RAMsey

Big kudos to Matt Herzberger and the rest of the team at Texas A&M for putting on a Web Accessibility Showcase this week. If you’re not able to be there this week, it’s streaming on ustream.tv. I’ll be presenting there tomorrow at 1330, Central US time.

Help Knowbility and others fight the University of Texas’s decision to close the Accessibility Institute by signing the petition.

U2 performing “Bad” from the music film, “Rattle and Hum.”

I remember still images from the scenes with Luke and Biggs on Tatooine that were cut out from the finished film. If you had a copy of the Star Wars paperback book, you might remember these scenes as they were in the book. Fan Justin Lensen has taken these lost scenes and edited them together with music from the film to give us a glimpse into what these may have looked liked as a finished scene from the film.

Kat & I celebrated our 5th anniversary this past weekend. We spent the weekend in the Hill Country town of Fredericksburg and at surrounding wineries and vineyards. Except for buying many many bottles of outstanding wine, we had a relatively low-budget and very enjoyable weekend.

This is the 2006 Cuvée Blanc we enjoyed on the patio at Grape Creek Vineyards. That bottle, along with a nice Camembert and some crackers made for a pleasant and relaxing afternoon.

I work with accessibility in technology. I do it because I believe it is the right thing to do. I am also one who believes all ideas can be taken too far and the proposals being made in the city of Austin for mandated accessible homes are examples of an idea being taken too far.

Bettie Dunkerley is behind these proposed changes to the building codes and she’s putting them to the council for a vote on her last night on the council, which is tonight, the 18th. A pdf of the proposals is available at Austin Contrarian’s site.

I’m opposed to these ideas on the grounds that what is being mandated is being mandated for all, regardless of need, as opposed to being available for those who have a specific need. This isn’t the same as making a public building accessible. These are private dwellings.