glad tidings for chemistry students!

Hallelujah!
It's been a long road, but the destination is nearing as I write.
The journey began in the summer of 2016. I had agreed to teach chemistry during a shortened summer semester, a rare acquiescence on my part. The deciding factor had been the length of the term - eight weeks rather than four or five. That would still be doable, though we would be covering all of the material twice as quickly as in a normal fifteen-week term.
The very first day, I knew I was in for a challenge.
I had never had a blind student before.
However, I knew the Americans With Disabilities Act had been established almost thirty years ago. The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 had been instrumental in bringing that forth. That meant public institutions had been working on bringing accessibility to all for more than three decades.
In addition, I had wanted to better my knowledge in the area. I had taken a day-long workshop in April, 2012, on website and course materials accommodations, for compliance with the Section 508 Amendment of the 1973 law. As Section 508 will soon be twenty years old, everyone should have matters well in hand, right? Especially in educational institutions?
Apparently I was mistaken.
In particular, I was mistaken in my belief that educational materials for chemistry were easily and readily available. The student had to wait for almost two weeks - in an eight-week term - to receive the textbook. When it finally did arrive, it was a slow process for the student to 'read' the book using the JAWS software.
As for any tools outside of that expensive textbook? Days of searching online found very little of aid. The student would have been forced to spend almost four hundred dollars on a Braille Periodic Table. That would not have been of much use, as the student did not use Braille except for finding addresses.
How frustrating for both of us!
Then, inspiration struck! On our fifth class day, I brought in the Periodic Table I had scrapped together - literally - and enhanced with puffy paint and scrapbooking letters. I showed the student how to make sure it was correctly oriented and how to use it to find periods and groups.
By the date of the second test on the sixth class day, I had created my Periodic Table for the Visually Impaired. Starting with a clean folder, I had only included the elements in the first eight groups. After all, those are the ones we most study for molecule formation by covalent and ionic bonding.
The student was allowed to keep the modified Periodic Tables for study at home. I wanted to make sure that if the student wanted to learn chemistry, then every opportunity should be afforded for that to occur.
Was the student successful in passing the class?
Well, by the student's own admission, the Periodic Tables only were pulled from the bookbag when at school. Then, they were quite useful on test days!
During that summer, I was encouraged to patent my invention. By the third time that I was told to do so, I actually went to the US Patent and Trademark Office website to find out if that was a viable option. I enlisted the aid of Montgomery Patent and Design to perform a patent search to see if I truly had something worthwhile.
And I did!!!
As of August 24, 2017 - almost a year after beginning this process - my invention is now patent pending!
Even better, the website for introducing my invention to the world is now up and accessible to all. I have called the site "Elements of Touch Periodic Table" and hope to market my invention by that literal descriptor.
I count that as definite progress toward helping all students.

bobby bumps gets a dog!

Here's the latest word from Tommy Jose Stathes, the man with the plan:

December 2017 Update
Time for our monthly check-in! There is a variety of progress and lagging to report on.
First, I'm happy to note that although it took far longer than expected, the newly-discovered footage I reported on earlier finally made its way to my team in digital scan form and the necessary cleaning/steadying/compositing of that footage is currently being wrapped.
Second, artist friend Josh Latta has finished his new artwork for the packaging. I think it's absolutely charming. What do you think? Here's a preview of Bobby and Fido, and there's also art completed for mother and father Bumps, as well as the family's unnamed black cat.
As far as the new music scores go, I'm still waiting to receive every last one from collaborator Charlie Judkins. An urgent animation gig of his that recently popped up had to be bumped up to the front of his work load, but thankfully he's back at the Bumps scores now.
In short, this is the infamous time of the year where the holidays effectively slow projects like this to a grinding halt. A little of that has been going on lately among most of the collaborators, though thankfully some of the outstanding tasks are still *slowly* being completed. On my end, my usual care-taking responsibilities with my mother and grandmother have been especially augmented for the past month and taxing on me and my work schedule as a result.
From the way this project's status looks right now, I'm very confident that we will be able to turn the materials over to Steve Stanchfield of Thunderbean Animation right after the new year begins, so he can finally start the mastering and authoring process. I look forward to updating everyone further in early January.
In the meantime, here's another exclusive peek at an unrestored version of another cartoon that will be in this collection. This is the first Bobby Bumps film released by Bray Studios, and the third one Earl Hurd had shot. This beautiful element is a 1920s 16mm Kodascope Libraries rental print, and I'm so thrilled that it's in fantastic condition and can be spotlighted in this release. Enjoy!
https://youtu.be/eNeX-mPajgQ
Happy Holidays,
Tommy Stathes



Hahahaha hahaha! I laughed out loud at the antics of this young boy and his dog!
Thanks, Tommy, for brightening my day!
I so look forward to more treats with this mischievous lad!
I know my friend Sam Johnson would have enjoyed these cartoons, too.

jacob is an eagle!

Here he is, Jacob the Eagle Scout, standing proudly beside his completed project!
He looks like he's grown, doesn't he?
(smile)
He actually completed the work, as well as earning all other badges required for the honorific title, several months ago. That was during the school year, though, so he opted to await the ceremony until all his supporters - including me (smile) could travel to Tallahassee for the ceremony.
He thinks like he's grown, too, doesn't he?
(smile)

Here, he stands
with his dad and mom -
my blue-sky Penny -
prior to pinning them
with their awards
for their help and support
during his many years
as a Boy Scout.
After all, only
four per cent
of all Boy Scouts
ever earn the title of Eagle.

Then time came
for Jacob to award a pin
to someone who was
especially inspirational
for his hard work to become an Eagle.
He announced that he had two pins to award.
The first went to his Grandma Linda -
my Mama's one-and-only sister -
as an eagle swooped and soared over
the nearby pines.

(I'm sure that was Grandpa Bob,
himself an Eagle Scout,
the first one I ever knew.)
The second pin was awarded
to his dad, a lifelong Scout,
but never an Eagle.
You see, the status as Eagle
must be achieved by the 18th birthday...
or not at all.

You could actually see the transition from teenager to young man.
By the time he received the Eagle Charge, he was every bit as solemn as the occasion warranted, showing by his stance and his face that he fully accepted those responsibilities.
He is most assuredly grown now.
I am so very proud of him and his dedication.
I know my Uncle Bob would agree.

glowing pink for the second year!

That's me, having crossed the finish line at 12:58 AM on Saturday night.
Or should I have said Sunday morning?
(smile)
Well, I had not yet been a-bed, so it was still 'night' for me.
That photo was gleaned from the video of the race finishers.
I can be seen starting at marker 39:55 and beyond.
Of 123 participants, only 96 completed the race.
That made me 88th of the 96 finishers.

What race was this?
It was the "Glow The Mall Pink Midnight Madness 5K at Oglethorpe Mall.
This is my second year of participating in this event that benefits breast cancer charities in the Coastal Empire.
Last year was my first time - and its first time here, too.
Then, I had waited until race day to register.
This year, I was officially to be a runner by the end of July.

I admit - last year, I had thought I had completed the race.
When I had circumnavigated the course, the folks at the finishing line had waved me in, so I went.
I had been so very proud of my finisher medal!
Then, with my time of 33:32, I had won third place for my age group - woohoo!
Silly me.
I realized later that I had only completed half of the course. They had waved me in so as to not delay the start of the awards presentation.
So, this year, I was determined to finish... and I did.
(smile)

I wore the wrong pants (too knobby)
and wrong shoes (too loose) -
but I did the whole walk!
As I said, there's a video of the finishers.
Look for me at 39:55 and beyond!
I think this just may become a regular event for me.
(smile)

long live ad-free knowledge!

A few days ago, I received an email that inquired about my willingness to donate again.
The sender did not try to guilt me into doing so, but simply was asking if I might want to.
And so I did, just a few moments ago.
Justthatfast, my gift was acknowledged.
Why not check out the speed of repply for yourself?

****----****----****----****

Dear Faustina,

Thank you for your support of Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Foundation. Your contribution of $ 20.00 supports Wikipedia and helps secure the future of free knowledge for everyone.

Wikipedia is possible because of a powerful idea: that people, like you and me, can participate in building the world’s knowledge and making it freely available to everyone, everywhere.

Today, thanks to the support of millions of volunteer contributors and supporters, you can wander Wikipedia for hours. With more than 40 million Wikipedia articles and 35 million freely licensed images, Wikipedia can answer almost any question, and take you places you’ve never been.

Your donation supports the creation and sharing of free knowledge in real, practical ways. It helps us make Wikipedia fast, secure, and accessible to everyone in the world. It helps us bring free access to Wikipedia in places where high mobile data costs prevent people from going online. It helps us support people who are digitizing knowledge currently locked away in analog archives. It protects Wikipedia from threats to free knowledge and the open internet.

Your support means that you can find the information you need now, wherever you may be—to settle a bet with a friend at a dinner party, or to understand the world around us.

Donating to Wikipedia makes you the champion of a powerful idea.

Wikipedia will continue to evolve, grow, and meet new challenges. We’re excited and eager to meet these and more. Your donation will help us get there. We can’t thank you enough for your support. On behalf of the Wikimedia Foundation, thank you for investing in our future and taking this journey with us.

Katherine Maher
Executive Director, Wikimedia Foundation

provisional patent for my invention: done!

My invention is officially protected by the USPTO!
Their Filing Receipt has assigned my application the number 62/547,390.
The "62" denotes that it is a Provisional Patent, which means that they are awaiting the Utility Patent to be filed by August 18, 2018, i.e., within a year of this filing date.
I had truly hoped to have the Provisional Patent application filed by my birthday, which was May 29.
That did not occur.
However, because of one delay or another, I did have time to make an addendum to my Periodic Table for the Visually Impaired.
The original invention did not include the Transitional Elements, nor the Lanthanides and Actinides.
As of a few months ago, the Transitional Elements are reunited with the Representative Elements!
I am so happy for them... and for the future students, both blind and sighted, who will be using this educational tool.
Of course, I can include another addendum for those f-block elements, usually shown in two rows below all of the others.
Those will be useful for studying radioactive elements, for those chemistry courses which include that topic.
However, they are not even necessary then, as there are plenty of Representative Elements, including Carbon-13 and Iodine-131, for the discussion of different types of nuclear emissions.
I am so excited for future students - and the teachers, too!

faustina of tripadvisor

According to tripadvisor.com, I'm in the upper 4% of their contributors and have more than 20,000 travelers who have read my reviews.
That's amazing to me.
I've only been contributing since 2013.
So why am I writing all of that in this blog space?
This site documents the use of my time and resources to help others...
whether on the road or elsewhere.
So, just what do these badges tell you about me?
The Passport is a mark that I have been to at least twenty-five different cities. In truth, I am listed as having been to fifty-eight, but the total is actually much larger, thanks to eight years in the US Navy.
The Expert Photographer was awarded to me for having contributed fifty pictures to accompany my reviews. Honestly, the total is seventy-five at this time.
The Top Contributor was awarded upon my fiftieth review. I currently have fifty-two available on the site.
As pleased as I am to have been named a Top Contributor, I am most proud of the Helpful Reviewer Badge.
Why?
That award comes from the readers of my entries, not from the website.
Those fellow travelers who deemed my words worthy of a "thumbs up" are the ones who granted that one to me.
To this date, I have received thirty "thumbs up" notices.
Those really brighten my day!
Receiving an incredible five helpful votes was my review of The Great Magic Hall. I'll be in Kissimmee next week and look forward to going there again.
The review of my trip to the Dry Falls in NC two years ago has received four helpful votes - nice!
Another review written from that trip, of the Highland Biological Station, Nature Center, and Botanical Gardens received a "thumbs up", too!
That accounts for a whopping third of my "deemed helpful" reviews!
The trip to Las Vegas in 2013 garnered another eight for helpfulness. I have three for Gregory Popovich's Comedy Pet Theater; two each for Sin City Comedy and for "Evil Dead: The Musical"; and one for "MJ Live".
The Field of Dreams Movie Site review took home another three from travelers to the baseball diamond in the cornfield. That was one of my first reviews for tripadvisor. I do hope those folks walked the bases and stood in the corn - just like I did.
(smile)