Domain: nacs.net
Stories and comments across the archive that link to nacs.net.
Stories · 4
-
OhioLinuxfest 2004 Gearing Up
Damin writes "The Ohio LinuxFest is a free event, open to all interested on a first-come, first-serve basis. Aside from the impressive lineup of speakers, what makes this event so cool is that it is organized entirely by volunteers from all of the Ohio LUGS. Last year, people travelled from nine states to participate. The event will be hosted at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, on Saturday, October 2nd, from 10:00AM until 6:00PM. While this is a free event, registration is required. Full details & registration information can be found at the event's website." -
Interfaces For The Handicapped?
heller asks: "I'm wondering about ideas for different methods intefacing with the computer for the physically handicapped. I've got a family friend that has very limited motor control, and while he can peck away at a computer, it really is hard and time consuming. Plus, he can't control almost anything else around his house, TV, front door, phone, microwave. My current thoughts are that if we can get him to interface with the computer, we can make it so he can control everything else he needs to." We have basic voice recognition, and technologies like X10: could these technologies and others help make living for the handicapped any easier without costing lots of money? (Read on...)"Pete, a long time family friend and founder of Pedal with Pete, was born with cerebral palsy (check the Web site for more information). This greatly inhibits his motor control. He enjoys bike riding but last June, was in serious bike accident (once again, more info on the Web site) and this only reduced his motor control. The man has incredible spirit and wants to live on his own, though he has to have home care nurses stop by every day to help him perform most of his daily activities.
He used to do lots of work on his computer pecking away with sticks strapped to both hands. Since his accident he has virtually lost control of one side of his body and has seriously reduced control on the other side, so this is no longer possible.
My current line of thinking is that if we can get him to be able to control a computer, we might be able to automate many of the other parts of his life so he doesn't have to rely on so much help from other people. While I definitely have several ideas on how to go about this, I'ld really like some other input. Does anyone have any ideas or new products they can point me to?"
We've already had a discussion about Voice Recognition in one of the first Ask Slashdots but that article is from '98 and I expect there has been a lot more progress in this areas since then. I may have to run a follow-up post to this if folks are interested.
-
Infoworld Article on Linux Growth
-
2Gig floppies for $30?
heller writes "Ok. I've been waiting almost 9 months for these 2G floppy drives at $30 per disk! Castlewood Systems has finally finished beta testing their ORB drives and is shipping them to OEMS, hopefully this means end users can buy them soon! I want one. Does this also count as the christmas presents for geeks? " I'd say so. These things look sweet.