by Kevin Burton Shigeichi Negishi, the inventor of the world’s first commercially-available karaoke machine, has died in Japan at age 100, according to National Public Radio. Never knew the man, but boy has he filled up my Saturday nights. You take a character from Billy Joel’s Piano Man who is“sure that I …
Category Archives: technology
A New Tool In The Fight For Braille Literacy
by Kevin Burton Last week we ran a story about subjects that are either gone from classrooms or close to it (“Subjects No Longer Taught (Much) In Schools,” March 6.) That got me thinking about Braille. While growing up at the Ohio State School for the Blind, I just assumed that all …
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Subjects No Longer Taught (Much) In Schools
by interestingfacts.com Think back to your school days: Are you nostalgic for flipping through a dusty library card catalog or clacking away on a typewriter? Some subjects you remember from those days are probably things of the past, although the finer points of how schools have changed might surprise you. These six subjects …
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Ferris Wheels Also Make The World Go Round
by Kevin Burton In response to one of my Valentine’s Day posts, a reader let me know that Feb. 14 is also National Ferris Wheel Day in the United States. Now that’s news I can use! What an apt metaphor for the “love” of love songs that is wrapped in feelings, or perhaps …
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High-Tech Glove Combats Parkinson’s
From todayonline.com LAS VEGAS —Roberta Wilson-Garrett looked at the glove keeping her right hand steady and smiled. At bay for the moment were tremors caused by Parkinson’s disease affecting her muscle control. She could do things others take for granted, such as write crisply with a pen or hold a cup of coffee without spilling. …
AI And Biblical Warnings Of Strong Delusion
by Kevin Burton The Biblical warning of “strong delusion” coming on mankind is playing out now. The vehicle: artificial intelligence. Read your Bible. Pay attention. First here’s the warning, in context, from II Thessalonians 2:1-12 in the New King James Version: “Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our …
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Retronyms: The New Defining The Old
by Kevin Burton We all know that time marches on. So does technology and so does the language we use to describe it. Today from our friends at Merriam-Webster dictionary, we get some phrases made necessary by those inexorable marches. They are called retronyms. Think of them as a blast to the past. …
Where Does Lost Airline Luggage Go?
by Melanie Peeples National Public Radio The Transportation Security Administration screened 30 million people over the recent Thanksgiving holiday. That’s a lot of suitcases for airlines to keep track of, and unfortunately, some are bound to get lost. So where does all that lost luggage end up? In a store called Unclaimed Baggage, in …
Doctors Perform First Whole Eye Transplant
by Jacqueline Howard CNN It was a moment Meagan James never expected to witness. A surgical team at NYU Langone Health in New York had performed the world’s first successful whole-eye transplant in a living person: her husband, Aaron James. After an accident at work led to the loss of his left …
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Here’s Yet Another Label For The Disabled
by Kevin Burton In at least one part of the world, people with disabilities are called “people of determination.” Have you ever heard of that? I had not. But I found a story about an expo where devices for the disabled were on display. (I include part of that story below).That story referred to …
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