The ruling that e-readers are out of compliance with ADA is the typical heavy-handed over-response of large government entities. No malfeasance, just bureaucratic inability to see past a one-size-fits-all solution.
Entries Tagged as 'General Commentary'
Government Thugs…Or Right-Wing Crazies
August 10th, 2010 · View Comments · Diversity, Ethics in Government, General Commentary, Politics, censorship, propaganda
Tags: ADA·americans with disabilities act·e-books·e-readers·Massachusetts General Law Chapter 40B·right-wing conspiracy theories
A 35th High School Reunion, a Final Concert, and a Graduation
June 6th, 2010 · View Comments · General Commentary, Shel's Personal Life
It’s been quite a week for family milestone events. The Reunion By coincidence, my wife’s 35th high school reunion was the same evening as the day we crammed our new-college-graduate daughter’s gear in our little hatchback and delivered her to New York for the summer. Since we were in town anyway, we decided to splurge [...]
Tags: concert·graduation·high school reunion·new england conservatory·oberlin college
Will the Facebook Movie Really Hurt Facebook and Zuckerberg?
May 17th, 2010 · View Comments · General Commentary, Web 2.0/Social Media
An article on one of Newsweek’s blogs speculates that a movie scheduled for next October release will deeply hurt Facebook, and particularly the reputation of founder Mark Zuckerberg. the article also mentions Facebook’s much more immediate problems with various privacy and technical issues. The movie, says the article’s writer, Nick Summers, …portrays Zuckerberg as a [...]
Tags: bill gates Jr.·facebook movie·mark zuckerberg·microsoft·newsweek·nick summers
Wow! Talk About Speed to Market: 21 Days from Concept to Release
May 3rd, 2010 · View Comments · Business-general, General Commentary, Web 2.0/Social Media
Ever hear of the first-mover advantage? That’s a concept that Gravity Switch, a local web services firm here in Western Massachusetts, clearly understands. In three weeks, these guys came up with an idea (for a kiosk to frame an iPad, for touchscreen applications like museum displays), got the thing—called “iBracket”—prototyped and built, and started selling [...]
Tags: gravity switch·iBracket·iPad frame·kiosk·speed to market
Why I Read People I Disagree With
April 30th, 2010 · View Comments · Diversity, General Commentary, Shel's Personal Life, Web 2.0/Social Media, language
Ryan, while you and I are poles apart politically (I think Obama has sold out to the conservatives), and while I do consider myself a person of faith, I don’t happen to be a Christian, or particularly religious. But for me, those are not reasons to unsub. You always keep a civil tone, and I think core disagreements force me to rethink my positions, justify them to myself, and sometimes find them wanting and shift.
Tags: civil disagreement·conservative christians·ethics·Ryan Healy
The Teabagger Anti-Socialist Purity Pledge
March 27th, 2010 · View Comments · Abundance and Prosperity, Ethics: General, General Commentary, Politics, propaganda
I’ve long wondered why the people who so strenuously object to socialized medicine have no problem with other socialized services, such as police and fire protection (on the government monopoly model) and education (the “public option”/private competition model). This bit of satire makes the point better than I could. I was hoping to be able [...]
Poetry as an Organizing Tool? Oh , Yeah!
December 24th, 2009 · View Comments · Arts & Entertainment, Democracy, General Commentary, Peace and War, Politics
For the last 28 years, I’ve lived in or just outside Northampton, Massachusetts. About ten years ago, Northampton established the position of City Poet Laureate, with a two-year term. Until two years ago, the post was mostly ceremonial. The official poet would occasionally show up and read a poem to mark some event or other, [...]
Tags: arnold Schwarzenegger·bob dylan·bruce springsteen·civil rights·john lennon·leopold senghor·leslea newman·northampton massachusetts·pete seeger·poet laureate·poetry·sarah palin·vaclav havel·vietnam war
Olbermann on the healthcare travesty
December 18th, 2009 · View Comments · General Commentary, Politics, Social and Economic Justice
Spend 12 minutes listening to the best commentary I’ve heard on the healthcare mess, from MS-NBC’s Keith Olbermann. He is the only other person I’ve heard advocating my viewpoint: that since compromise isn’t working anyway, since the right-wing nutters will call you a socialist no matter what you do, you may as well fight for [...]
Do Inventions Come From Frustration or Innovation? #blogboost
August 21st, 2010 · View Comments · Energy & Sustainability, General Commentary, International Association of Earth-Conscious Marketers
You’ve all heard, “Necessity is the Mother of Invention.” Well, perhaps that’s true. But another parent might be frustration: wanting to do something better, more easily, faster than you currently can. Yes, some products are developed to fill a need we haven’t known we had. Advances in portable technology, from the beach transistor radio and [...]
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Tags: amory lovins·innovation·International Association of Earth-Conscious Marketers·mother of invention·r. buckminster fuller