Literally.

Jun 06, 2007

In a supreme bit of irony, the recently-announced logo for the 2012 Olympics has gotten itself into yet another major scuffle. The first was simply the initial reaction to the logo: people were irritated, confused, disgusted, or simply reduced to shaking their heads in wonderment at the incredible blockheads who perpetrated this weirdity. All at taxpayer expense.

Then, yesterday, an animation clip was pulled from the 2012 website after reports of people being hospitalized. The clip was triggering seizures in people with photosensitive epilepsy:

The offending footage was scrutinised by Professor Graham Harding, who “developed the test used to measure photo-sensitivity levels in TV material”. He told BBC London 94.9FM: “It fails the Harding FPA machine test which is the machine the television industry uses to test images. And so it does not comply with Ofcom guidelines and is in contravention of them.”

UK charity Epilepsy Action said the images “could affect the 23,000 people in the UK who have photosensitive epilepsy” and that it had received reports they had “even triggered breakthrough seizures where people have a relapse after being seizure-free for a long time”.
full article text at The Register

This is even more ironic when you consider that this logo is for both the Olympics and the Paralympics — the latter being competitive games for athletes with disabilities.

See? Not only is accessibility important, it’s now easier to screw up. Or more properly, with more people creating audiovisual content, there are more people who should take accessibility into account...and yet, they don’t. (Probably because pointy-haired bosses are still convinced that they ‘shouldn’t bother to adjust [their] web site for something that will only affect about 5% of the total population’. That was another award-winning Line of Intense Stupidity which I received from a former boss.)

Keywords: | irony | epilepsy | altered states | accessibility |
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from the inside out

May 14, 2007

British scientists have developed synthetic human blood.

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News, and commentary

Mar 28, 2007

Iteration 28 March 2007: Talking Points

1. Why Having More No Longer Makes Us Happy — for middle-class and upper middle class people, this seems to be the case. All of our lives, we were taught: work to consume, consume to be idle. Problem being: what's the point? Utter idleness is not all it's cracked up to be (though longer periods of non-busyness certainly wouldn't be unappreciated). When do we stop consuming? Our economy is constantly coming up with one more service, one more product, that we as individuals Absolutely Must Have. Never mind Oprah's latest guru hardsell: the secret is balance. Each individual needs to define, then achieve, balance. (And much like religion, one person's balance ill fits another's life. People can draw inspiration from others, but in order to truly be content and fulfilled, people need to take charge of defining their own version of 'balance'.)
2. Prius Outdoes Hummer in Environmental Damage — Interesting to note. To me, as a consumer, the high gas mileage on the Prius is very attractive. I'm not so sure it's attractive enough for me to pay the huge price for the Prius, though demand seems to have slackened a bit (at least locally). It's also interesting to note: people who want to 'buy green' need to think about the entire lifecycle of the product, not just their use (and disposal) thereof.
3. Washington governor signs Internet tax bill — something important to note, particularly since I'm planning to move to that state. How, though, will this be enforced? Some retailers will collect the tax, others won't. California currently has a space where residents can state how much they bought online in the preceeding year, and voluntarily pay the tax on that. I know how often I fill that out. I think that Washington's initiative is headed for a similar fate: haphazard enforcement, amounting to a greater burden on small businesses than a benefit, and ultimately a questionable value for the state. (Which reminds me: I need to start researching that state's laws for small businesses...)
4. Many Americans See Little Point To Web — Well, sure. It's a tool. While some of us have quite the digital lifestyle, it's not a requirement. It's perfectly possible to survive and even thrive without doing much more than checking email occasionally (and I almost typed that sentence without a nervous twitch...almost.) But despite what certain persons would have us believe, it's not essential for everyone to have a blog. It's not essential for everyone to have a MySpace page. The web offers as many utter distractions as it offers useful tools — and humans are tool users. But just like I'm not going to invest in a jig saw any time soon, not everyone needs their own web site. (This is why I didn't do well trying to market my design services: when someone told me that they didn't need a web site, I took them at their word and stopped pestering. Sadly, this just didn't translate into enough income to support myself. Meh.)
5. National debt is a gigantic time bomb — In a way, this is tied to the first article linked in this week's list. When does a country have enough? When does it need to get more of whatever-it-is, when does it need to start planning for alternatives to whatever-it-is, how does it go about getting more of whatever-it-is, and what costs will the country pay in pursuit of its own balance? I'm heartily glad that I have no children. They, and their children, could be very hard hit if the US doesn't find a smarter way to work in the Middle East.
6. McCain comes out for gay marriage on MySpace — More proof that idiots are everywhere, and MySpace is their latest prime watering hole...a US presidential hopeful's eager (but not 100% tech-savvy) staffers create a MySpace page and hotlink to another person's images. So the owner swapped the image on their server. (Not with something quite as bad as that...then again, a conservative politico having an image say that they've reversed their position on gay marriage, particularly between passionate females...probably isn't at all good in Sen. McCain's view.) McCain's staffers scrambled to fix their mistake. But shouldn't they have not made that mistake in the first place?!??
7. Organic Food: the farmer's condundrum — People are all atwitch for green, natural, organic...but if your "organic" vegetables are imported from Mexico, South America, or China (with all the travel and gasoline that entails) how much is being preserved by buying 'organic'? Don't just buy organic because you think that you're doing good. Stop, think, find out the core thoughts behind a movement, and then live by those core thoughts and beliefs in the way you deem best rather than they way they're advertised or labelled.
8. San Francisco to ban plastic bags — I remember when I was younger, and the huge debates over 'paper or plastic' started. They died out to some extent...but now they're back again. People say use plastic, not paper, because the paper uses up trees and the lumber industry is so destructive. Yes, that's true. It's equally true that folks carrying canvas bags into, say, grocery shops get the hairy eyeball because they're suspected of stealing. (I know. It's happened to me a few times. I sympathize with the store owners and managers; but I've got to carry my stuff somehow.) It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Just one question...what will I use when I need to empty the catbox? It's not as easy to tie-close a paper sack...
9. Taking the week off — “It’s this culture of attacking women that has especially got to stop. I really don’t care if you attack me. I take those attacks in stride. But, whenever I post a video of a female technologist there invariably are snide remarks about body parts and other things that simply wouldn’t happen if the interviewee were a man.” There are limits people should follow. At what point do others need to step in and rap people on the knuckles? While lawmakers wrangle over Bong Hits 4 Jesus, women in the US, Canada, western Europe (all ostensibly first-world countries, by the way) are objectified by people who, if challenged, would claim that they were just joking. Yo. Idjits. Rape and death are not jokes.
10. New drive afoot to pass the Equal Rights Amendment — I haven't read the full text of the ERA. But shouldn't all people be given the same rights? And if they aren't, why not? (Oh. Right. People are fragmented, fearful, tribal zipperheads.) The law contains the following words: Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. This really isn't enough, because it doesn't strictly, explicitly cover all religions, all ages, all ethnicities...but, suckily, we have to advance in baby steps. Because people are fragmented, fearful, tribal zipperheads.
    
    And last but not least: two points to think about. Common enough wisdom, but we forget them all the time.
11. Being responsible isn't easy.
12. If you want things to change, you have to learn, get up, and do something.

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Keywords: | Wednesday | news | memes |
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Strange things are afoot at the Circle-K. And elsewhere.

Mar 14, 2007

Iteration 03/14/2007: News and Commentary

1. What credit card companies don't want you to know
   Credit card and bank fees will eat you alive. You'll blink, and you'll wind up so far in debt you won't be able to easily get out. And while many individuals in the 80s declared personal bankruptcy and had their lifekilling credit card debt erased, the credit card companies got tired of the shenanigans and lead a reform of personal-bankruptcy laws. Now your interest will be frozen, but your accumulated debt won't go away. Read this article, grab your scissors, and take back your life by slicing your credit cards in half. (Yes, they can be a useful tool...if you have the discipline to use them very, very sparingly.)
2. How to survive really hard times
   This was written before the year 2000 rollover, but the information's just as handy. (And, coming on the heels of last week's list, a nice point of continuity.) Most of us take technology and plenty so much for granted, we literally wouldn't know what to do if we found ourselves without a regularly restocked store of some kind. Kind of a disturbing lack of knowledge...especially seeing how the country's sliding further and further into debt, and our infrastructure isn't what most people thought it would be. (New Orleans *still* hasn't really recovered from Hurricane Katrina.)
3. Oprah's ugly little secret
   Raises an interesting point: how much responsibility does a person have, when promoting something as prone to reinterpretation as an idea?
4. How my eyes were opened to the barbarity of Islam
   Another interesting piece, particularly because it will have people asking, pissed-off-ed-ly, “Isn't Islam supposed to be the religion of peace?” Yes, yes it is. And Christianity is a religion of love and tolerance - and look how many bigoted, angry, hateful people put a veneer of righteousness on their actions by claiming to adhere to a particular section of the Bible? Any time religion or philosophy becomes used as a political tool, start questioning every single thing that comes from whomever's wielding that particular club. (And yes, what happened to the woman who wrote this article is hideous and disgusting. However, the Magical Changing Personality isn't limited to one particular country...or even one particular gender.) Learn the reactionary message that 's on the surface, or look beneath and learn the larger lesson. The choice — and the responsibility — is yours.
5. Subliminal advertising leaves a mark on the human brain
   It's interesting that this is illegal in the UK...and that it isn't illegal in the US. It's also interesting to note that for the subliminals to take effect, some degree of concentration or focus is required. If you're like me, and multitask while watching TV, the subliminals have less chance of getting to you. (Apparently.) Also a good reason to watch TV with friends or family, and talk during the commercials. (Certainly it's more fun than a tinfoil hat...)
6. Wipe out a single memory
   While this hasn't been tested on any animal higher than lab rats, it could be a good therapeutic tool for survivors of severe trauma. However, I remember reading a book (science fiction, naturally) where a character objected to another's offer to suppress a certain memory. All I am are my memories, the character pointed out; and without those memories, we lose any lessons from those memories. That's valuable to remember, if this technology is ever refined to the point of being used on humans. (...but could they go through and remove the subliminal memories?)
7. Emma Darwin's diaries
   The diaries of the wife of naturalist Charles Darwin have been scanned and put on line. Check it out: It's Darwin's wife's blog, now in Google's cache! (But...Darwin married his first cousin? So an early theory of evolution, check...but no worries about potential inbreeding? Gah.)
8. How to solve the diabetes epidemic
   Governments, the healthcare industry, food manufacturers and distributors know that large amounts of sugar and fats cause health problems, even in children. This is hardly news. Yet high-sugar, low-protein-content foods are not just made available, nor even easily available...but high-quality foods, healthsome foods, are not just more expensive, they're harder to find. Eating habits start young, but so many parents, schools, and care groups are either busy, or strapped for time and money. It's easier to give the kids less healthy foods...far too easy. But the food producers and distributors are businesses, and they put profits first. (Of course.)
9. California moves closer to banning trans-fats
   This did occur in New York City earlier this year: restaurants, eateries, any place that prepares and sells food is going to have to start changing its menu to disinclude trans-fats in the cooking and preparation. Even in California, land of the hippy-dippies and the overly health-conscious, this will not be easy. (A friend was researching moving to CA from TN, and she was researching prices of personal chefs so she would know how to price her food. She asked me: doesn't anybody in that state cook?!??)

I'm going to have to loop back and provide the other three links later - there's actually Something To Do, yippee. (And there's a new episode of Jericho tonight. And we're halfway to Friday. w00t!!)

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Keywords: | Wednesday | memes | current events |
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