readers: Thunder, NVDA, System Access, and WebAnywhere. This is what they say:
Thunder Thunder is a free screen-access program as long as its use is personal. If Thunder is being used in a work setting, the company is asked to contact Screenreader.net CIC to discuss pricing. Thunder can be downloaded from <www.screenreader.net> and installed on any computer running Windows 2000, XP, or Vista. Windows 98, ME, and earlier versions are not compatible with Thunder. A pro version is available for a fee that runs from a thumb drive. Thunder is compatible with the following programs: Outlook Express, Microsoft Word, WordPad, Notepad, MS Calculator, MS Excel, Nod32 AntiVirus, Listen Again radio, and MS Sound Recorder. When you download Thunder, an additional program called WebbIE is automatically downloaded and installed with Thunder for browsing the Internet. Thunder is controlled by standard Windows commands, and there are special commands for controlling Thunder. Its greatest limitation is Web browsing. The only way to navigate the Web is by using WebbIE. It is important to read the hot keys list at < www.screenreader.net > because there are several special commands for Web browsing. When filling out a form on the Web, you must press Enter before typing in the form field.
NVDA The next screen reader is NVDA, which stands for NonVisual Desktop Access. It is free and can be downloaded by visiting < http://www.nvda-project.org >. This is experimental software and may contain bugs. We find it very responsive and easy to use. NVDA will run on Windows XP and Windows Vista. NVDA supports both SAPI 4 and 5 voices, Audiologic, Display, and Silence; it comes with eSpeak as the default speech synthesizer. It can be installed to a PC, or the files can be placed on a CD or USB thumb drive for portable use. If the installer is downloaded to a PC, voiced instructions will guide the user through the installation. If the program is placed on a USB thumb drive, the user will need to start the program manually. NVDA supports MS Word 2003, Firefox, Thunderbird, Internet Explorer, Outlook Express, MS Excel 2003, IBM Lotus Symphony, and many other programs. It is worth being cautious about using these screen-access software packages outside of their stated scope. For example, NVDA performed less than desirably with Microsoft Outlook 2003 (as opposed to Outlook Express). While it was possible to read the Inbox message list and read messages, a number of areas caused NVDA to stop responding. When composing a new message, we could not read the auto-complete options for an email address. Additionally, when reviewing the To, Cc, and Bcc fields, we found the addresses unreadable. The address book, which opens when Outlook prompts the user to confirm an address, did not read at all. Our system also stopped responding when we reached the message edit area of the new message form. We could enter text, but NVDA did not allow us to review or edit it. The Outlook calendar and contacts folders were not read at all. A blind user has no way of reviewing this information in the standard views. There is currently no support for Microsoft Office 2007. When you are in an edit field while browsing the Internet, Enter or the space bar must be pressed before filling in the form or choosing a radio button. We recommend that Firefox be used to browse the Web; however, we have used Internet Explorer successfully. When you are going to a Web page that needs to refresh automatically, Firefox will yield better results. When navigating the Web, the user can move to forms, tables, headings, lists, and links by pressing a single key. NVDA has built-in keyboard help. When NVDA is installed on the computer, start-up time is very fast. User settings can be changed and saved within the Preference menu of the program. Voice settings, mouse settings, speech synthesizer, mouse, and many other options are available from this menu.
System Access Another screen-access software package is System Access. This low-cost screen reader is available from < http://www.serotek.com >. It can be purchased outright; alternatively, the user can get a monthly subscription. Prices vary depending on the package you choose. Contact Serotek for current pricing information or visit < http://www.serotek.com/cas.html >. The AIR Foundation and Serotek now also offer System Access to Go, which gives free screen access using the Website < www.satogo.com >. System Access by default comes with Dectalk voices. For an additional fee two Real Speak voices can be downloaded and installed. This program runs on Windows 2003 Server, Windows XP, and Windows Vista. System Access supports the following applications: Notepad, WordPad, Outlook Express, Email Center on a Vista machine, Excel, PowerPoint, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Microsoft Office 2007, Skype, and many other programs. System Access is easy to use because it uses many standard Windows commands. Moreover, many screen-reader commands are the same as those in other screen readers on the market today. When using Internet Explorer, you can get a links list, tab to move by link, use first letter navigation to move to headings, tables, lists, and many other elements as well. In Internet Explorer, if a Webpage requires a lot of refreshing, this program may not always work. If you are a subscriber to the System Access mobile network, the page can be opened by the browser. With a System Access U3 USB thumb drive, you can walk up to a computer, plug in the drive, and have System Access begin talking. If users have System Access on a computer at home or the office and have enabled remote access, they can use that computer from any machine as if they were sitting at it. With System Access the user can also remote-control another user's computer if that person accepts a request from the other machine. System Access provides access to the Microsoft Excel interface. The user can input and manipulate data and formulas and interact with the menus and toolbars. The user can also create a chart and, depending on the type, read the data it contains. A dialog box, accessed by pressing the System Access modifier key and F7, displays list boxes for all cells containing data, cells containing links, totals cells (those containing totals derived from a formula), and the worksheets contained in the Excel workbook. Selecting one of the totals cells and pressing the space bar toggles the automatic reading of that cell if the data it contains changes. Access to the Microsoft Word word processor is also available with System Access. Menus, toolbars, and dialog boxes are usable. When you move by character or word, formatting details such as bold or italic are spoken in a different voice after the word or character is read. However, elements such as heading levels are not spoken. The spell check is accessible, and System Access speaks the misspelled word and the recommended replacement. System Access also supports the Alva Braille Controller 640 as a Braille display; no other Braille support is documented.
Web Anywhere Web Anywhere (WA) is not a screen reader in the traditional sense of the word. It does provide audio output of screen contents but is restricted to the Web browser solely. The Web Anywhere site was developed by the Computer Science Department of the University of Washington and can be accessed at < www.wa.cs.washington.edu >. When this page is launched, your computer should begin reading Web Anywhere's start page. This page describes the Web Anywhere system and provides a list of keystrokes that can be used with Web Anywhere. In a basic sense Web browsing can be achieved with Web Anywhere in a traditional way. Users can arrow around the page and tab and shift tab between the links. Above the page content is a box for typing in the URL that you would like Web Anywhere to navigate to. WA loads your desired page into the browser window that contains Web Anywhere, which is evident if you examine the window with a screen reader like JAWS. However, with all other screen readers shut down, you have access to only the part of the Web browser where Web Anywhere and your desired page are located. You will not be able to use any third-party applications while using WA. In its current form Web Anywhere is an alpha release. It offers basic Web browsing that includes navigation by heading, link, and input control. There are also commands to read from the current cursor position, read from the top, and move to the next and previous form control, regardless of what type of control it is. WA currently lacks a traditional table-reading mode but does offer ways to move through a table by row and by cell. It is difficult to understand how the table is formatted because you cannot easily navigate to cells and multiple rows. Web Anywhere also does not provide ways to list links, controls, or other elements as you can in more powerful screen readers. Web Anywhere is an alpha project. It is available free of charge from <wa.cs.washington.edu>. Since it is a Web-based application, you will always have the latest version whenever you launch the site.
We have written this article to make users aware of free and low-cost screen readers. System Access is the most powerful of the screen readers we have discussed. JAWS, Hal, and Window-Eyes allow the user to write JAWS and Hal scripts or Window-Eyes scripts or set files to customize programs to work better. If a person wants to have basic use of the computer, the screen-access software discussed in this article will allow this. We believe that Thunder is the least powerful screen reader followed by NVDA, and then System Access. Other than the limited Braille support for System Access mentioned above, none of the screen-access software discussed in this article has Braille support at this time.
If you have further questions, give our access technology line a call at (410) 659-9314, option 5.
LINK: Further issues of the Braille Monitor, including the new June 2009 edition can be found at http://www.nfb.org/nfb/Braille_Monitor.asp?SnID=1075700111#Online%20Access
SOURCE
http://www.nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/bm/bm09/bm0905/bm090506.htm </lj-cut>
Current Location: aerye Tags: accessible iphone, captcha solutions, links, screen readers-low-cost
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01:39 pm
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Helen Keller Day in Second Life Press Release PRESS RELEASE: Hellen Keller Day in Second Life Contact person: Saxet Uralia
The 24-hour event PDT will be held all day Saturday, June 27 at the four The Ye, Olde, Supporte, Faire sims. ((http://slurl.com/secondlife/Faire/20/222/38)
Linden Lab is collaborating with and assisting Virtual Helping Hands and a coalition of community volunteers who are proud to announce Helen Keller Day in Second Life. Helen Keller Day is a community-event exploring how and why to employ, educate, entertain, and engage everyone through virtual worlds.
Helen Keller Day is a day that is set aside for information acquisition, education, exploration of employment opportunities, social engagement, and enjoyment of arts and entertainment... There will be vendors, employers, presentations, and pure, unbridled fun.
It's a day dedicated to raising our level of awareness for our fellow Second Life residents who cope with disabilities. At some time in our lives, we've all felt what it feels like not to be able to participate... not to be included. Knowing how to include someone with a disability, and make them feel welcome, is an important social skill, and a small but significant kindness that we can all benefit from and feel good about.
Participants will meet people learn things, get freebies, and be entertained for their efforts.
You will hear keynote speakers Keller Johnson Thompson, the great grandniece of Helen herself and Linden Labs Education and Healthcare Developer, John Lester, aka Pathfinder Linden. You will hear from experts in the fields of virtual education, employment, social engagement and entertainment. There will be building contests featuring skilled builders doing accessible builds before our virtual eyes. There will be a world premier "movie" featuring "Max," the virtual guide dog developed in Second Life for SL users who are blind or sight impaired. Also featured will be an exhibition of Max's abilities, a fashion show, chess, a Braille chat display, dancing, singing quests and storytelling... even a virtual goldmine!
There will be experiences designed to spark the imagination and "see" and "hear" the world with all the senses in new and thought provoking ways. Join the pioneers in virtual worlds who are inspired by the spirit of Helen Keller to explore ways in which everyone can participate...and create a world that richer for all.
Please come and learn, connect, explore, be entertained, and pick up freebies while sharing this positive and uplifting experience with us.
Current Location: aerye Tags: accessible second life, blindness
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10:14 am
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Apocalyptic Midsummer I recently read a book for review titled _Apocalyptic Shakespeare_, which is a collection of academic essays that examine the apocalyptic images and themes in Shakespeare's plays.
Various real-world incidents have gotten me to thinking what a seemingly apocalyptic time we seem to be living in: pandemics, North Korea rumored to be aiming nuclear weapons at Hawaii, and the usual riots, wars, and assassinations. The unemployment rate hasn't been this high since 1983 and, what with the other events, I'm having flashbacks to the Ronnie Raygun era, which leaves me longing for some good punk music to listen to.
Possibly the thing which seems most creepy to me lately however is the weather. Have you ever noticed that Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" is preoccupied with weather, constantly returning to the unseasonably autumnal weather, the storms and the images of the natural world in revolt, but no one ever does that version of the play?
I feel that's the version of midsummer I'm currently living through.
Current Location: aerye
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11:32 am
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Premiere issue of Icarus now available Publisher Steve Berman, of whom I am a big fan, just released the premiere issue of Icarus, his new gay-themed speculative fiction magazine http://magcloud.com/browse/Issue/11288 I have already ordered my copy.
Here is more about Icarus:
block quote start Icarus is the first magazine devoted to gay-themed speculative fiction and writing - from fantasy to horror to science fiction, and all the weird tales that fall between the cracks. Our first issue features short stories by Jeff Mann, Joel D. Lane, Jameson Currier and Tom Cardamone; interviews with Dan Stone and graphic artist Peter Grahame; poetry by Lawrence M. Schoen; plus book reviews, an article about the Gaylactic Network, and brief happenings in gay publishing. Icarus is published by Lethe Press.
Please Note: Icarus comes from MagCloud in a clear plastic mailer. If this is a problem for you, please contact lethepress@aol.com block quote end
As far as other things which are being added to my to be read pile, I'm going to be grabbing a copy of "The Tiger's Wife" by Téa Obreht in the Summer Fiction issue of the New Yorker (June 8), which is getting a lot of rave reviews from the Interstitial Arts crowd as a brilliant example of magical realism and fairy tale/folklore. More about the story here http://msnyder.typepad.com/the_labyrinth/2009/06/ta-obreht-the-tigers-wife.html
Current Location: aerye Current Mood: excited Tags: books 2009, horror, queer, science fiction
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04:53 pm
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Invisible library card Posted to a mailing list I am on
Media Bistro has this post http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/lit_crit/invisible_library_card_119320.asp about a new metafictional exhibit, described thusly:
The collaborative Invisible Library project will transform the gallery space into an imaginary library filled with books that have been alluded to in novels, but have never actually existed... Read more about teh exhibit at http://tenderpixel.com/ink.html and you can read a list of some of the works in the invisible library at the blog http://invislib.blogspot.com/ although I notice the list leaves off the following works: 1. Jerzy Hacek's Dangerous Knowledge stories about the Librarians Militant, mentioned in Vernor Vinge's Rainbows End 2. Numerous interviews with Hubert Jorgen, Rogue library-scientist, and The Memoirs of Emily Bean by Magnus Valison, and the works of Shirley MacGuffin, mentioned in Icelander by Dustin Long
Current Location: aerye Current Mood: Meta Girl Tags: invisible library, metafiction
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09:20 am
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Amazon Kindle to be made available for more devices From The New York Times
June 15, 2009, 6:18 PM
Jeff Bezos: Kindle Books and Readers Are Separate Businesses By SAUL HANSELL
In the future, Amazon.com’s Kindle e-book reader will display more book formats beyond its own. And you should also expect to see Kindle books on a lot more devices.
That was the clear implication of comments that Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s chief executive, made at a conference in New York Monday on disruptive business models.
Of course, Mr. Bezos didn’t release any details at the conference, which was sponsored by Wired magazine. (He’s just as secretive as Steve Jobs at Apple, but he laughs more.) Mr. Bezos, however, talked about the Kindle in a way he hasn’t before: He described the hardware business and the e-book store as separate.
Already, Kindle books can be read on Apple’s iPhone as well as Amazon’s own reader. Mr. Bezos said that the company hopes to make the e-books available on other devices as well.
Read more at http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/15/jeff-bezos-kindle-books-and-readers-are-separate-businesses/
Current Location: aerye Tags: ebooks, kindle
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07:00 pm
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Accessible audiobook describes new accessible iPhone The following announcement was posted to the Daisy Talking Book mailing list
block quote start We, ABWA, have produced a DAISY and iPod Audiobook version of iPhone Accessibility Features by Apple. It can be downloaded at:
http://www.cucat.org/library/openbiblio/shared/biblio_view.php?bibid=79111&tab=opac
Gregory Kearney Manager - Accessible Media Association for the Blind of Western Australia block quote end
Current Location: aerye Tags: accessible iphone
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10:56 am
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Jim Fruchterman's post about his meeting with the Copyright Office From Jim Fruchterman's blog
block quote start Last Friday I spent almost two and a half hours in a wide-ranging conversation with Maria Pallante of the Copyright Office (and two other folks whose full names I didn't write down). I came away with a much better understanding of the issues they are exploring and certainly did my part to articulate why I support the positions we have.
I would characterize the atmosphere as one of informed and intelligent skepticism on the part of the Copyright Office, with many questions exploring different positions. We discussed Chafee, especially in the context of the Amazon text-to-speech brouhaha, and the proposed international treaty that was tabled at the WIPO SCCR meeting in Geneva last month. block quote end
Read the lengthy but highly informative post at http://benetech.blogspot.com/2009/06/fascinating-meeting-at-copyright-office.html
Current Location: aerye Tags: accessible books, copyright law, jim fruchterman
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01:50 pm
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Video: Making a prosthetic eye Someone was wondering how a prosthetic eye is made, so here is a YouTube video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OB5wTYNscWs Notes: the material used to make an impression is called alginate because it is made from a quick-drying algae. The machine which does the final polishing after the varnishing works and sounds just like a bowling bowl polisher, but much smaller. The entire process takes less than one business day. Not sure this is shown in the video, but at least some ocularists have this binder/book of eyes in closeup, showing an almost infinite variety of eyes in various color and shape configurations, enlarged so that small details such as veins and colorations can be seen.
Current Location: aerye Current Music: WERS Standing Room Only Tags: prosthetics
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10:45 am
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My WorldCon trip has been cancelled; will be playing pirate instead My WorldCon trip has been cancelled, which means I have a WorldCon membership to sell, if anyone is interested in purchasing it.
As it turns out, I will be having some reconstructive surgery done on my right eye, which means I get to wear an eye patch for a month or so this summer. I've begun putting together my pirates songs playlist; feel free to post suggestions. ( squicky details about eye surgery after the cut )
Current Location: aerye Tags: health, prosthetics
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09:50 am
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More on the accessible iPhone + improving the performance of Windows XP Kes: I'm particularly interested in the second item as I have been trying to find a good article which explains how I can do this with a screen reader; I'm pretty reluctant to do tweaks in the registry for fear of accidentally deleting something Jaws-related. From this week's Top Tech Tidbits http://www.topdotenterprises.com/tidbits.htm
Aside from the Apple Web page on the accessible iPhone on June 19 http://www.apple.com/accessibility/iphone/vision.html there is additional discussion in the following podcast:
1. this new iPhone, as well as the Solona site for solving CAPTCHA barriers, is the subject of Serotek podcast #16 http://serotalk.com/2009/06/09/serotalk-podcast-16-accessible-iphone-3gs-solonanet-accessible-captchas-and-microphone-winners/
2. SeroTalk Tech Chat 19 is entitled Tweaks for Geeks! and discusses improving the performance of Windows xp. http://serotalk.com/2009/06/05/serotalk-tech-chat-19-tweaks-for-geeks/
Current Location: aerye Tags: accessible iphone, faster xp
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05:29 pm
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New accessible iPhone? I saw this posted to an accessible technology list, but I'm hoping to find detailed reviews on accessibility for users with visual impairements. The fact that the video is inaccessible does not fill me with with hope.
The new iPhone 3Gs has built-in accessibility features such as VoiceOver and Speech enabled controls. You can find the (inaccessible) video here: http://movies.apple.com/media/us/iphone/2009/tours/apple-iphone3gs-guided_tour-us-20090608_r320-9cie.mov and here is a list of the accessibility features http://www.apple.com/accessibility/iphone/vision.html
Current Location: aerye Current Mood: highly dubious Current Music: Linda Ronstadt, You're No Good Tags: accessible cell phones, voiceover
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09:41 am
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New Lovecraftian fiction online magazine The inaugural fiction issue of Innsmouth Free Press--a new online Lovecraftian magazine--is online at http://www.innsmouthfreepress.com/?p=247
and if you are looking for daily doses of free SF/F/Horror media to be found online, you should subscribe to Quasar Dragon http://freesciencefantasy.blogspot.com/ who does an impressive job of tracking what's new
Current Location: aerye Tags: free etexts, horror, lovecraft
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11:50 am
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One more reason I love editors Aside from all the hard work they do to make the books happen, they tend to produce useful comments on the topic of language and grammar. The following example turned up in my newsletter from Juno Books http://www.juno-books.com
block quote start [Tangent: It *is* "trouper" not "trooper." A trooper is a soldier and they can, indeed, be troupers, but the idea of a real trouper comes from the theatrical world. A trouper performer -- originally a member of traveling "troupe" - who knows the show must go on no matter what. Whatever the circumstances, despite the odds, a real trouper perseveres without complaint.] block quote end
I also really want the Wisconsin Badger cap being given away in the contest for AMAZON INK by Lori Devoti http://www.juno-books.com/amazon-ink.html contest http://www.loridevoti.com/contest/)
Also note that if you have a manuscrpt in the paranormal romance, urban fantasy, or related genre, Juno Books is looking for submissions.
Current Location: aerye Current Music: Roy Orbison Pretty Woman Tags: books 2009
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03:07 pm
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Okay, I could be using that brain cell for something else... Am I the only one who, upon hearing "The Ballad of the Green Berets," thinks: "Hey! It's Louie's favorite song!"
Current Location: aerye Current Mood: dubious Current Music: Ballad of the Green Berets Tags: media studies
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09:58 am
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Books read in May I've been reading lots of articles on horror film criticism which I am not going to exhaustively list here, thus the somewhat low total number of books read this month, but I do want to mention this book which just sounds all sorts of fascinating to me: The Tactile Eye: Touch and the Cinematic Experience by Jennifer M. Barker Product Description The Tactile Eye expands on phenomenological analysis and film theory in its accessible and beautifully written exploration of the visceral connection between films and their viewers. Jennifer M. Barker argues that the experience of cinema can be understood as deeply tactile--a sensuous exchange between film and viewer that goes beyond the visual and aural, gets beneath the skin, and reverberates in the body. Barker combines analysis of embodiment and phenomenological film theory to provide an expansive description of cinematic tactility.
1. The Skylark by Peter Straub (2009) [scanned myself] Read for review.
2. Philosophy in the Twilight Zone edited by Noel Carroll and Lester H. Hunt (2009) [scanned myself] Read for review.
3. Various stories from Bound for Evil edited by Tom English (2008) [scanned myself] A book about evil books! I *love* this book, and I think I love Tom English for producing it, even though I think he must indeed be a Tom O'Bedlam to have done it (it's quite the tome of doom and could effectively if not easily be used as a blunt weapon). More about Bound for Evil here http://kestrell.livejournal.com/504233.html
4. Midnight Movies by J. Hoberman and Jonathan Rosenbaum (1991) [Bookshare.org] The main focus is The Rocky Horror Picture Show, although this is also used to introduce a cultural history of the midnight movie which includes a lot of interesting material; it also contained way more discussion of Waters and Lynch than I was up for, but it's a very browse-worthy book. ( continued below cut )
Current Location: aerye Tags: books 2009, books wishlist, horror, media studies
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10:07 am
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Birthday of visually impaired writer Jim Knipfel From The Writer's Almanac comes this description of an author whose work I have managed to totally miss, a sad fact which must be addressed in the near future.
block quote start Today is the 44th birthday of memoirist and journalist Jim Knipfel, born in Grand Forks, North Dakota (1965) but raised in Green Bay, Wisconsin. He's best known for his humorous and sarcastic "Slackjaw" column, which has run weekly in different publications for more than 20 years. He's written a thousand weekly columns, a trilogy of memoirs, and a couple of novels.
Knipfel is legally blind due to a rare genetic eye disease called retinitis pigmentosa. It first appeared when he was about 11 or 12, when he could no longer see in dim restaurants or see at night. When he was in his early 20s, an ophthalmologist finally diagnosed his disease and told him that he'd be blind in a few years. About five years ago, he told an interviewer that the way he viewed the world was "kind of like peering through two toilet paper tubes all the time."
He'd been writing his Slackjaw column for about 10 years when a Penguin Putnam editor approached him with a book deal to write a memoir. The memoir, entitled Slackjaw like the column, came out in 1999.
When the book came out, the publishers sent him on a 10-city promotional tour. Knipfel later said, "Putting a blind man on a plane to 10 cities he's never been to before struck me as cruel and funny." At promotional book events, he had to read from photocopies of his book that had been hugely enlarged, and had to use a magnifying glass and have a strong lamp shining right there on his paper to read, and even then, his eyes would give out after a page or two, and he'd make the rest up.
Knipfel is fond of his parents and has said that he had a great childhood, but he also suffered from very severe bouts of depression in his teens and young adulthood, and tried committing suicide a dozen times. When he was 22, in his final suicide attempt, he tried first to hang himself and then swallowed two fistfuls of pills and a fifth of Scotch. He stumbled out of his Minneapolis apartment, he recalls, into the hallway and "made such a commotion that the cops came and they ended up beating me up. As suicide scenes go, I thought it was pretty funny."
He was put in a psychiatric hospital in Minneapolis for the next six months, and he wrote about his stay in the Minneapolis psychiatric hospital in his second memoir, Quitting the Nairobi Trio (2000). He finished the first draft of the book in 10 days.
Knipfel says that when it comes to writing books, he prefers to write "in marathon fashion." He says, "Before I begin, before word one is typed, I need to have the complete story in my head. That's the important thing. Then I'll take what vacation time I can get from the paper, parcel out what needs to be done given what time I have available, lock the apartment door, sit down and type eight to 10 hours a day (with regular cigarette breaks). I start with the first chapter and drive straight through to the end. I guess this comes from a deep love for the pulps."
His third memoir, Ruining It for Everybody (2004),begins: "Whenever I hear the word 'spiritual' I reach for my revolver.'" block quote end
Current Location: aerye Tags: blindness, books 2009, books wishlist
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09:50 am
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Google Chrome 2.0 accessibility report From The Paciello Group Blog Google Chrome 2.0 Accessibility Improvements? http://www.paciellogroup.com/blog/?p=104 This is a pretty thorough report and includes links to descriptions of keyboard shortcuts, etc.
Current Location: aerye Tags: accessibility, chrome, google
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06:01 pm
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More Shakespeare: The Merchant of Venice podcast A Web site which refers to itself as "The Ultimate Free Shakespeare Source" http://www.playshakespeare.com/ offers a podcasts page http://www.playshakespeare.com/podcasts includes the following podcast focusing on The Merchant of Venice:
block quote start A one-night only reading of Shakespeare's perpetually controversial The Merchant of Venice featuring commentary from premiere West Coast Shakespeare scholar Denise Battista. Following will be an audience discussion led by a panel of writers and artists including world-renowned Jewish-American author and fantasist Peter S. Beagle and John Fisher, Artistic Director of Theater Rhinoceros, San Francisco's oldest queer theater company. block quote end
I should note here that the Athena Learning's John Barton "Playing Shakespeare" DVD series http://athenalearning.com/programs/playing-shakespeare/episode-highlights includes an entire episode on "The Merchant of Venice" with a lot of serious discussion on the representation of Shylock as a Jew (an episode which includes Patrick Stewart, btw).
Current Location: aerye Tags: shakespeare
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