A Toast To Technology–>An intriguing Article from our friends at Techcrunch

A Toast To Technology–>An intriguing Article from our friends at Techcrunch

According to John Biggs at Techcrunch–>

I hold the unpopular opinion that technology – more specifically the proliferation of social media – is not intrinsically “good” in any sense. Social media is, however, important, and I propose we raise our glasses of good cheer to what social media and its related technologies have wrought around the world this past year and the good it will, in real terms, do in the future.

The great lie of social technology is that propagandists fear it for its ability to connect us in unified opposition. This is untrue. A status update cannot rally a crowd in flux. There are far superior tools too do this in a protest environment, namely SMS and good old “shouting.” Facebook is useless when soldiers are firing into your Google Plus circle.

What social media does and has done is reduce the barriers between people and expose the lie that any one place is better than the other. It also shows us, in very real terms, that humans are humans wherever they are. This is what frightens dictators and false potentates the most: the great leveling of human experience.

China is not afraid of Twitter because it can rally millions. It can’t. A retweet is not a bullet in the gun of anti-fascism. China’s government is afraid of Twitter because it is not beholden to their version of the truth and the truth, as they say, will set you free (at least free enough vent your rage against economic and social inequality). It is impossible to police many social networks and, as such, it’s impossible to maintain control of the reigning philosophy. The mundanity of Twitter, for example, exposes the theocrat’s lie that Western civilization is decadent and depraved. The status updates of the average music lover in Iran is the same as the status update of the average music lover in Scranton (“Cee-lo sucks!”) This leveling is dangerous to those who would keep it secret in order to maintain the notion we are intrinsically different and that our differences will never allow us to see eye-to-eye.

It’s impossible for politicians to condemn homosexuality, atheism, and other “moral” issues when millions of people tweet their support of these very concepts every day. “It gets better,” they say. “And you are not alone.”

When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, North Korean propagandists showed the middle class images of high-ranking East German officials selling sausages on the street, the message being “Look how fall the mighty have fallen.” What they didn’t show was my friend’s East German wife – about seventeen at the time – crossing the border into West Berlin to stay with a family of strangers for a week just because she could. She literally just picked a house, knocked on the door, and they invited her in.

Her parents let her go because they knew she needed to see what was lie and what was truth in the post-Soviet world and the West Germans welcomed her because they were happy to share what they knew.

And that’s the real value of social technology. It allows us to see each other as we are – drunks, flirts, poets, photographers, and friends. Why else would Rupert Murdoch open a Twitter account if not to show us that he’s just one of us, phone-hacking be damned. He loves “Geo Clooney” with all of his sclerotic heart, dammit, and he’s not afraid to tell us. He wants to be one of us and maybe he will succeed – at least until his Executive Tweeter gets drunk one night and exposes the quack behind Oz’s curtain.

When despots and oligarchs attempt to use social media in this way, we’re reminded that they crave power. I wouldn’t be surprised if North Korea started Tweeting in its own special way (“Sh#t My Great Leader Says?”). I feel that Arab Spring dictators didn’t use Twitter because they did not understand it enough to see its value to their cause and, more important, it was already too late.

Social media isn’t always great. It doesn’t help us. It is, in many cases, a hindrance and a terrible distraction. But it exists, just as any other media exists, and it is important. It is a creative force (for good or ill) and it allows us normal humans to express our desires, our victories, and the stories of our daily lives in a way that is unprecedented. It is a mundane Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a window on the inequality of our lives, and more important, the window that inspires the average person to see how similar we all are in the end.

And it’s this ability to unite us as a single, global culture, a mash of music, movies, games, sport, and celebrations, that lets us see not the fallen mighty but the girl in the cold, knocking on a stranger’s door, asking to see what’s inside.

Warrior parents fare best in securing autism services from the Los Angeles Times

Warrior parents fare best in securing autism services from the Los Angeles Times

Here is an interesting article from the Los Angeles times–>

By Alan Zarembo, Los Angeles Times
December 13, 2011
Second of four parts

From the day her son was diagnosed with autism nine years ago, Stacie Funk has made it her full-time job to find him the best possible help. Hiring lawyers and experts to press her case, she established herself as a mother whose demands could not easily be dismissed.

DISCOVERING AUTISM
The series at a glance:

Part 1: An epidemic of disease or of discovery?

Part 2: Services go to those who fight hardest

Part 3: Families chase the dream of recovery

Part 4: Finding traces of autism in earlier eras

About the series | Discuss

The result has been a bounty of assistance for Jonah: A behavioral therapist who works with him at home and comes along on family outings, a personal aide at school and specialists to design his curriculum, improve his speech and refine his motor skills.

So far, the state of California and the Los Angeles Unified School District have spent at least $300,000 on specialized services for Jonah.

Now 13, he bites his hands , pinches his younger siblings and is easily flustered by changes in routine. But his mother is proud of the progress he’s made — his ability to express his needs, read aloud and surf the Internet for movie trivia.

The outside support, she said, helps hold the family together.

“Am I more entitled than someone else?” said Funk, of Encino, whose husband owns a trophy-parts business. “No. But that’s how the system is set up.”

Getting a wide array of help for an autistic child can require waging a small war with the gatekeepers of state and school district services. But not all parents have the time and resources to fight the way Funk did. That contributes to striking disparities in how services are distributed.

Public spending on autistic children in California varies significantly by racial or ethnic group and socioeconomic status, according to data analyzed by the Los Angeles Times.

Jonah Funk, 13

Jonah Funk, 13, was diagnosed with autism nine years ago. His mother, Stacie, says she often describes herself as his eyes, his ears and his voice. “I want him to be treated fairly,” she said. “I want him to receive the things he needs.”
For autistic children 3 to 6 — a critical period for treating the disorder — the state Department of Developmental Services last year spent an average of $11,723 per child on whites, compared with $11,063 on Asians, $7,634 on Latinos and $6,593 on blacks.

Data from public schools, though limited, shows that whites are more likely to receive basic services such as occupational therapy to help with coordination and motor skills.

The divide is even starker when it comes to the most coveted service — a behavioral aide from a private company to accompany a child throughout each school day, at a cost that often reaches $60,000 a year.

In the state’s largest school district, Los Angeles Unified, white elementary school students on the city’s affluent Westside have such aides at more than 10 times the rate of Latinos on the Eastside.

It might be tempting to blame such disparities on prejudice, but the explanation is more complicated.

“Part of what you’re seeing here is the more educated and sophisticated you are, the louder you scream and the more you ask for,” said Soryl Markowitz, an autism specialist at the Westside Regional Center, which arranges state-funded services in West Los Angeles for people with developmental disabilities.

In both the developmental system and the schools, the process for determining what services a disabled child receives is in essence a negotiation with the parents.

Because autism has come to encompass such a broad range of children — from those who never learn to speak or use a toilet to math whizzes unable to make friends — there is often bitter disagreement over what a child needs and who should pay.

Racial disparities

The level of autism services also varies by race and ethnicity. Here are figures on average spending per autistic child across the developmental services system.

Source: California Dept. of Developmental Services. Graphics reporting by Alan Zarembo
Data analysis by Sandra Poindexter

Thomas Suh Lauder, Doug Stevens Los Angeles Times

The financial squeeze on school and state budgets has turned up the temperature, leaving officials caught between legal mandates to help autistic children and pressure to curb spending.

In California last year, autism accounted for one tenth of special education enrollment but one third of the disputes between schools and parents on record with the state.

Carmen Carley, a professional advocate for families seeking public services, said parents who present themselves as formidable opponents fare best.

“Wear a fake diamond ring,” she tells mothers who don’t have a real one. “Make them think you’re ready to fight. Don’t show them you’re weak. Don’t show them you’re tired.”

Carley, of Torrance, gained her expertise by advocating for her own son, Collin, now 14. He received state-funded behavioral therapy for more than eight years as a result of her efforts, which included taking the officials at the Harbor Regional Center in Torrance before a judge.

In contrast to warrior parents, some families simply accept what they are offered.

Gissell Garcia of South Los Angeles was diagnosed with autism at age 3, early enough that intensive therapies might have helped. But her parents, Mexican immigrants who support themselves on the father’s factory job, say that neither L.A. Unified nor state officials ever mentioned the possibility.

The couple requested a one-on-one aide for Gissell. She had a habit of inserting objects into her ears and nose, and they worried she might hurt herself. But school officials said there were enough staff members in her special education classroom to keep an eye on her.

For several years, Gissell has received speech therapy for 30 minutes a week during school.

“I didn’t ask for anything more,” her mother, Yolanda Ortega, said in Spanish. “I accepted it because I didn’t know. I thought she would eventually talk.”

Now 11, Gissell has learned to point when she wants something. The sounds she makes are unintelligible.


Congratulations Josh Krajcik, you are amazing !!!! Xfactor 2nd place winner, great artist!!!

www.joshkrajcik.com

http://facebook.com/joshkrajcikmusic

Congratulations Josh, for your amazing performance. We love ya and Melanie Amaro, and Xfactor!!!

Please help us to get exposure to help autism, via tech, music and the arts as well!!!

1) First audition–>

2) Judges House–>

3) Final perfomance–>

4) Duet with me

Engadget and their hands on with the Motorola Xyboard 10.2, and a video overview from Youtube

Engadget and their hands on with the Motorola Xyboard 10.2, and a video overview from Youtube

Are LTE speeds and an improved silhouette enough to lure wayward users back into the company’s willing embrace? Does anyone even care about non-Ice Cream Sandwich tablets? Read on as we explore the odd ends and angles of this curiously-shaped slate.
Motorola Droid Xyboard 10.1 vs Xoom LTE… fight!

So, let’s face that elephant in the Xoom head-on: this iteration of the Xyboard is lighter at 1.33 pounds (603 grams) and considerably thinner at just 0.35 inches (8.8mm). Gone are the hard edges that marred Moto’s original tab and, instead, we’re treated to the same curved edges that made their debut on the Droid RAZR, as well as a flanking of soft touch plastic. Immediately, you’ll notice the device’s ergonomic improvements over its predecessor, but it’s still a far cry from being a pleasure to hold. In fact, those awkward angles dig into your palms no matter how you orient the slate. Sure, the Xyboard’s looks serve to set it apart from the competition, but we’re not sold on this build as the model going forward.

Though this fella was meant to be a clean break from the company’s tablet past, it appears as though Motorola simply couldn’t part with its ill-advised decision to mount the power button and volume rocker on the device’s backside — here somewhat easily locatable on the upper right. It takes some getting used to, but we acclimated to this placement soon enough. Soft touch plastic surrounds the gunmetal grey aluminum back, which neatly stacks Motorola’s insignia atop that of Verizon’s own and the operator’s 4G LTE logo. Up top, the slate’s 5MP rear camera with single LED flash lies centered between the stereo speakers. Ports are mainly relegated to the bottom, where you’ll find a removable tray for the SIM card, as well as a micro-HDMI out and micro-USB. While the 3.5mm headphone jack is left by its lonesome on the opposite end, with the 1.3MP front-facing camera just beneath it.

With a dual-core processor bumped up to 1.2GHz and an ample 1GB of RAM, the Xyboard zooms along, hampered only by the addition of Moto’s Blurring of the Honeycomb OS.

The O.G. Xoom repped a 1,280 x 800 WXGA display which, although decent for its time, literally pales in comparison to the Xyboard’s TFT-IPS. Colors are noticeably bolder, the panel is brighter and images come across much crisper. Motorola’s claim of 178-degree viewing angles are no joke, either — the screen retains a stunning visibility even when tilted nearly full out of eyesight. Obviously, this bump in quality should go over well with folks who intend to consume mass amounts of streaming video on the tablet.

With a dual-core processor bumped up to 1.2GHz and an ample 1GB of RAM, the Xyboard zooms along, hampered only by the addition of Moto’s Blurring of the Honeycomb OS. Indeed, transitions are often choppy and lack the fluidity of Samsung’s TouchWiz UX. Why the company chose to break from offering users a pure Google experience and overlaid a choppy skin is beyond us. Again, tradition seems to prevail here. Save for the original Droid, all subsequent brand descendants shipped with the OEM’s special skinned touch. And so, too, has Motorola extended that consistently poor software customization to its successive Android 3.2 tabs.

With skinning comes crapware and the Xyboard has it a plenty. Third party apps like Amazon Kindle, Citrix, Dijit, Evernote, Fuze Meeting, Let’s Golf 2, Madden NFL 12, Netflix, Quickoffice, and Slingbox come pre-installed. That list doesn’t include Verizon’s own branded offerings which help to crowd the app drawer. Certainly, some of these applications are useful, but we’d like app downloads to ultimately be the user’s choice and completely uninstallable.

Verizon’s LTE service in New York City hasn’t fared so well in the past few days, dropping off and defaulting the Xyboard to a 3G connection due to network issues. Things look to have been fixed on the operator’s end since and we’re back to enjoying those blistering speeds, which maxed out at 27.64Mbps down and 8.12Mbps up on the Xyboard. Typically, performance will hover between 17Mbps to 22Mbps down and 5Mbps to 7Mbps up, so if you’re planning on a marathon Netflix session, you won’t be left wanting. Big Red’s 4G coverage has had the benefit of an early head start and, consequently, signal strength was relatively hardy.

Perhaps to add that extra value oomph to the Xyboard, Motorola’s bundled a stylus into the box. But don’t let that get your hopes up, the functionality reeks of last minute add-on.

Perhaps to add that extra value oomph to the Xyboard, Motorola’s bundled a stylus into the box. But don’t let that get your hopes up, the functionality reeks of last minute add-on. Wondering why Evernote comes pre-loaded? Wonder no more, the app is one of three options made available when the stylus icon is activated from the tablet’s dock on the lower right. Users wielding Moto’s pen, which itself is actually well-made and feels great in the hand, can choose between Floating Notes to create and save memos, Open to see a list of saved memos and the aforementioned Evernote. Integration doesn’t run too deep, as you’ll only be able to choose from three distinct pen tip / eraser widths and eight colors. The handwriting recognition software showcases an apparent lag, trailing behind our hand’s movements and forget about resting your palm on the screen, as that’ll impede your ability to write. That’s not to say it totally fail to recognize your attempts at legible scrawl, but it’s definitely a hit or miss experience. Navigation and typing can also be managed via the stylus, although it’s not ideal.

For the power user, Motorola’s released a slew of accessories to extend the Xyboard’s functionality. There’s an HD station for docking the tablet that packs an extra three USB ports and HDMI out so you can watch content on your flatscreen, a portfolio cover that flips back to create an impromptu stand and a wireless keyboard with portfolio. We took the Bluetooth keyboard for a trial run and despite its decidedly less than premium construction, its usefulness actually exceeded our low expectations. The hard-edged square keys are stiff, but have just enough travel to make typing surprisingly fluid and natural feeling. We did occasionally encounter difficulty locating some of the modifier keys, shrunken as they are to fit the layout, but Motorola did manage to include shortcuts for menu, home, back and search. Depressing any of the alphanumeric keys while viewing the homescreen accesses the tablet’s search function, displaying a list of relevant contacts, search terms and applications. And to make up for the lack of a trackpad, there’s a soft rubber-coated mouse button that lies centered between the G, H and B keys. It’s implementation is actually more frustrating that helpful, as it’s overly sensitive and difficult to control. So much so, that we found ourselves defaulting to touch navigation out of resignation.

Congratulations to Xfactor’s Melanie Amaro

I was from the beginning really impressed by Melanie Amaro’s performances.

Congratulations to her and Simon Cowell!!!

1) Melanie Amora her final award winning song–>

2) Melanie Amaro her home performance Michael Jackson’s song!!!

3) Her first Audition–>

We love ya Melanie, you are amazing!!!

Please help us to help autism!!!

A Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ40 Youtube Review and other nice super zoom cameras a review from B&H and Cnet!!

I love digital photography, so I decided to take a look at some of the new Digital Cameras that offer a great deal of performance and value.

Here are some nice reviews from B&H the go to place for anything photography related!!!

and here is a nice one from Cnet Australia–>

Amazon Kindle Fire A nice Youtube Review from A fellow vet, Soldier Knows Best, and others.

Here is a nice overview video with regards to the Amazon Kindle Fire–>

I like it and the Color Nook tablet.

Here is another nice review as well–>http://www.mobiletechreview.com/tablets/Kindle-Fire.htm

The Kindle Fire hardly needs an introduction, since Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s CEO showed it off a few months before launch, it’s been a seriously hyped and anticipated gadget. Billed variously as an iPad killer, the king of eBook readers and Amazon’s latest attempt to maintain your addiction to their various digital storefront; the Fire instead is the product of mere mortals and it has no intention of murdering larger, fruity tablets. The Fire is clearly designed to deepen your addiction to Amazon’s eBook, video, music and Android Appstore though–compulsive shoppers beware. That is the real charm of this 7″ Android-based touch screen tablet: easy access to Amazon’s stuff. If you’re an Amazon Prime member, you gain free (free other than the yearly $80 that gets you discounted expedited shipping on physical goods and 1 eBook/month on loan) access to 10,000 movies and TV shows, and they look fantastically sharp on the Fire. If you’re a Kindle owner with a large investment in Amazon eBooks, they’re all downloadable to the Kindle Fire, and your Amazon MP3s are available too. Since the tablet has only 8 gigs of storage and no microSD card slot, Amazon’s cloud for music, books and video are important; you can stream or download that content as you need it, then offload it.

HP TouchPad returns in TigerDirect bundle, if only for a moment

HP TouchPad returns in TigerDirect bundle, if only for a moment

I had heard rumors that HP Touch Pads would return around the Holidays, and it seems that they are starting to appear.

According to Engadget–>http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/15/hp-touchpad-returns-in-tigerdirect-bundle-if-only-for-a-moment/

“We’ve got TouchPads!” That’s the slogan, but even TigerDirect admits that it’s expecting its latest batch of TouchPad slates to evaporate in a matter of minutes. Strangely enough, we’ve seen the zombie-like webOS tablet on sale in a variety of locations during the past few months, and if you’re quick, you’ll be able to buy yet another from yet another vendor at 2:30PM ET today. The company’s not saying how many are in stock, but we’re told to expect the entire batch to be claimed “by 2:32PM ET.” The deal? $249.99 nets you a 32GB TouchPad, a 10.1-inch Belkin tablet case and Creative Labs’ D80 Bluetooth speakers, while a $299.99 bundle replaces the speaker with a Photosmart printer. Oh, and don’t even bother trying to order over the phone — this one’s online only, and it’s one bundle per customer. We’re telling you now so you’ve got time to memorize your credit card number. Feel free to talk about nerves, shaking limbs and tales of luck in comments below.