The 19th Floor

Retro Look

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:53:58 -0600

You know what my wheelchair is missing? A vodka-cranberry juice dispenser. And a smokestack. And brass control levers. And sound effects. In other words, pretty much everything found on this steampunk-themed wheelchair. The guy who designed this chair doesn't say whether he does work for hire, but I wonder if my savings are sufficient to pay for a similar custom job. I'll pay extra if he can come up with copper ventilator tubing that coordinates well with my ascot and goggles.

Thanks to William for the link.

Flynn's Return

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:24:04 -0600

Disney just released another trailer for Tron: Legacy. It's not quite as eye-poppingly cool as the first one featuring the racing lightcycles, but I approve of the updated look. Namely, the several very attractive women inhabiting the world of Tron are no longer forced to wear those ridiculous head-to-toe costumes. Apparently, the Master Control Program developed a sense of style that didn't exist online or offline in the early 80s.

This Era's Model-T

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 21:40:45 -0600

It had to happen sooner or later. The first commercially available brain-computer interface has just hit the market. The Intendix (a horribly bland name for such a cool technology) comes with a skullcap and a little netbook computer that displays a grid of letters. Users type by focusing when the desired letter is highlighted on the screen. And it can be yours for the low price of $12,250.

This kind of exorbitant pricing is de rigeur in the world of assistive technology, so I'm not particularly surprised or even outraged. But this technology is different; it's not inherently limited to people with disabilities. Sure, we'll be the early adopters out of necessity, but these interfaces should gradually improve. People without disabilities will eventually want brain-controlled computers and that should foster competition and lower prices. At least, that's my hope.

Hollywood Reporter

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 14:13:29 -0600

As a blogger who frequently blogs about pop culture, I'm legally obligated to make some sort of completely uninformed Oscar predictions. So here's one: Avatar will snag Best Picture (because the Academy wants to demonstrate that it "gets" the movie-going public that made this movie such a juggernaut) while Kathryn Bigelow will take the Best Director award (because the Academy recognizes that The Hurt Locker is a better film and it wants the Monday morning news to be about how that particular David-Goliath match-up ended in a draw). And here's another: Christoph Waltz will win Best Supporting Actor for his menacing yet alluring portrayal of Colonel Hans Landa or there is no justice in this world.

Local Celebrity

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 13:41:57 -0600

Darcy Pohland, a local television reporter for WCCO who also had quadriplegia, died unexpectedly yesterday. I don't watch the local news much anymore, but I remember seeing Pohland on TV when I first moved to Minnesota and being genuinely surprised at seeing a person with such a significant and visible disability making regular appearances in front of a camera. I hesitate to use the term "role model" when describing anyone with a disability, but Pohland's regular presence in the local media landscape probably shaped some of her viewers' attitudes on disability for the better.

Pohland was 48.

Applying Some Psychic English

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 22:31:21 -0600

We all know that the coming wave of neural-computer interfaces will help people with disabilities do things like use computers, operate wheelchairs, and control robot armies. But what about the really important stuff in life? Like playing pinball?

Check.

Once this technology arrives, I'm going to start hanging out at the local pinball arcade and hustle high school truants out of their lunch money. I just have to figure out whether there are still any pinball arcades left in the Twin Cities.

Thanks to Allie for the link.

What Small Government Looks Like

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 20:09:25 -0600

Minnesota, like a lot of states, is contemplating significant budget cuts that would affect people with disabilities. But there's cutting and then there's obliterating, which is what South Carolina may do to its services for 26,000 residents with disabilities. All home and community-based services would be eliminated, leaving state funding for institutional care (which is required under federal Medicaid law). As a result of these proposed cuts, family members of of people with disabilities would be forced to quit jobs in order to serve as caregivers. Even worse, some individuals may be forced out of their homes and into nursing homes. In comparison, our own proposed cuts seem almost modest.

I'll say it again: Medicaid needs to be completely federalized to ensure that people with disabilities aren't punished for living in a poor state that is apathetic or even openly hostile to the notion of community integration. This patchwork system certainly benefits people like me who are lucky enough to live in a generous, prosperous state like Minnesota, but it does a disservice to so many others.

It's Not T.V., It's A Big Box Of Awesome

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 21:03:39 -0600

First, the good news. HBO has greenlit the Game of Thrones series based on the first book of George R.R. Martin's fantasy opus. The bad news is that it won't air until next year. It still looks as if HBO is planning to adapt one book for each season of the show, which might give Martin some incentive to hurry up and finish the long-awaited fifth volume of the series. I'll be curious to see how HBO markets the show. The books are quite dark in tone, but read more like historical fiction than fantasy. There's no bestiary of fantastic creatures (except for a few dragons) and few displays of magic. There is plenty of sex and violence, which should suit HBO just fine.

This almost makes up for the cancellation of Rome. Almost.

Vox In A Box

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 19:45:31 -0600

Film critic Roger Ebert appeared on Oprah today to talk about his battle with cancer that left him unable to speak and eat or drink by mouth. He also demonstrated his new computer-generated voice that a software company designed using previous TV and DVD recordings of his voice. It doesn't have the texture and intonation of a natural human voice, but it sounds enough like him to bring tears to his wife's eyes.

Let's hope the developers can eventually make this an iPhone app so that he doesn't have to pull out a computer every time he wants to speak. And I have no doubt that, in another five years, this artificial voice will be almost indistinguishable from his natural voice. Speech synthesis technology has been around a long time, but it looks like it's finally reached a point where it can truly replace a voice lost to illness or injury.

What Happens In Washington D.C. Matters

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 20:43:34 -0600

As I expected, the Minnesota House of Representatives failed to override Pawlenty's veto of a bill that would have restored General Assistance Medical Care, the health care program for the state's poorest citizens. Most of the House Republican moderates who participated in the only successful override of a Pawlenty veto have retired or have been defeated in the last election. And the few remaining are loathe to side with Democrats in an election cycle that strongly favors Republicans. A procedural maneuver allows Democrats to make another attempt, but it seems increasingly unlikely that GAMC will be saved before funding runs out on April 1.

It's worth noting again that almost everyone eligible for GAMC would be eligible for Medicaid under the Senate health care bill. If Minnesota took advantage of the bill's early expansion provision, these individuals could be enrolled in Medicaid in a matter of months. I'm not sure how closely our congressional delegation is paying attention to the GAMC fight, but they need to understand how a "yes" vote could almost immediately improve people's lives.

Red Vs. Blue

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 18:35:45 -0600

I'm going to annoy my conservatives friends by linking to this Time article that explores whether liberals are smarter than conservatives. The gist of the article is that people with higher IQ scores are more likely to say they are liberal, even though their actual views might not be as liberal as they think. In other words, liberals can be really annoying poseurs. But conservatives shouldn't feel too threatened; the same article cites another study that shows that conservatives are more likely to be stronger and more aggressive. So once you've had enough of our Obama bumper stickers and push for socialized health care, you can just kick our asses.

Feel The Vibe

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 15:44:33 -0600

New Scientist describes a new kind of of neural interface that enables people with disabilities to steer a wheelchair via a vibrating belt. The user determines the direction to steer by mentally responding to the location of the vibration. From the article:

The researchers placed 12 phone vibrators, positioned like the numbers on a clock, on a belt worn around the wheelchair user's waist. These vibrate sequentially for 3 seconds each. If they wearer wants to go, say, in a 4 o'clock direction, they wait until the appropriate "tactor" vibrates and then think "that one".

It's an innovative way of providing more precise steering that goes beyond the cardinal directions of forward, backward, left, and right. And the belt's location could be adjusted for those who lack sensation in their waist or abdomen. It could also make the task of driving a wheelchair a lot more, er, pleasurable.

Comfort Over Style

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 20:48:18 -0600

After years of riding in the car with my head bouncing around like a cantaloupe attached to a piece of string cheese, I finally consented to using a head-strap to keep myself upright. I've always resisted such a device because I thought it made me look like an ICU patient out on a day pass. But after using it for a day, I have to admit that it is nice to not have my head flop on my chest every time we have to make a sudden stop on the freeway. And it kind of makes me look like a kung fu movie star, which might come in handy the next time some hottie in a Corolla pulls up beside me.

Post-Game Analysis

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 17:55:29 -0600

I don't have much time, but here are my initial thoughts on today's health care summit:

John Boehner is politically smart, but a policy dunce.
I wonder how many Republicans it took to come up with the "clean sheet of paper" catchphrase.
John Dingell's appeal to common decency was one of the day's most moving moments.
Obama did his homework.
About 23 people nationwide watched the whole thing.
It's just dawning on Republicans that this thing could still pass.

This Is Long Overdue

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 21:00:16 -0600

Today's must-read is Dana Goldstein's article in The Daily Beast on Sarah Palin and her credibility--or lack thereof--as an advocate for disability issues. Goldstein points out that, despite Palin's lip service to "special needs" families during the election, she has made very few substantive policy statements on disability topics. This has not gone unnoticed by disability advocates:

"Since the end of the presidential election, we haven't heard Sarah Palin articulate any specific policy proposals [on disability]," said Peter Berns, CEO of The Arc, a Beltway lobbying group representing people with intellectual disabilities. Like nine other national disability-rights leaders The Daily Beast spoke to, Berns pointed to Palin's excusing of Rush Limbaugh's use of the word "retarded"—even as she hammered Emanuel, President Obama's chief of staff, for the same sin—as evidence of her lack of seriousness. "It has unfortunately politicized the issue in ways that are not productive, and it has converted what really are bipartisan issues into partisan ones," Berns said.

It became clear during the election that Palin was not a deep policy thinker, but it always annoyed me that the press swooned over the fact that she was a parent of a kid with Down's Syndrome without closely examining her views on funding the services that people with disabilities need to get by in life. I don't doubt that Palin loves her son, but I doubt she favors putting more money into Medicaid community-based services or stronger enforcement of the Americans with Disabilities Act. In fact, I doubt she's spent enough time thinking about those issues enough to form an opinion. Palin is quick to call out perceived slights against her son and his disability, but a certain hollowness accompanies those protests because it seems that, for Palin, the disability community is a constituency of one.

Thanks again to Andrew Sullivan for the tip.