Matilda Ziegler Magazine for the Blind the source for blindness news and information since 1907

If you’ve ever tried water-skiing, you know that it is more difficult than it seems.  The more seasoned skiers will tell you all you have to do is stand up and hold on, but you need to have great balance and be able to anticipate how a wave will move you.

Imagine then, water-skiing for miles–23.85 miles to be exact.  Blind water-skier Steve Thiele recently accomplished this feat and set the open sea water-skiing world record.

Steve hadn’t been on the water for more than 15 years, but when his employer asked him to come up with an interesting fundraiser to support charity groups Cancer Research UK and Ghana Outlook, he knew he’d have to come up with something more exciting than a simple sponsored walk.  So, not only did he grab his skis again, but he set out with a goal–to set the new world record.  The last time he competed was at the Disabled Waterski Olympics over a decade ago, but after a couple runs, he found it had all come back to him and he was ready to go.  

With the folks from Guinness World Records on hand, he went to start the challenge.  But before he could get going, they informed him of a very odd requirement–he had to wear a blindfold.  Having been blind from the age of eight when he fell from a tree and damaged his optic nerve, he laughed at their request and probably thought they were joking.  However, they were dead serious.  “Guinness World Records do not distinguish between able-bodied persons and disable persons,” Steve said.  “So they said that in order for me to break the existing world record, I had to wear the blindfold.”  He joked, “It didn’t make a difference to me.”

So, the blind man–extra blinded by the blindfold–finally began his challenge and shortly thereafter set the new world record.  When his run was over and the questions began to come at him, he remarked, “It must have been humorous watching a blind person wearing a blindfold.”

Regardless of what unnecessary requirements needed to be met, Steve’s record is an impressive one that required massive amount of balance, strength, and stamina and hopefully he raised a ton of money for the charities he supported. 

Source:  http://www.metro.co.uk/news/860477-blind-water-skier-sets-a-world-record-wearing-a-blindfold

A famous comedian, whose name escapes me at the moment, once said, “Sometimes you have to set fire to the truck to get the insurance money so you can make the truck payment.”  While the logic is clearly flawed, the following story goes along the same lines.

Utah resident John Maxim recently set his Ford Escort wagon on fire to raise money for his mortgage payment.  While his thought process didn’t involve the previous joke’s insurance scam, it still ranks up there as one of the strangest strategies for raising capital.

As many Americans have experienced, John fell behind on his mortgage payments and the bank arranged for his home to be sold at a foreclosure auction, something John claims that they did not alert him of.  He had thought that they had negotiated a deal, and having come up with the money to cover his back mortgage payments, the bank alerted him that he’d need much more since more time had elapsed.

In a desperate effort, John turned to an internet audience with his story and a request.  He exclaimed to the world, “I figure in a country where Oprah can just give people cars, where Lehman Brothers Bank can get bailed out by our government, where Lindsay Lohan can be “breaking News”, and all other such silly American debacles… that perhaps there are enough people out there who’d pay a small amount to see some desperate sap light his car on fire.”  If he received enough in donations to save his house, he’d set fire to his car and televise the blaze over the internet.  He also promised that all of the donated money would be paid back.  As odd as this sounds, it actually intrigued enough anonymous donors–387 in all–that John ended up with the cash he required and was able to save his home.  Now, it was time for him to keep up his end of the bargain.

He went to local fire departments, told them about his situation, and asked if they’d want to use it as a training exercise.  But since he was televising the blaze and selling ad space on his website, they all declined.  With no other options, and not wanting to fail his donors, he went out on his own to a campground and set his car on fire.  The big problem, though, was that he did this in a campground on federal land–which is a huge offense.

With a guilty plea on two misdemeanor counts, and roughly $3,500 in fines and fees later, John was a free man with a house.  He’s already been able to pay back about $3,500 of his debt.  Hopefully he’ll continue to make his payments so he doesn’t have to light his bike on fire.

Source: http://jalopnik.com/#!5786453/how-a-man-saved-his-house-by-setting-his-car-on-fire

Normally news like this is some sort of overly expensive marketing ploy.  The company reveals their new bottle, which is simply another shape with a couple twists in it and maybe a different color scheme on the label.  We, as consumers, are supposed to be drawn like bugs to the zapper and the cycle continues once the new shape and scheme go stale in the focus groups.  In reality, regardless of what effect a new bottle has on sales, the bottles can never truly be changed, anyway–they still have to fit in vending machines.  However, this news from Pepsi is markedly different, and may actually change the way we produce PET plastics in general.

Plastic bottles, especially PET plastics, require the use of petroleum in their production process, which inevitably puts further strain on fossil fuel reserves.  We never really make the connection that our soda or water bottle is a part of the fossil fuel discussion, but if you think about how many bottles there are in the world, the situation becomes much clearer. 

Pepsi, with their millions upon millions of dollars to throw around, decided that they’d toss that money in a direction with a potentially serious impact, and not just in sales.  They chose to fund research which eventually produced a plastic bottle made entirely of plant-based material.  Currently, the bottle is made up of a combination of switch grass, pine bark, and corn husks, but will soon incorporate orange peels, oat hulls, potato scraps, and many other leftovers of the food processing industry.  From the consumer’s point of view, the bottle won’t look or feel any different, eliminating the need for any subsequent brand recognition campaign from Pepsi.  In 2012, Pepsi plans on testing the bottles in a run of a few hundred thousand and, if successful, will convert all bottles to plant-based thereafter.

It’s refreshing to see that huge companies like PepsiCo are choosing to use the massive amount of money they have in their control to both further their own successes as a business and create an opportunity to revolutionize the plastics industry at the same time.  While the bottles are not biodegradable, the change in the production process solves a huge problem that the plastics industry has been trying to tackle for some time.  Now, if they can start a revolutionary recycling program, they’d really have something to talk about.

Source: http://gizmodo.com/#!5782548/behold-pepsis-100-plant+based-plastic-bottle

Many of you are aware that the iPhone is one of the best mobile devices available to the visually impaired today.  Well, chalk another one up for the iPhone, because there is now an app which will identify US currency.

The application utilizes the camera in the iPhone to recognize all American currency–from the one dollar bill up to the hundred dollar bill.  Unfortunately, those of you with thousand dollar bills will just have to wait for an update.

Money, especially American money, can be tricky sometimes.  While everyone has their own way of recognizing the bills already in their possession, any new bills feel exactly the same.  That money in your hand could be a few ones, or a few twenties.  European countries have provided a solution to this problem by introducing different sized bills for each denomination.  These differences allow the blind and visually impaired to easily identify the bills in their hand without any outside help.  America just hasn’t implemented anything like this yet.

The app is especially smart as well, and can identify bills if they are folded, making it a fast-acting app for users on the go who don’t feel like waiting for a currency identifier to let them know what they’ve got.  You also don’t have to worry about getting the whole bill in the camera’s view, either, as the bills are visually different from one another.  The app is programmed to recognize the sometimes subtle differences between the bills and read off the money you have quickly and correctly.

For any of you who own and iPhone, you can find the app in the app store.  It’s called the LookTel Money Reader, and is on sale for $2.

Source: http://gizmodo.com/#!5780678/an-iphone-app-that-identifies-currency-for-blind-people

Artificial retinal implants have reached a new milestone and will soon be sold openly to the public.  There are two catches, though: they’re only currently available in Europe, and they cost one hundred thousand dollars.  However, while the price and geographical limitations may disqualify some from being able to take advantage, this is an important step forward for the future market of medical implants.

One hundred thousand dollars isn’t anything to scoff at, and some people take that amount of money and put it into a place to live.  But think of it this way–theoretically, you could take out a loan, much like a homeowner would, and create a mortgage for your sight.  The notion of a monthly payment for your ability to see may sound absurd, but the market is there, and it may soon become a reality.

The implant works like many other artificial retinas do.  The user must wear special glasses fitted with a tiny camera.  The camera sends signals to the implant in the eye, which is comprised of an array of electrodes on the retina.  The remaining cells in the retina are stimulated by electrical impulses which then allow the brain to perceive various patterns of light.  The vision gained is not perfect, but it is decent enough for the user to read some large print and recognize objects.

By increasing awareness of the artificial retina and expanding its use in society, the chances for the technology to improve and become more cost effective increase greatly.  As a result, many people with retinal diseases will have the option to actively investigate a retinal implant of their own.

However, there is a potential downside to all of this.  With expensive implants being placed inside people who may have to take out a loan in order to purchase them, it leaves open the very distinct possibility that if payment is not received for those implants, that they will need to be removed–a foreclosure on someone’s sight, if you will.  While that is simply a hypothetical situation, it’s as unpleasant as it is plausible.

Source:  http://gizmodo.com/#!5774248/artificial-retinas-can-now-be-traded-for-money-in-europe

Massive cardiac arrest is rarely a survivable event when it occurs outside of a hospital, where doctors can act quickly to implement live-saving measures.  In the case of Howard Snitzer, he found himself collapsed on the sidewalk outside of his gym, in a town of less than 1,000 people, 35 miles away from the nearest hospital that could treat him. 

Luckily, though, he ended up in front of the right people.  Roy and Al Lodermeier saw Howard fall, as well as two other people, and they quickly went to work trying to save his life.  Roy, a member of the town fire department, left to get the rescue truck while Al and two other bystanders took turns administering CPR.  When Roy returned, Howard had been placed inside of a grocery store so they could continue to work on him. 

For 96 minutes, as they waited for Mayo 1 (the rescue helicopter of the Mayo Clinic 35 miles away) to arrive, multiple people took turns administering CPR–all while Howard had no pulse at all.  When the helicopter arrived, the paramedics reportedly had to squeeze through a crowd of people who had gathered and taken their turn saving his life.  Only with the help of a trusted doctor over the phone and a last ditch effort to administer a higher-than-recommended dose of medicine did they finally get a pulse and he was cleared to be flown to the hospital.

If it weren’t for the unrelenting attitude of those people, Howard would be dead.  By performing CPR well beyond the normal limits, they kept blood moving through his brain and moved air in and out of his lungs.  By using what’s called an ambu bag in conjunction with a breathing tube, they could tell that carbon dioxide was exiting his lungs, which could only mean that oxygen was getting in as well.  That gave them enough hope to continue pressing into him, despite the fact that his heart had remained still for over an hour and a half.

Howard spent 10 days in the hospital and is complaining of exhaustion and a sore chest, but is remarkably up and about, enjoying his new lease on life, and praising the people who just wouldn’t give up.

While not currently confirmed, Howard’s case may be the longest anyone has ever undergone CPR with no pulse and ended up alive afterwards.  At 96 minutes, it wouldn’t be surprising.

Source: http://yourlife.usatoday.com/mind-soul/doing-good/story/2011/03/Dozens-of-people-perform-CPR-for-96-minutes-to-save-heart-attack-victim/44427376/1?csp=ylf

In a previous article, I wrote about how the NFB put out a challenge to the world to see if someone could invent a way for blind people to drive a car.  Now, Virginia Tech has come forward with their solution, and the results are nothing short of fantastic.

Using a Ford Escape SUV, they attached a number of laser range-finding and radar equipment to the front and sides of the car.  Those instruments read the environment around the car and relay the information back to the driver.  However, since the driver is blind, they had to come up with a totally new way of creating a perception of the road.

By utilizing a seat pad and set of special gloves, they have done just that.  In each, there are small, vibrating motors that signal where an object is in front of the car and how close it is.  As the driver gets close to an object in the road, they know how to avoid it based on these vibration inputs. 

In Mark Riccobono’s case, he knew so well that he cruised around the road course multiple times.  The course included various S-turns and stationary objects for him to avoid.  If that wasn’t enough to prove the effectiveness of the entire system, there was also a van driving in front of Mark.  In the back of the van were people randomly throwing out cardboard boxes of various sizes to add a surprise element in front of the him.  Mark never hit a single obstacle or box, and drove safely past every object in his way without faltering in the least.

The technology is obviously in its infant phases, but the fact that the challenge was made, and a solution was made possible, in such a short period of time is a testament to what people can do if they put their minds to it.  A year ago, if you had asked anyone about a blind person driving a car, they would have said it was impossible.  Now, that sentiment is forever invalid. 

After completing his monumental driving exercise, Mark posted on Twitter, “Hello, the blind made history today.  What did you do today?”

Source: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2011/01/29/2011-01-29_watch_blind_man_drives_car_dodges_obstacles_around_daytona_international_speedwa.html?r=news/national

25 years ago, I was less than 6 months old–barely aware of the people around me, let alone the world beyond them.  But on January 27, 1986, hurdling away from the Earth, striving to break the bonds of gravity and lurch into outer space, was the crew of the space shuttle Challenger.  They anxiously sat, strapped in, sitting on top of what they hoped was a massive yet controlled series of explosions.  Unfortunately, hopes failed.

Just 73 seconds after the shuttle took flight, its trip was cut short with an explosion from the boosters that shattered the center, and largest, engine.  It sent the two booster rockets, still firing, in swirling patterns through the atmosphere away from the fireball that held the shuttle and its crew.  As millions watched the event, the collective hope was that somehow the shuttle had jettisoned in time and ended up in the water, holding an injured by alive crew.  Those who knew better held their head in their hands.  One member of the crew was Christa McAuliffe, a social studies teacher from Concord, New Hampshire, who was the first ever regular citizen to fly into space.

The blame was eventually placed on faulty O-rings on the boosters which create a proper seal.  When you’re dealing with such a complex machine like a space shuttle, even the simplest parts become immeasurably crucial.  As the shuttle climbed higher and higher, the intense heat cracked the seals and resulted in a unavoidably quick explosion.

The Challenger tragedy marked the first time in 56 space flights that the astronauts did not return.  It would also serve as a permanent mark on the face of our nation’s space program, which some say will never truly recover from the incident.

So where were you on the day the Challenger flight ended so abruptly?  Many people remember exactly what they were doing when Kennedy was shot, or when the Twin Towers fell.  Challenger, like both of those incidents, was equally public, and the loss of life, while nowhere near September 11, was equally saddening.

Source: http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_17221336?nclick_check=1

Unfortunately for anyone undergoing any type of psychotherapy, this is true.  Having recognized that certain places acted like diploma mills, without taking into account the fact that the people being given them were unqualified, Steve Eichel, PhD, ABPP sought to prove that the system is more than just a little ridiculous.  He noticed that the number of credentials being given out to people who were grossly uneducated was alarming.  Most of the degrees were in the less controlled professions like hypnotherapy and diet counseling, but did branch out into more mainstream studies.  This process enabled scammers to look legitimate and the uneducated to appear educated.

Enter his cat, Zoe–or, should I say, Zoe D. Katze (spelled K-a-t-z-e), PhD.  Eichel was very patient with this process, as he knew it would take time and some money to complete properly.  He started with dopy little hypnotherapy organizations and put up the application fee for certification.  After he had done this with several credential-granting institutions, he decided to go after some bigger ones.

Eichel put forth an application in Zoe’s name from the American Psychotherapy Association, where he had once been a member.  When they requested some more credentials, he provided them with some made up ones, including my favorite from a position once held at Tacayllaermi Friends School.  Tacayllaermi is hilariously, “I’m really a cat,” spelled backwards.  No one at the APA caught that, or apparently followed up, because they made the little feline a Diplomate.

While this might seem like a very unique situation, Zoe is not the only animal with an impressive list of academic credentials to her name.  In fact, this happens quite often when people want to shame an organization or produce evidence for lawsuits or government investigations.

While Eichel’s quest to have the smartest cat on the block may serve as an entertaining anecdote, it’s also serves as an alarming realization that there are many people out there with convincing credentials who may be simply waving worthless paper around in an attempt to scam others who don’t know any better.

Source: http://www.dreichel.com/Articles/Dr_Zoe.htm

With Connecticut residents finding themselves buried under nearly two feet of snow, everyone had to endure the agonizing task of digging out driveways and cars so that life could continue normally once again.  But one man didn’t have the luxury of shoveling his own driveway, and it meant he was in a lot of trouble.

Alfred Allesandrine, a resident of New Haven who happens to be blind, absolutely had to get out of his house following the Wednesday storm.  Not to get groceries, but to get to his dialysis treatment.  He tried calling the city to get him out of his home, but they were flooded with other calls and weren’t able to come to his aide.  So, as a last resort, he called the local news station, WTNH News 8.

When the news team arrived, they found that every other driveway except for his was cleared.  Without a clear sidewalk and driveway, there would be no way for Alfred to make it to the medical van that picks him up to take him to his treatment.

Alfred was well aware of the dangers of his situation, saying, “If you don’t go to dialysis, obviously, I’m dead, I’m dead.  And I’ll be off three days if I don’t get there […] which would mean, it’s all over, curtains.”

His story was all the news team had to hear.  They quickly found a neighbor, Drummond Sykes, who knew Mr. Allesandrine and had shovels and a willingness to help out.  Together, the reporter, a photographer, and the neighbor dug out his driveway in about half an hour.  Looking for no praise, Sykes, who had remarked that Alfred was such a nice guy and had helped him refinance his home, quietly walked back down the street.

With the driveway clear, Alfred would be able to get to his life-saving treatment and live to see another (snowy) day.

It’s one thing to report the news, but it’s a totally different story when you step back, forget about getting a good report, and help the people who need it most.  In this case, the WTNH reporters were able to both get a great story and perform a much needed service.  I say well done.

Source:  http://www.wtnh.com/dpp/news/new_haven_cty/snow-kept-new-haven-man-from-dyalisis