by Julia Metraux Mother Jones After becoming blind in his late 20s, designer and artist Marco Salsiccia had to learn to navigate the world through assistive technology—like a screen reader, software that speaks digital text and image descriptions aloud. Leveraging that experience, Salsiccia began work as an accessibility specialist, eventually working part-time at a well-known …
Category Archives: business
Robot Cane Device For The Blind Being Tested
by Kevin Burton Researchers are testing what they believe will be a revolutionary robotic mobility device for the blind. This is not your father’s cane. The device, called “Glide,” was demonstrated Saturday at the sixth annual Robot Block Party, a celebration of robotics, held in Boston. “The device incorporates robotics, sensors, and …
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Laugh Makers, Head Shakers And The Big Fear
by Kevin Burton I am passing this list of probably true-life anecdotes for the sake of humor – I think. I got it of from a fellow alum of the Ohio State School for the Blind. There was no attribution so I am not sure who compiled them. These short notes have me …
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No Staff, No Problem: Guests Run Hotel
by Amaris Encinas USA TODAY Three friends took it upon themselves to manage a Nashville hotel for a few hours. After a late night of partying, the trio was unable to check into their room at La Quinta Inn & Suites because there were no employees in sight. The saga was first …
Producers Of Braille Are Touching Lives
by Kevin Burton Today we touch on two stories about braille being produced from unexpected sources. NBC Connecticut ran a story about female inmates at York Correctional Facility becoming certified as Braille transcriptionists. Five inmates completed the program Aug. 24. I wish NBC had quoited some of them. But here is part …
Café Owner To Pay Fine For Discrimination
by Lisa Steacy CTV News The owner of a B.C. café has been ordered to pay a woman, who is legally blind, $12,000 in compensation for discrimination after she was refused service because she had a guide dog. The B.C. Human Rights Tribunal ruled on the case last week and the decision was …
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How Horse Logic Rules The Whole World
by Kevin Burton You have to wonder sometimes, why things are the way they are. Who exactly is running the asylum? Not sure who first came up with the quip that status quo is Latin for “the mess we’s in.” Later in life I have learned to not ask certain things. If …
Volvo’s Unselfish Act Saved Millions Of Lives
by Douglas Bell Forbes Magazine Volvo proudly proclaims that: “few people have saved as many lives as Nils Bohlin.” And they are right. Nils Bohlin is the little-known Volvo engineer who invented the V-type three-point safety belt in 1959, and saw his innovation through to universal adoption across the motor industry. His new …
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It’s All About The Cats At A Cat Café
by Kevin Burton This is a fun story, filled with cute kitties, but with a serious bummer at the end. On the first part of our June vacation, we came across Papa’s Cat Café in Columbia, Missouri. It was easily the most interesting tourist attraction we read about it mid-Missouri. I thought …
Motown’s Move To LA Stifled The Magic
by Kevin Burton There is more than a little irony in the 1971 Jackson 5 song “Going Back To Indiana.” That makes for an easy choice to make Indiana a destination for our summer rock and roll road trip, Coast to Coast. For Coast to Coast we are talking rock and roll history, …