Blind Woman Sues 30 Websites over Handicap Accessibility

Have you ever considered how blind individuals navigate through the Internet? Although, it is not usually something that you just ponder on while eating your afternoon lunch, it is something to wonder about. Most commonly, they use the traditional text-to-speech software. These screen readers browse the website’s HTML to then convert it into sounds. Another example of assistive technology for the visually impaired is a refreshable braille display. The displays consist of raised dots to transport the websites text to the fingertips of the visitor.

Recently, a woman who is legally blind from Manhattan came forward claiming that there are websites which are discriminatory to the visually impaired. Maria Mendizabal is filing more than thirty individual lawsuits against companies known globally such as Nike, Barney’s, and Donna Karan. Her suit reads, “Useless websites are designed to be read by screen-reading software, blind and visually-impaired persons are unable to fully access websites, and the information, Products, and services contained thereon,” which is filed under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

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#DeleteFacebook

By Hannah Beldotti

Facebook is a social media platform available to anyone and everyone; ranked first on “Most Famous Social Network Sites Worldwide for January 2018,” it is heavily popular with a wide range of ages. Most people use it to connect with old friends and share updates on their life, however, within the last three weeks, many users have deleted their accounts including celebrities such as, Cher, Will Ferrell, and Elon Musk. Explaining the reasoning behind their actions, Cher stated, “it was very hard, but there are some things more important than money,” along with Will Ferrell who said he was, “very disturbed to hear about Cambridge Analytica’s  misuse of millions of Facebook user’s information.” In the recent weeks, it has been revealed that Facebook exploited at least 87 millions user’s information to a firm known as Cambridge Analytica through a third-party source. Cambridge Analytica is a consulting firm which provides many different data-driven services.

Robot Sweats to Cool Off

Over the years, scientists and researchers have created robots that abilities range from being able to vacuum your living room carpet, to detecting human emotions. Kengoro is a new robot built by a group of Japanese researchers from the University of Tokyo’s JSK lab. The robot is defined as a humanoid; having an appearance or character that is similar to that of a human. Kengoro’s stamina is incomparable to that of other two-legged machines.

Humans generate heat when they preform tasks, so to cool off, their bodies perspire. In robots, overheating can lead to failure. Kengoro can move almost exactly the way humans can with its motors of which it has over a hundred. With these motors generating a lot of heat, the researchers were determined to find a way to cool the robot off. Some common ways were using water pumps, fans, radiators, and heat sinks. However, they wanted a energy conserving, efficient cooling system.

The University of Tokyo lab presented the machine at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers/Robotics Society of Japan International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, under the title “Skeletal Structure with Artificial Perspiration for Cooling by Latent Heat for Musculoskeletal Humanoid Kengoro.” University of Tokyo’s Toyotaka Kozuki said in an interview with IEEE, “Our concept was adding more functions to the frame, using it to transfer water, release heat, and at the same time support forces.” In order to do this, the team built a water circulation system into the robot’s skull. This system allowed the water to go around the motors to cool them. The water would then evaporate from the heat.

Scientists are now exploring ways to apply this research to clothing. The tiny holes could be used to develop a new type of fabric for increased breathability.