How Smartphones Can Improve Public Transit | Autopia | Wired.com

An interesting study of commuters in Boston and San Francisco found people are more willing to ride the bus or train when they have tools to manage their commutes effectively. The study asked 18 people to surrender their cars for one week. The participants found that any autonomy lost by handing over their keys could be regained through apps providing real-time information about transit schedules, delays and shops and services along the routes.

The Last One Percent that Kills You - Dan Pallotta - Harvard Business Review

Each of us can think of countless example like this — where tremendous sweat, resources, and good faith have gone into some important endeavor, only to have it all foiled by neglecting that last little detail. The first 99% of effort gets destroyed by the lack of the last 1% of it. For example, I've seen more charity events than I can count at which expensive banners get produced but no one has thought about the last step — how they're going to be rigged. People think they'll figure it out when they get there. But 40 mile-an-hour winds require a little more thought than that. The work of a branding company, a graphic design firm, and a banner production company are all thwarted because the banner can't be hung.

Thanks and a hat tip to Tim Oreilly

Kindle for PC with Accessibility Plugin

Kindle for PC with Accessibility Plugin is a free application for your Windows PC. It provides the following accessibility features:

  • Text-to-speech reading with adjustable voice settings
  • Voice-guided menu navigation
  • Large font sizes
  • High contrast reading mode
  • Keyboard navigation
  • Accessible shortcuts

Because this software is an assistive technology, there are no restrictions on text-to-speech reading. In order to use the text-to-speech feature, an external screen reader program must be installed and running on the Windows PC. Tested screen readers include: JAWS and NVDA. An external screen reader is used to read aloud menus and navigation items, while book text is read by a built-in text-to-speech engine. Visit the Accessibility Shortcuts page for a full list of reading shortcuts.

NVDA is a free screen reader. You can get it at http://www.nvda-project.org/

Five Ways Health Reform Helps Direct-Care Workers at Health Care for Health Care Workers

Today marks the one year anniversary of the passage of the Affordable Care Act. It has been a year filled with progress, controversy, and uncertainty. But overall, significant stepping stones have been laid and work is progressing thanks to the work of advocates around the country. Here are just a few reasons that this bill is good for direct-care workers.

Thanks and a hat tip to "Health Care for Health Care Workers"

Rolling Around In My Head: truth telling

I asked, pausing carefully considering the possible consequences of the answer, 'Is there anywhere you go that you are safe? Completely and utterly safe." They too, paused considering the cost of truth, 'Nowhere.'

'Nowhere.'

These kids live in small communities. You know the vaunted 'small towns with big hearts' communities. You know the 'Every one's a neighbour, every one's a friend' village. They don't feel safe. Only in their homes. And there, only when alone.

Brutalization of people with disabilities is so commonplace that it passes unnoticed. In spring flowers bloom, in fall leaves are shed from trees but people with disabilities are a victim in all seasons.

Self-administered light therapy may improve cognitive function after traumatic brain injury

Margaret Naeser, PhD, LAc, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston University School of Medicine, and colleagues from Massachusetts General Hospital, and Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, in Boston, and MedX Health Inc. (Mississauga, ON, Canada), report on the use of transcranial LED-based light therapy to treat two patients with longstanding traumatic brain injury (TBI). Each patient applied LEDs nightly and demonstrated substantial improvement in cognitive function, including improved memory, inhibition, and ability to sustain attention and focus. One patient was able to discontinue medical disability and return to full-time work. These cognitive gains decreased if the patients stopped treatment for a few weeks and returned when treatment was restarted. Both patients are continuing LED treatments in the home. The findings are presented in "Improved Cognitive Function After Transcranial, Light-Emitting Diode Treatments in Chronic, Traumatic Brain Injury: Two Case Reports."

!-My first intro to light therapy was a presentation by John Ott in September 1970 on use of full spectrum fluorescents instead of narrow spectrum with kids with ADHD.