http://idlnmclean.tumblr.com/

Deaf child's sign language name looks too much like gun, parent says school told him

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 21:19:49 -0700

Deaf child's sign language name looks too much like gun, parent says school told him:

No hearing person has the right to impose their style of communication onto a Deaf person. The most natural form of language that comes to any person — be they Deaf, non-English speaking, or whatever — is the one that will best facilitate their process of learning and development.

===

Deaf 3-year-old Hunter Spanjer of Nebraska signs his first name with a gesture resembling a gun, and his parents say his school wants him to stop.

The name combines the symbol for the letter h for hunt, the thumb down along index and middle fingers extended together and waved, with the letter r, crossing the two fingers, Logue explained.

“Hunter is kinda confused” at school now, where teachers are spelling his name out to him, Logue said.

… The policy of Grand Island schools, about 145 miles west of Omaha, forbids students “to knowingly and voluntarily possess, handle, transmit or use any instrument in school, on school grounds or at school functions that is a firearm, weapon, or looks like a weapon…”

sagansense: Not all reading disabilities are dyslexia A common...

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:57:12 -0700

sagansense:

Not all reading disabilities are dyslexia

A common reading disorder goes undiagnosed until it becomes problematic, according to the results of five years of study by researchers at Vanderbilt’s Peabody College of education and human development in collaboration with the Kennedy Krieger Institute/Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Results of the study were recently published online by the National Institutes of Health.

Dyslexia, a reading disorder in which a child confuses letters and struggles with sounding out words, has been the focus of much reading research.

But that’s not the case with the lesser known disorder Specific Reading Comprehension Deficits or S-RCD, in which a child reads successfully but does not sufficiently comprehend the meaning of the words, according to lead investigator Laurie Cutting, Patricia and Rodes Hart Chair at Peabody.

“S-RCD is like this: I can read Spanish, because I know what sounds the letters make and how the words are pronounced, but I couldn’t tell you what the words actually mean,” Cutting said. “When a child is a good reader, it’s assumed their comprehension is on track. But 3 to 10 percent of those children don’t understand most of what they’re reading. By the time the problem is recognized, often closer to third or fourth grade, the disorder is disrupting their learning process.”

Researchers have been able to pinpoint brain activity and understand its role in dyslexia, but no functional magnetic resonance imaging or fMRI studies, until now, have examined the neurobiological profile of those who exhibit poor reading comprehension despite intact word-level abilities.

Neuroimaging of children showed that the brain function of those with S-RCD while reading is quite different and distinct from those with dyslexia. Those with dyslexia exhibited abnormalities in a specific region in the occipital-temporal cortex, a part of the brain that is associated with successfully recognizing words on a page.

But those with S-RCD did not show abnormalities in this region, instead showing specific abnormalities in regions typically associated with memory.

“It may be that these individuals have a whole different neurobiological signature associated with how they read that is not efficient for supporting comprehension,” Cutting said. “We want to understand the different systems that support reading and see which ones help different types of difficulties, and how we can target the cognitive systems that support those skills.”

The study, an ongoing 10-year effort supported by National Institutes of Health grant No. M01-RR000052, has enrolled more than 300 children to date.

via neurosciencestuff

Iran 1979

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:30:56 -0700

Iran 1979

sagansense: 3-D Printed Microbattery Opens New World of...

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:28:32 -0700

sagansense:

3-D Printed Microbattery Opens New World of Miniaturization

by Michael Keller

In an engineering first, engineers at Harvard University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have 3-D printed a tiny working lithium-ion battery as small as a grain of sand.

They say their innovation is capable of powering miniature electronics, medical implants and robots. The battery is made using a 3-D printer nozzle as narrow as a human hair, which extrudes nanoparticles of lithium metal oxide compounds to create tightly interlaced electrodes. These are then sealed in a tiny compartment that is filled with liquid electrolyte to make the battery work.

Click through to see a video of the printing process and another view of the battery.

Read More

via txchnologist

teratocybernetics: geth-metal: frostbackscat: Oh my god if...

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:25:43 -0700

teratocybernetics:

geth-metal:

frostbackscat:

Oh my god if you’re going to judge someone’s cosplay you better learn your fucking shit because this is Duela Dent you goddamn assholes.

AHAHAHA

Perpetually laughing over the fact that “real gamer/comic book nerd” males keep insulting women for cosplaying things they’ve never even heard of

who’s the “fake geek” now, fuckers?

Fuck haters, this kicks so much ass even before I knew it was a character.

"If you’re an Americanist historian, you better also consider yourself a historian of race. There’s..."

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:24:50 -0700

“

If you’re an Americanist historian, you better also consider yourself a historian of race.

There’s nothing in this country’s history that doesn’t lead back to racism. To paraphrase a now-famous metaphor, racism is the sugar in the American cake. Sure, the cake has other ingredients, but once the thing is mixed and baked, you’re never going to be able to take a bite that is sugar-free.

Nods to racism (or any sort of oppression) don’t count. We need a profession-wide, systemic understanding of what racism is, where it comes from, and how it morphs and changes to stay alive. That’s the only way we’re going to learn to win the fight against it.

”

- (via mansplainedmarxist)

my fav new tumblr find. you had me at ‘mansplained’
(via sexgenderbody)

"I do have to denounce this hegemonic feminist discourse that promotes success without questioning..."

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 18:19:32 -0700

“I do have to denounce this hegemonic feminist discourse that promotes success without questioning the very context in which said success is supposed to take place. I do have to protest the increasing promotion of corporate participation as a measure of “feminist achievement” and women’s prosperity. Because for as long as we do not question at whose expense we are succeeding, we are going to continue creating a deeper gap between those women who are allowed to succeed and those who never stood a chance to begin with. We are not meant to have it all in our current set up. Moreover, we are supposed to always aspire to more. This is a model based on some nonsensical idea of permanent growth and the exploitation of more and more resources and people to uphold it. The perversity of it all is that we hardly have the chance to even consider alternatives. Who has the luxury of time for debate or political/ social organization when it is necessary to work two jobs, take care of children, family, social life and some scarce leisure time in order to barely survive? We cannot have it all, in part, because we are forced to participate in the illusion that we can have it all. And a growing portion of feminism has taken to the sidelines, in this role of reactive respondent to the news cycle, barely fighting so that what we have so far achieved cannot be taken away.”

- Flavia Dzodan, ’We cannot have it all because we no longer have dreams’
http://tigerbeatdown.com/2012/06/27/we-cannot-have-it-all-because-we-no-longer-have-dreams/ (via sexgenderbody)

After US Service Men and Women complain XBOX One drops some requirements - Cause it's not cool to piss off the people in the military

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 18:14:33 -0700

After US Service Men and Women complain XBOX One drops some requirements - Cause it's not cool to piss off the people in the military:

ladykrampus:

Apparently gone are the ALWAYS ONLINE and REGIONAL LOCKS - Cause when you’re on an base overseas or on a submarine under the water yer fucked. - A metric crap ton of US Military Members “kindly” pointed this out and made it VERY clear that these were not helpful or reasonable conditions of use.

Possibly gone are the 24 Hour Check Ins

Severe Back Peddling: Microsoft may decide to comply with the Doctrine of First Sale after all but there’s a lot double-speak going on.

"The unfounded fear that young children will somehow become “impure” if they learn about a dirty..."

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 18:07:17 -0700

“The unfounded fear that young children will somehow become “impure” if they learn about a dirty subject like sex is deeply rooted in American culture. Our society assumes that human sexuality is dark, dangerous, and shameful — something we need to protect teens from, rather than teach them about. Teens consistently learn that it’s not okay to talk about sex because it’s supposed to be totally off-limits to them, constrained to the bounds of a traditional marriage. But this attitude has led to disastrous consequences: damaging women and LGBT Americans’ sense of sexual self-worth, fueling the STD epidemic, and creating a moral environment where rape culture has flourished.”

- “Kindergartners Shouldn’t Be Taught Sex Ed” — And Other Myths Endangering America’s Youth (via think-progress)

"Why would we pay a CEO millions, stockholders tens of millions, and workers a small fortune when the..."

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 17:24:27 -0700

“Why would we pay a CEO millions, stockholders tens of millions, and workers a small fortune when the same work could and should be done by civil servants? Even worse, our privatized national security apparatus isn’t just wasteful; it’s contrary to the founding principles of our democratic republic. Governments can be made accountable, transparent, and responsive to “We the People.” In fact, that’s the core idea of our Constitution. On the other hand, corporations, by and large, are accountable only to profits. They’re opaque, and don’t give a damn about “We the People,” except for the people who run them.”

- Who Will Watch the Watchers? (via azspot)

They’re opaque and unaccountable.

That’s the point: these things are features, not bugs.

(via corporationsarepeople)

blimpcat-art: [Part 1]

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:48:29 -0700

blimpcat-art:

[Part 1]

fuckyeahcharacterdevelopment: cardofrage: that-sounds-like-a-po...

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:00:33 -0700

I thought about calling and addition an "insertion" but then I realized how terrible that idea was.

Err, this got a lot of notes, so I thought I would add these two that I forgot.

fuckyeahcharacterdevelopment:

cardofrage:

that-sounds-like-a-porno-wade:

I don’t know if anyone has ever done this before but, here ya go… The Different Types of Fanfiction!

I probably left a few out, but these are the most common, compared to their base fiction’s canon plot. Enjoy! XD

The crack fic is enough for a reblog.

My favorite part is when authors write these themselves, and then you have a big, shiny, convoluted map that’s all canon.

prostheticknowledge: STEADYo A video demonstrating the creative...

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 12:58:07 -0700

prostheticknowledge:

STEADYo

A video demonstrating the creative use of a camera tracking system.

Yesterday, I posted about a Dynamic Target Tracking Camera System which can focus on a single object and record at 1/1000th of a second - I then commented that I wouldn’t be surprised if a music video would come out of this …

Then discontinuedwv kindly passed on this message:

At the end of your last post on motion tracking you mention using it in music videos. Well here is a music video in which motion tracking is used to follow a yoyo. Hope you enjoy it!

And here it is, embedded below:

Link

new-aesthetic: “That robots, automation, and software can...

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:34:39 -0700

new-aesthetic:

“That robots, automation, and software can replace people might seem obvious to anyone who’s worked in automotive manufacturing or as a travel agent. But Brynjolfsson and McAfee’s claim is more troubling and controversial. They believe that rapid technological change has been destroying jobs faster than it is creating them, contributing to the stagnation of median income and the growth of inequality in the United States. And, they suspect, something similar is happening in other technologically advanced countries.” […]

“It is this onslaught of digital processes, says Arthur, that primarily explains how productivity has grown without a significant increase in human labor. And, he says, “digital versions of human intelligence” are increasingly replacing even those jobs once thought to require people. “It will change every profession in ways we have barely seen yet,” he warns.”

How Technology Is Destroying Jobs | MIT Technology Review

literaryglamour: lizdexia: Hey guys. So I want to talk to you...

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:27:45 -0700

literaryglamour:

lizdexia:

Hey guys. So I want to talk to you about one of the greatest heroines ever written for young adult literature, and that is A Series of Unfortunate Events’ Violet Baudelaire.

In any discussion of women in YA lit, there are basically three names that come up: Bella Swan (generally derided as weak and useless), Hermione Granger (whom everyone agrees is THE BESTEST!!!!), and Katniss Everdeen (jury’s still out on that one, but the consensus as far as I’ve seen is that feminist bloggers and Twilight haters alike super love her). Violet rarely comes up, which I think is a shame, because I would argue that she’s perhaps better written than all three of those other young women.

Note that I’m not saying she’s a better woman. This isn’t one of those posts where someone tries to empirically prove that this character is TOTALLY BETTER than that character, because I find that sort of thing dull and counterproductive. I’m not trying to pit different ladies against each other, because I’m generally against that sort of thing (though I don’t think having a preference between two female characters or real-life women makes you sexist). This is more of an exploration on how young women are treated in books geared toward tweens, and how we could all perhaps take a lesson from Daniel Handler (a male writer, interestingly enough) in this arena.

The first thing that strikes me when analyzing ASOUE from a feminist perspective is that Violet is, of course, a skilled inventor, a field in which you don’t see many fictional women. A different writer might have stuck to more “traditional” gender roles and cast Violet as the bookish wordsmith and Klaus as the science-minded inventor, but wouldn’t that have been boring, really? The boy tinkers around in his laboratory and invents things that save the day, and his sister occasionally correctly defines a word. Boring. But what’s even more interesting to me is that Violet, despite having tremendous skill in a traditionally “non-feminine” area, is never presented as The Exceptional Woman, which is perhaps my least favorite trope in fiction, one that has ruined countless characters for me (Veronica Mars, Ginny Weasley, River Song). Rather, each of the kids in the book has one particular skill that saves everyone else’s asses at least once, and even among the girls, they’re evenly split between the “feminine” (Sunny the cook, Isadora the poet) and the “masculine” (Violet the inventor, Fiona the mycologist).

Furthermore, her looks are only commented on once or twice, and always by another character — never by herself or the narrator. This is significant. Young women in literature are almost always given a thorough physical description, whether it’s fawning or, more commonly, one of those “So-and-so was hardly beautiful — in fact, she was really rather plain, with boring brown eyes and long dark hair that fell into her face” deals that contemporary authors love. Even in Harry Potter and The Hunger Games, Katniss and Hermione’s appearances are mentioned quite a few times. But in ASOUE, none of the Baudelaire kids are really described in detail, aside from Klaus’s glasses (which are often a plot point) and Violet tying up her hair when she has to think. THIS IS HUGE. I don’t know if I’m making a mountain out of a molehill here, but honestly, it’s so refreshing to see a teenage girl character who isn’t defined in any way by her looks, whether beautiful or exceptionally “plain.” It simply doesn’t matter; she’s got 99 problems but a zit ain’t one. Similarly, while she and Klaus both get romantic subplots with tertiary characters, they never threaten to take over the actual plot. These kids are kind of busy trying to escape a crapton of people who want them dead, and there’s not a ton of time left over to moon over Quigley Quagmire (though I loved their little romance, don’t get me wrong!).

Furthermore, LET’S TALK ABOUT THE MORAL AMBIGUITY OF THIS CHARACTER. There are quite a few moments in the books wherein Violet and Klaus discuss whether or not their actions — causing lots of deaths, burning down the carnival and the Hotel Denouement, et cetera — mean that they’re just as bad as the people from whom they’re running. I mean, there have probably been lots of essays written about how smart these books are (come on, it’s essentially a kids’ book series about ethical relativism!) but honestly, how often in the lit world, kids’ or adults’, do you see teenage female characters struggling with these kinds of huge moral issues? Not particularly often, to my knowledge.

This obviously isn’t the most well-written little post and I’m probably going to revise it a bunch of times until it’s actually a smart piece of analysis and not just a FEELINGS GEYSER about a criminally underrated kids’ book series, but for now, I’m just going to post it and that’s that.

The end, but not really.

This is why Violet Baudelaire will forever be one my favorite literary characters.

So apparently Community is pretty awesome.

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 23:22:55 -0700

So apparently Community is pretty awesome.

: ID 10 T Error

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 22:28:31 -0700

: ID 10 T Error:

what-a-daringdream:

idlnmclean:

what-a-daringdream:

I’ve been coding for 2.5 years, messing around with computers and their workings (real and virtual) a lot longer.

So why do I feel so lost when I code, still?

It looks like a wall of incomprehensible glyphs; I can’t see past the whole because it gets so large, so fast. It strangle me. I can’t put things in the sequence they ought to go in. I know what needs to happen; I know the basic idea of how it ought to be implemented. I can draw you a picture on how you should do it. But I can’t grasp when I put what where. Sometimes I can’t even put my thoughts into code.

Give me someone else’s code and I can pull what I need from it, extract the basic idea and modify it until it does what I need. On my own, I feel like I’m drowning.

There is too much going on and the thoughts don’t translate well from pictures to code.

It’s a selective consciousness impairment like dyslexia, aphasia, or dyscalcula. The various parts of your consciousness are independently aware of the relevant facts but it’s not fully integrated; it’s a compartmentalization property. There are ways to work around it. There’s also ways to integrate the information by specialized training similar to speech therapy.

Well, crap — that just makes me twice as sure that I should treat myself to a full battery of screening once I have money from this summer internship. If there is a way that I can learn to make everything work together, life would be beautiful.

You have officially restored my faith that there is every reason for me to be seen by a professional and get help.

It’s actually really common. Most people don’t see it though because they have consciousness impairments about consciousness impairments. Einstein apparently lacked an awareness of knots due to a mutation of his brain.

oceanplait: eshusplayground: magicbuffet: i got lost on the...

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 22:21:04 -0700

oceanplait:

eshusplayground:

magicbuffet:

i got lost on the internet and found this

This is creepy as fuck.

They’re apparently a…band? Or an orchestra, at least. Look up Zoorasian Brass.

I…I found video.

[Edit before posting: I found a longer one].

"Suppose a man makes unwanted social advances to a woman in, let’s say, a restaurant or theatre, and..."

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 22:20:06 -0700

“Suppose a man makes unwanted social advances to a woman in, let’s say, a restaurant or theatre, and she eventually has to tell him loudly or angrily to get lost. She is the one who will be perceived as rude, hostile, aggressive, and obnoxious. His verbal aggression and invasiveness are accepted and expected; her rudeness (or mere curtness) in getting rid of him is noticed and condemned. One of our great myths is that a “real lady” can and should handle any difficulty, defuse any assault, without ever raising her voice or losing her manners. Female rudeness or violence in resistance to male aggression has often been taken to prove that the woman was not a lady in the first place, and therefore deserved no respect from the aggressor or sympathy from others.”

- D.A. Clarke, “A Woman With a Sword” (via ellielamothe)

Sometimes there isn’t a optimal outcome. Abusers attempt to engineer conditions to force dilemmas between two or more suboptimal choices. The only recourse you have in those situations is to break the dilemma. Make choices outside of the options you are presented with and re-engineering the rules of the game to your terms. Sometimes that means taking the option you’re supposed to fear and avoid. Being perceived as rude is the fear option; the inferior option to direct you into making the decisions which favors the aggressor. IE continued interaction with the aggressor.

A big part of modern society is about forcing people into roles by exploiting people’s appearance maintenance and playing to stereotypes. Turning an actual victim into an apparent villain and exploiting people’s superficial perception. That’s the heart of deception.

eshusplayground: magicbuffet: i got lost on the internet and...

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 22:05:46 -0700

eshusplayground:

magicbuffet:

i got lost on the internet and found this

This is creepy as fuck.