New App Helps Fight Pain

Wow…sometimes technology is truly helpful beyond what I expected. The SickKids hospital in Toronto needed to understand how pain afflicts children with cancer so they can develop better treatments for it. But it’s hard for kids to record their pain on a daily basis for so many reasons.

IPhone apps to the rescue.

They developed a game where the kids become members of the “Pain Squad”. Treating the pain like a police case that needs to be solved, the kids file “police reports” each day to help track the data and solve the case. Even cast members from Canada’s most popular cop shows lent their support.

I’ve popped the video in here…you should really take the three minutes out of your day to watch it. Pretty amazing stuff…

More Ready Player One Excerpts

Boy, they are really giving this OUT to folks! Mr. Cline wants you all to know that there are fresh new excerpts of Ready Player One available on Scribd!

I have to tell you, it sure is cool to be a fan of this guy’s writing.

Here you go: http://www.scribd.com/collections/3584526/Ready-Player-One

All this information and much more can be found on RPO’s Tumblr: http://www.readyplayerone.com/

 

I Found A Bank That Will Take Me!!

Edit: I thought Umpqua only had two branches. That is beyond not true. My new bank has WAY more than two branches. They’re all over Washington, Oregon, Nevada, and Northern California. Check it out for yourself: http://www.umpquabank.com/locator/new/ Ok, carry on with the post.

I am now a member at Umpqua Bank, “the greatest bank in the world”. And I have to say, they’re pretty cool. Here’s how it happened:

The regular readers here know I’ve been on a quest since September of 2011 to find a new place to move my banking. At first it was about our “too big to fail” banks and their attitudes around customer service, fee rollouts, etc. I decided to move out of Wells Fargo. It was a difficult choice in a way, because my family banked at Wells for years when I was a kid, and they have branches everywhere I have people.

But I have been learning that where you have your money matters ethically, even if you don’t have much.

I started by looking to join a credit union. Boy did that backfire on me. None of the credit unions wanted me. Once because my credit score wasn’t high enough (looking at you Salal, with your minimum 600 score requirement). Another time Chexsystems blocked me out.

So, after feeling like the school nerd trying in vain to get a date with the prom queen, I sucked it up again and started looking at local banks.

Sexual Violence and Trans Women

Trans women experience a high rate of sexual assault, and oftentimes discussion of it is swept away and never discussed in detail. Catharsis Project wants to change all that. They’re asking for women to come forward and tell their stories. Folks can be anonymous if they need to.

Here’s the link if you are interested: http://interpretivescreaming.tumblr.com/post/20419594897/catharsis-trans-womens-stories-of-sexual-violence