I am Patrick Perdue! I am bad for you!

I started the new cycle of Prednisone and antibiotics yesterday but, while the inflammation around the eye began to clear up almost immediately, there was no effect on the sweats or the headache (it's actually eye pain but I experience it as a headache focused approximately behind the brow bone of my right eye), and I woke up at 12:30 a.m. this morning and was unable to get back to sleep with the headache, although I kept popping Ibuprofen. After Alex left for work, the headache seemed to get worse and I started to lose my voice, which made trying to contact my GP kind of challenging (my eye surgeon has gone on vacation, and is in Burlington, and she said for any furhter issues I should contact my GP).

It was about this time that I realized that the level of eye pain was beginning to bring back memories of my glaucoma days. It wasn't quite as bad as an acute angle glaucoma episode but, short of having blunt iron spikes driven into your forebrain through your eye sockets, what is? So I made the decision to stop telling myself it wasn't that bad and went over to Urgent Care.

It was my lucky day: there was a floorshow of hyper preschooler boy children and their dads who were stepping up to do their best to keep the high-level explosives contained. We were there for about two hours and the floorshow never let up. I was also pretty impressed by the boy who kept doing something that made him go "Ow!" pause, and then do it again with the accompanying "Ow!" Yes, I feel certain that this child will grow up to be someone who says things like "I knew the gasoline fight had gone wrong when..."

So I got into triage and they initially tried to tell me that I should go to Burlington to see my surgeon, and I got to explain at volume 2 with occasional drops to 1 that she had gone on vacation, she told me if I had any issues to go to my GP, and what I didn't say was that I had no intention of spending 2 hours each way on the MBTA while in pain. More waiting, more doctors, more explaining about how my surgeon was pretty certain my symptoms were not part of a systemic infection, and I got a diagnosis of some sort of virus and a script for Vicodin plus a lecture about how the Prednisone seriously lowered my immune system and I should just stay home as long as I was on it. It's also no good for me to get the swine flu vaccine because my system is already working hard, but I should gthink about getting the next round in the spring. For sheer information and an amazingly consistent pleasant attitude, the Codman Square health clinic is pretty outstadning.

I came home, had a round of drugs, and am now going to try to find a zombie movie to stream on NetFlix (as far as I am concerned, a year's subscription to NetFlix justifies itself just for being around on those days when you're really too sick to even read). I don't even like zombie movies usually, but today I feel zombies are just my speed. Zombieland is not available on DVD yet but maybe Quarantine?

http://www.blindbargains.com/bargains.php?m=4745

7-128 Software is offering a Holiday discount on their accessible GameBook.
It's a $20 download for 5 games including detective, puzzle, and word games.
Use coupon HOLIDAYS2009 to get the bundle, which runs on Windows 7, Vista, and XP as well as the Mac.. The gamebook has many additional titles which can be added, many of which are accessible.

http://www.blindbargains.com/bargains.php?m=4841

Dell Small Business has the Western Digital 1.5TB Elements External USB 2.0 Hard Drive, in black for $99.99. With free shipping, we weren't able to find a better deal on this particular drive, although it was $10 less during Black Friday. Sales tax is added in some areas. Note: If you do not own a business, simply put your name again under the company name field, as it is required.

http://www.blindbargains.com/bargains.php?m=4840

The Independent Living Aids online store has a set of four Pop-Out Measuring Cups for $6.50. Plus, shipping is currently free on all orders, making it the best deal we could find on these cool gadgets. Use one of the four cups to measure your ingredients. Then use the pop-up feature to quickly remove the ingredient from the cup. It's great for stickier items which are normally hard to get out of the cup. The cups are also labeled in large print. The free shipping deal ends December 18.

http://www.blindbargains.com/bargains.php?m=4839

Buy.com has the Tekkeon Leather Flip Case for iPhone in black, for $9.99, with free shipping. This genuine leather case features a removeable clip, credit card pocket, nonmagnetic closure, and allows access to all of the IPhone's features without having to remove the phone.

http://www.blindbargains.com/bargains.php?m=4838

Amazon.com has the Viore LCD26VH59 26-Inch LCD HDTV with Built-In DVD Player for $298.00. With free shipping, we weren't able to find a better deal on this particular television. This TV features a 1366 x 768 (720p) native resolution, Integrated ATSC TV tuner, and HDMI, DVI, VGA, component, and other video inputs.

Yes folks, it's that time of year again, when Reverend BigDawg invades your computers and CD players and iPods to spread his raspy cheer. Keeping with tradition, this year's CD will be available just before Christmas, tentatively slated for a December 21 release. It has been a very busy couple of weeks, and I could ramble on about such things, which I probably should, but for now it's about the CD.

The character of Reverend BigDawg was created on July 12, 1999 at a Vacation Bible School in Pagosa Springs, Colorado. After receiving a CD burner for our sixteenth birthday the following summer, Steve and I had the novel idea of putting together a Christmas themed CD for a few friends and our immediate family featuring the character. To our surprise, most of those who had a copy seemed to enjoy it. And aside from 2005, we've produced a Reverend BigDawg Christmas CD every year since.

Initially Steve handled production work; but beginning in 2002, I tried my hand at it, and it is for that and several other reasons why the first three may never be released to the general public. However even for those who have heard the discs released in 2004, 2006, 2007, and 2008, for the first time ever you can hear the two-disc 2003 release, which features the debut of several characters, most notably Kung Fu Docta.

For those of you who have taken the time to listened to these before, words can't express the appreciation Steve and I have for each and every one of you. We thought this would be a one-off type thing, and here I am getting up at 3AM to record, just as I did so many years ago. If we can make even one person crack a smile as a result of the randomness we put together, then all of the time and effort has been well worth it.

Between sound card issues, Thanksgiving, doing what I could to help Steve move to Michigan, cantata recording and performing, getting things in order for grad school, the usual Christmas rush, and of course BigDawging, I've been out of the loop on a lot of fronts. For that I apologize; but to those of you to whom I communicate on a regular or semi-regular basis, I thank you for your patience. I like to think that when and if you hear this project, you'll find that it's been well worth it. (And of course if you find me to be annoying, then cherish this time while it's here.) For once December 28 rolls around, I shall be well-rested, well-fed, and ready to harass the world once more

Here's what I've been up to over the last 24 hours. You don't have to read this, but you may miss something cool that may have happened that I may have forgotten to mention in this here blog. So read on.

00:48 Going to dream land here in a minute, so good night and god bless everyone. #

12:19 Hello to everyone, just hanging on skype. #

14:49 On skype with @disneymusicgirl and @shanedavidson20. #

15:22 Wow it's gonna take 16.5 hours to upload this 7.51GB archive I'm uploading to my offsite backup location. #

15:22 I hate having 2Mbit upstream that never produces anything higher than 1.1Mbit, oh well. #

16:14 And the crazy 8's fun is about to begin #

16:15 On allinplay.com table 03 crazy 8's #

16:26 Gurr I haven't won a game yet, @disneymusicgirl has 2 Shane's got 1, gurr #

16:29 Wow wasn't even paying attention and I won that last game holy damn! that's me 1 and @shanedavidson20 won to @disneygmusicgirl's 2 #

16:43 I'm now in the lead with 3 crazy 8's gamesto @disneymusicgirl's 2 and Shane's 1 #

16:49 You know it'd be nice if I could play cards instead of always drawing from the deck gurrr lol #

17:29 Taking a bit of a break from crazy 8's for now, but will likely be back a bit later. #

17:38 Currently uploading this backup archive at about 137K/secwith roughly 15 hours remaing in upload. #

17:46 Wonders how you get windows live messenger to show how long you've been away like I see on some contacts status's #

17:51 OK bad Qwitter, you didn't alert me that I had a DM waiting! Thanks to email alerts I found out yay. #

19:10 That was some very good meatloaf and mashed potatoes, now just chillin here with some music. #

21:24 all in play action at crazy 8's table 01 is on again score now @disneymusicgirl 1 others 0 #

21:29 You know I would like to play some of my cards, really I would. #

21:31 2 for @shanedavidson20 now #

21:45 2 games won for me #

21:49 And @disneymusicgirl has 4 games won to my 2 and @shanedavidson20's 2 I think. #

21:58 Oh wow @disneymusicgirl does it again 6 games won now! I'm way behind at just 2! #

22:06 Well that's it, for the 2nd night in a row, @disneygirl has kicked my butt at 6 games won to my 2. #

22:06 But to be fair, there were others at the table that won when we otherwise would have, but still tons of fun! #

22:09 Well that's it, for the 2nd night in a row, @disneymusicgirl has kicked my butt at 6 games won to my 2. #

23:30 Watching monsters VS Aliens, what a cool funny movie. Thanks @disneycutie07 for giving me link to it. #

23:59 Watching StarTrek original series. #

These daily entries are provided thanks to LoudTwitter

http://www.snopes.com/holidays/christmas/photos/decorations.asp

Holiday display depicts a homeowner trapped by a fallen ladder while installing Christmas decorations.

( birdie strikes again ) Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

http://www.blindbargains.com/bargains.php?m=4837

Balabolka is a Russian word, meaning "chatterer". Now, it's also a free text-to-speech program for Windows with both installable and portable USB versions. Due to its design, the program may be more ideal for low-vision users who need text read to them from time to time. Text on the clipboard or in a document can be saved to a WAV, MP3, or OGG file, for example, for later reading. It uses your installed SAPI engines such as Microsoft Mike or the Neospeech voices. Several languages are available, and development is ongoing. Via The Assistive Technology Blog

http://www.blindbargains.com/bargains.php?m=4836

It's refreshing to find a technology blog from a government agency loaded with timely and useful information. The Assistive Technology Blog is produced by The Virginia Department of Education's Training and Technical Assistance Center (T/TAC) and is updated almost daily with new information covering technology and other interests for a wide range of disabilities, including blindness. Check the link to view their blog, and also thanks for mentioning Blind Bargains.

http://www.blindbargains.com/bargains.php?m=4835

After 1,861 entries including surveys, Twitter followers, retweets, comments, and our Twitter list, we have given away the accessible 32GB iPod Touch in our biggest contest ever. Congratulations to Kendra from Charlottesville, Virginia, who won by following the Blindbargains/at Twitter list.
"I am still in shock that I won this awesome prize. I am so excited. I can't tell
you how grateful I am," commented the lucky winner. The iPod Touch is on its way to her home and will arrive in plenty of time for Christmas. Congratulations Kendra, and look out for more exciting contests from Blind Bargains in 2010.

http://www.weirduniverse.net/blog/permalink/beach_magic_just_in_time_for_christmas/

http://www.weirduniverse.net/blog/permalink/beach_magic_just_in_time_for_christmas/#When:23:52:01Z

When it's cold outside, what could be better than a day of magic at the beach?



Any ideas about how it is done?

Comments

http://www.blindbargains.com/bargains.php?m=4834

Dell Small Business has the NOKIA N86 Unlocked Smartphone in black for $379.99. Use coupon L0DGG3?VJ78?V8 to cut the price to $341.99. That's another $18 cut and the lowest price we've ever seen for this phone, which is compatible with the KNFB Reader Mobile software package. Sales tax is added in some areas. Note: If you do not own a business, simply put your name again under the company name field, as it is required in their shopping cart. Coupon ends December 22. Update: This version of the N86 is the US model, supporting the 850/1900 3G bands for North America.

http://www.weirduniverse.net/blog/permalink/last_minute_shopping/

http://www.weirduniverse.net/blog/permalink/last_minute_shopping/#When:22:49:00Z

I was originally going to display three or four of the most unique items from Archie McPhee's web store to give you an example of the true weirdness you can find there (vengeful unicorns, remote controlled hopping yodelling lederhosen, bacon bath soap, inflatable toast). But once I started digging deeper to find just the right ones, I realized there was no way I could stick to just a few. My fellow WUvians needed to see all of the zany craziness that McPhee's has to offer. And how can you resist any company whose motto is "Slightly Less Disappointing Than Other Companies". So if you're in need of a last minute gift idea for the weirdo on your list, this is the place for you.

Comments

http://www.blindbargains.com/bargains.php?m=4833

Two extremely low-cost courses are available through the Cisco Academy for the Vision Impaired, opening doors to employment for the participants.
Learn how to build, Maintain, and troubleshoot computers in ITE1. If you have always
wanted to know how to build and troubleshoot a home and small office network Discovery1
is the course for you. Ite1 helps prepare you for the A-plus certification, while
discovery1 is the first in a series of four courses that prepare you to sit the CCNA
exam. Both certifications are widely respected by companies hiring information technology specialists. You can take one or both courses. Upon completion of your courses you will
recieve a certificate from Cisco one of the worlds leading providers of networking
technology. Through grants and donations, these courses are only $75 a piece, a real bargain. Sign up now for the classes, which begin in February 2010.

http://www.blindbargains.com/bargains.php?m=4832

You, yes you, can become the next editor of AccesswWorld, the AFB's bimonthly technology magazine. Well, you can at least apply for the West Virginia-based position if you have assistive technology experience and a college degree, among other qualifications. Check the link on this post for the complete job listing. The previous editor, Jay Leventhal, stepped down earlier this year.

DAY: Thursday
DATE: December 17, 2009
TIME: 6:00 pm
ROOM: MIT 26-100, access via 60 Vassar Street, Cambridge
MAP: http://whereis.mit.edu/?selection=26

Please join us as Randall Munroe, creator of the wildly popular web-comic
"xkcd," visits MIT to give a mini-talk about his new book and the school
it's funding in Laos. Plus, he'll answer some of your questions. Books will
be available for sale afterward and he'll be doing a signing!

Books are also available now at The MIT Press Bookstore.

Thanks to Breadpig <http://www.breadpig.org>, the Berkman Center at Harvard,
<http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/>, and the folks behind ROFLCon
<http://roflcon.org> for their help making this event possible.

For more information call (617) 253-5249 or email books@mit.edu.

http://www.weirduniverse.net/blog/permalink/news_of_the_weird_pro_edition_12_14_2009_extra/

http://www.weirduniverse.net/blog/permalink/news_of_the_weird_pro_edition_12_14_2009_extra/#When:17:09:00Z

News of the Weird/Pro Edition (Extra)
December 14, 2009

Still More Things to Worry About

Theodore Sypnier is about to be released from prison, and Buffalo, N.Y., is in a tizzy. "Mr. Sypnier is the personification of evil and should be removed from civilized society permanently, until the day he dies," said the local prosecutor. Sypnier has a long rap sheet as a child molester, yet is unrepentant. Nothing about himself needs changing, he says. (Bonus: He's 100 yrs old.) (Double Bonus: At least Sypnier didn't murder anyone, as this 98-year-old woman allegedly did.) Buffalo News /// Associated Press via Fox News

Update: Your Editor has reported before on the baby blessings at the Sri Santeswar temple in India's Karnataka state, in which good health and good luck will be dispensed to tots (mostly under age 2) who get tossed from the top of the 30-foot-high building. They always manage to catch the kids, but opponents are on the verge of having the ritual banned. Daily Telegraph (London)

Yitzhak Ganon, 85, finally went to see a doctor, in Petach Tikva, Israel, because of a life-threatening infection. It was his first doctor visit in 65 years, since he once had a bad experience (in Auschwitz, Germany, when Dr. Joseph Mengele removed one of his kidneys without anesthesia). Spiegel Online

Fine Points of the Law: Fast food restaurants can still keep mobility-scooter people out of the drive-thru lanes, on safety grounds, even though Ms. Ariel Wade, a 60-ish former stripper with a rough edge to her, disagrees [on the video]. City Pages (Minneapolis) /// Dlisted.com [video]

Gerald Cellette Jr., 44, accused of running a $53 million Ponzi scheme in Minnesota, must've had a sense of doom at the charges. He was found knocking on the door of a judge's chambers in Minneapolis, ready to go to prison, i.e., pre-arrest, pre-plea, pre-judgment, pre-sentence. Star Tribune

The District of Calamity: The D.C. Jail is so unsecured that guards just recently found a handgun lying around and have concluded that it has probably been lying around since 2003, when it was stashed as part of a notorious scheme in which guns were smuggled to inmates, who agreed to shoot themselves, in order to set up a big damages payout from the District. Washington Post

Here is the Med-ucation Blog's 25 Oddest Objects Ever Eaten (by Humans), and it looks like a pretty good job (and not a slide show!). Med-ucation

Daniel Shilts Jr., 36, Waldo, Wis., was sentenced (again) for DUI, but this one got him hard time, in that he pressure-peed the back of an officer's head in the squad car. Sheboygan Press via New York Daily News

Additional Newsrangers: Thomas Goodey, Jimmy Atkinson



Comments

One of the things I've been doinglately to keep my spirits up --aside from reading lots of horror fiction and munching on Trader Joe goodies-- is listening to WWOZ from New Orleans
http://www.wwoz.com .
It's a blues and jazz radio station, incredibly eclectic, and the DJs don't talk too much except to tell you about the music.

http://www.snopes.com/computer/internet/indexing.asp

Warning claims that Facebook now allows all of your private information to be automatically indexed by search engines.

My third round of steroids and antibiotics ended this weekend and all of my post-op infection issues pretty much immediately returned, but now more noticeably because for ten days I felt better than I had for a couple of months. Nothing is working on the headache and I am also running a fever.

My surgeon called me back a little while ago and put me on the same Prednisone and antibiotics combo that I was most recently taking for the next couple of weeks, and then said what we pretty much already figured out, that the sclera transplant was probably being rejected and that the entire orbital sphere--which is where these issues originally started--would probably have to be removed. That would leave two options. One is that the original sphere would be replaced by a much larger prosthetic, not the little bit of half-shell plastic which I have always had.

There is, however, a second option, and I want to say up front that my original reaction was that there was no way I was going to tell everyone this. I want my readers to know, however, that I am seriously committed to documenting the ins and outs of the prosthetic/cyborg lifestyle, even when it pains me to do so.

So the second option is that the surgeon takes some of the patient's own tissue and uses it for the orbital transplant. This tissue is typically taken from the patient's buttock. I'm a bit vague about the rest of the details because the surgeon was calling me from between surgeries and didn't have time to say more, but it does give one a lot to ponder.

And in case one craves more medical wizardry and tales of body parts scrambled interchangeably, here's a post about a blind man whose vision was restored using what I refer to as his "eye-tooth."
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,529946,00.html

Yes, indeed, I should have some really good material about disability and technology for those Arisia panels I am going to be on. I wonder if I can find someone to turn my old prosthetic eye into a steampunk keychain?

http://www.blindbargains.com/bargains.php?m=4824

With the release of Window-Eyes 7 and GW Micro's support for a versatile scripting language, the need has come for classes to teach potential programmers how to make the most of the new features. This isn't to say that one couldn't learn to script without taking a class, but for those needing a refresher or who learn better by hands-on teaching, the two-day class offered is a godsend. I was quite impressed with the Window-Eyes script writing class, which I was a part of last month.

The two-day class I participated in included six members and met in a suburb of Detroit. The class was staged in a hotel conference room and netbooks loaded with the class materials were provided for our use. I was quite impressed that GW Micro sent three of their staff to assist with the training, especially considering the size of the class. Company cofounder Doug Geoffray was the lead instructor, while Training Division Manager Jeremy Curry and newly-hired dedicated scripter Bhavani Anugonda were available to answer questions and give advice. The class is intended for people with at least some programming experience, though one need not to be an advanced programmer to take the class.

Admittedly, the first day started out a bit slow, with a discussion of the basics of scripting, how to create a package, security concerns, and other elementary information. But while this information seemed routine to me, I fully understand why it was necessary to include it as a part of the course, especially considering all of the participants arrived with different levels of expertise. Luckily, after the first break, we jumped right in to writing the obligatory "Hello world" script, and we were off. As the rest of the class progressed, we learned how to manipulate program windows, enable error reporting, generate custom dialog boxes and menus, and act upon application events, among many other topics. I liked how the class included real-world examples of things that one might really want to script, instead of just some phony exercises.

The pace of the class was fast enough to keep my interest, while still allowing for time to answer questions and jump off on some tangential discussions about various items which probably weren't in the original curriculum. Our questions and discussion caused the class to run over the allotted time both days, but none of the staff at GW Micro seemed to mind. In fact, all appeared to be genuinely interested in what we had to say, and you could tell they were proud to be associated with Window-Eyes and its development.

At the end of the course, we were given a CD with class materials and the headphones we used for the course. The CD makes for an excellent reference guide which I have already used in developing and improving on some scripts of my own.

When the class was over, I found myself wishing there would have been an extra day in the schedule, perhaps as a less formal Q&A session. But in thinking about it a bit more, I think the length of the class was just about right, as I have now been given the tools and resources to take my scripting to the next level. This class coupled with the support provided by several GW Micro staff members on their GW-Scripting list has offered plenty of resources in order to get started with scripting.

I would be remiss if I didn't extend a big "thank you" to Mike Ellis and MEE, Inc. who provided scholarships for many of the attendees of this class. Without this financial assistance, this class would not have happened.

What: GW Micro Script Training
Cost: $650 for a two-day class, plus accomidations
Website; http://www.gwmicro.com/Training/Script_Training

http://www.weirduniverse.net/blog/permalink/follies_of_the_mad_men_79/

http://www.weirduniverse.net/blog/permalink/follies_of_the_mad_men_79/#When:14:26:00Z

[From Esquire for February 1958. Two scans: picture above, text below.]

Yes, you too can wear pj's that mock the abused indentured Chinese laborers who helped build this country. Love those hats!

Comments

Due to some schedule tweaking, the tactile and described tour of the Arisia art show has been rescheduled for that Saturday of the con, from noon to one. We'll meet at the art show and I will distribute cotton gloves to anyone who wishes to participate int he tactile aspect of the tour. A number of the artists are planning on being present to describe their work so I'm very excited.