Old-school news, just in time
by Robert McCoppinChicago Tribune CHICAGO — A federal judge has ordered Chicago to install audible crossing signals at intersections with traffic lights to help people who are blind or have problems seeing to cross public streets. The order would require the city to install at least 75 accessible pedestrian signals this year and more …
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by Kevin Burton Been reading with joy, a small flood of stories about people having sight restored through gene therapy. Voretigene neparvovec, sold under the brand name Luxturna, is a gene therapy medication for the treatment of Leber congenital amaurosis, according to Wikipedia. The US Food and Drug Administration approved Luxturna, in December of …
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by Dictionary Scoop NASA may be all about exploring space, but they have also improved life on Earth, did you know that? For example, the sneakers you use to go for a run every week, that’s NASA’s work. The agency’s innovations have made their way into our everyday routines in surprising ways. Let’s …
by Kevin Burton The Wednesday before Valentine’s Day I posted a story about a cruel and unusual dating ritual that came from ancient Rome. The cruel part was men beating women with animal skins as part of a Valentine’s Day tradition. The unusual part was the women were eager for this! It was …
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by Charlotte Cowles thecut.com It’s 5 a.m. and your toddler is crying. His forehead is hot. You remember, cursing yourself, that you are out of Tylenol. You squint at your phone and order more, selecting the quickest delivery option. Actually, that’s not soon enough. You pay the $2 fee so that it will …
by Megan Dausch Helen Keller Services The Louis Braille Museum in Coupvray, France, smelled like history—aged wood, old paper, and the faint mustiness of time. It was a small house, but it held the weight of a remarkable legacy. I remember running my fingers over the dominoes Louis Braille played with as a …
Continue reading “Braille Gives Literacy, Independence, Access”
by Dictionary Scoop Did you know that women made many scientific contributions, but their names were hidden and their discoveries attributed to men? This phenomenon is so common that it even has a name: the Matilda Effect. American historian of science Margaret W. Rossiter coined the term in 1993 in honor of Matilda Joslyn Gage, …
by Kevin Burton Technology doesn’t march on anymore, it flies. Actually, flying seems to pedestrian a concept to describe it. Teleports, is that the word I am looking for? Today we’re looking at old technologies, finishing a list from the Dictionary Scoop website that we started yesterday. Number 9 on the …
Continue reading “Old Technology Before TV Had Its Tubes Tied”
by Kevin Burton The Dictionary Scoop website illustrated its list of old technologies with a picture of a cassette tape, but then didn’t see fit to include cassettes in its discussion. There’s an oldie but a goodie, right? Well I just bought some cassettes! I have a lot of music on cassette …
Continue reading “Old Tech: Not Forgotten And Not Even Gone”
by Meg Britton-Mehlisch Wichita Beacon Staff at Wichita’s City Hall weren’t happy with their virtual footprint. In 2022, they described the city’s website, http://www.wichita.gov, as “suboptimal,” “outdated” and “confusing.” So the city spent $312,000 on a website refresh intended to flip that description and create a welcoming and easy-to-use virtual gateway to local …
Continue reading “Despite Upgrade, City’s Website Not Accessible “
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