Kirk – Page 32 – Home of the Bridgers

X-Rays Help Get The Best Shoe Fit Possible

It’s interesting to see how people used to view radiation and how they tried to use it in innovative ways – perhaps even at the expense of people’s safety. Take for example the Shoe-Fitting Fluoroscope. Back in the day this device was used by shoe stores to take X-Rays of people’s feet to ensure that their bone structure was best fit by their potential shoe purchases. Useful? Perhaps. Dangerous? You bet.

The article doesn’t mention all the health concerns these machines brought up – a co-worker relates her own knowledge of the situation thusly:

While the articles mentions the concern over radiation exposure to the feet and to the hands of the machine operator, what it fails to mention is the greatest side affect from these machines were the cataracts it produced. As the people looked down into the machine at their feet the radiation exposure was hitting them directly in the eyes. (The eyes are one of the most susceptible body parts we have to radiation).

Another common use of the early x-ray machines was in beauty salons to remove female facial hair. The operating instructions on those machines stated â€œExpose the desired skin area until the skins turns pinkâ€. Little did they know that when the skin turned pink it was already a radiation burn. Again with the eyes being so close to the radiated field, cataracts were a common side affect.

Thanks Joan!

Now isn’t science grande?

I’m A Published Author Now!

Here in Vancouver we have a local newspaper called The Georgia Straight – your basic local motion type stuff and left-leaning editorials. Most importantly, there’s a Music section that includes reviews of music releases, local concerts and local artists. It also includes a section called “Payback” where people write in and generally complain about how pathetic the Music section is.

Well, several weeks ago I read an article that, quite simply, made me want to complain to someone – so I did. They decided to publish my (edited) complaint in this week’s issue. Since it is an edited version, I’ll let you read their version and then you can continue here to read my original complaint if you’re curious to see how they can cut 4 paragraphs down to a single one without losing any meaning.

*cough* Continue reading I’m A Published Author Now!

Open Source is So Fricken’ Cool

I just went through a software experience that quite simply defines why I want to support and participate in Open Source Software projects rather than closed and proprietary ones.

I have an iPod for those that didn’t know. I run Ubuntu Linux for my desktop, for those who didn’t know. This means that I cannot run iTunes for getting my songs onto the iPod – it is Windows only. So I have been using gtkpod for this – an Open Source application designed to allow adding songs and things to the iPod. Essentially it replaces iTunes.

Now things get a little technical, so if you’re not interested please don’t feel bad.

gtkpod can only attempt to provide the same features as iTunes. Apple doesn’t share every little detail about how to interface with an iPod, and it certainly has more development dollars and time invested in iTunes. So the feature set of gtkpod lags behind iTunes. Up until now there is one feature I’ve really missed – album art. The ability to display an album’s cover on the iPod while its songs are being played – it’s the whole point of having a colour screen in my mind.

So I looked into the details and found out that the developers of gtkpod have actually got this working, but not in the version of gtkpod and its libraries that I am running. Enter the wonders of Open Source Projects.

Continue reading Open Source is So Fricken’ Cool

Live Action Simpsons?

There have always been rumours of a Simpsons movie being bandied about. I don’t know if those rumours are true or not, but I can say that they’ve got the series intro down pat already – Simpsons fans enjoy!

Introducing The Newest Bridger – Part 2

We’ve just passed the 7 month mark and are feverishly working on getting the nursey up to par for the pending baby action. Yes, the “Art Room” can now officially be called a nursery.

Here, as promised, are pictures of Alisa and the baby, getting to know one another while the babe’s still in utuero. Alisa’s being very brave in letting these pictures out on to the Internet … I just hope they don’t hurt her chances at becoming Prime Minister some day.

Below then are the pictures thus far. Each image, when clicked, will take you to a much larger version.

August 2005

At the time this picture was taken, we didn’t know Alisa was pregnant. She and her friend Liz had just finished running a half-marathon in Edmonton. However it was during this race that the clues started to pop up that Alisa was running with something a little ‘special’ that day. In fact we think she is 9 days pregnant here.

Alisa and Liz after a half-marathon (9 days old)

September 2005

Back in September we had this little secret with Marty and Nathalie – we were all four of us expecting babies. I’ll let you figure out who was expecting and who was actually pregnant. But to commemorate our great moment of secrecy we took a few pictures that we couldn’t share with anyone. But now the curtain has lifted. So here then is our picture from September.

September on the Sunshine Coast (7 weeks old)

Continue reading Introducing The Newest Bridger – Part 2

K-Os And The CBC Radio Orchestra

Anyone familiar with K-Os may be interested in watching a documentary available called Burning To Shine. It documents a process where he tries to collaborate with the orchestra to create a new song melding hip-hop with classical music. The single is called Burn To Shine, as is the documentary.

I find the documentarey interesting, as it leaves a few raw edges out there for everyone to see. K-Os follows his muse but not everyone is on board in the end.

The single itself sounds great – definitely a K-Os song. He ended up pushing the orchestra but I wonder how much he ended up pushing himself – his self-proclaimed goal in the process. Either way I’m happy to pimp K-Os, he’s a good example of how hip-hop does not have to be about the bling and the babes, that it can contribute to the music scene rather than detract from it. If you’re willing to listen you can check out his latest album Joyful Rebellion – I highly recommend it (it’s part of my collection).

Who Wants to Know What Social Networking Is?

This is a funny bit of video – anyone interested in a new phenomenon that many people believe is warping the Internet and the next generation of users should take a few minutes to watch. Social Networking: it’s funny, I swear. Sorry it is Flash format.

On an unrelated note, here’s another Jon Stewart interview concerning the recent shooting by the Vice President of the United States of America.

Blind Man Sues Over Website Design

News has surfaced that a blind man has sued Target over its website’s inability to be used properly by blind computer users.Â The link I’ve included is, frankly, embarrassing because I think of that online community at arstechnica as intelligent and typically non-reactive.Â However if you follow the article’s discussion link you’ll see some really, really stupid responses.

This particular issue strikes a chord with me because in a past life I wrote a research paper on the experience blind users have on the Internet.Â I interviewed a blind man and talked to him about his experiences with the Internet and the pages he uses daily.Â The sad part is that he pointed out this exact problem to me though it was with the Vancouver Sun’s website at the time.Â That was over 5 years ago now I believe.Â Isn’t progress grand?

I am doubly perplexed by people’s comments that coding web pages for blind people is difficult.Â Continue reading Blind Man Sues Over Website Design