linux

[Charles Crawford]

Thought you all should see this since it praises Linux in our office.  Go 
get 'em team!

-- charlie.



               NEWS NOTES FROM THE NATIONAL OFFICE.

For the week ending August 9, 2002.

      *  ACB and partners meet with FCC commissioner Abernathy.

      A very friendly and productive meeting was held with FCC
commissioner Kathleen Abernathy this week in which many topics
were covered.  ACB, AFB, and NIB met with the Commissioner to
educate her to how blind folks access computer and
telecommunications information so that when issues arise at the
Federal Communications Commission, she will understand our issues
and how they relate to the topic at hand.  We discussed issues
including accessibility to the content and equipment used with
high speed internet, the importance of access to set top boxes
such as cable boxes and to the visual menus presented for
navigation, cel phone access, descriptive video, releasing
spectrum for sale with the money collected to benefit the public
interest rather than just going into the general funds of the
government, and more.  commissioner Abernathy was very gracious
and interested in the issues raised.  While she is only one of
five Commissioners, we believe she is a very fair minded person
and will e helpful to our concerns as she goes through her term
at the FCC.

      *  ACB takes it to the judge.

      As most readers already know, ACB is one of the parties
bringing a law suit against the Center for Medicare and Medicaid
Services for failure to provide a hearing for individuals
adversely impacted upon by that agency deciding to not cover
Visudyne therapy for their Age related Macular Degeneration.
Already new people who were denied these benefits have come
forward and we are optimistic that the court case will be speedy
and helpful to these individuals.

      in a related legal matter, ACB is working with certain
parties to initiate legal proceedings in another area of major
concern to blind people.  We cannot disclose at this point what
the issue is and how we might proceed, but we can say that we are
close to an announcement in this area.

      *  One small step for Skippy and one big step for ACB.

      It's finally happened.  Our Linux computer at the national
office we call Skippy has seen and received files from our
Windows computers.  This means our network data will now be
migrated to the Linux server where it will be more secure and
process more quickly.  the next steps for Skippy are to take on
the responsibility for managing our internet connectivity and to
begin running applications such as our database tools.  Sound
kind of foreign to you?  Well, that's ok.  All we are really
saying is that our national office is moving our computer
operations to a network computer that has an operating system
famous for stability, speed, and comprehensive capacity!  Much
thanks to Janina Sajka, Bill Acker and Frank Carmikle along with
our office manager Dalyn Scott for all they have done to make
this happen.

      *  Fond Farewells and a welcome back?

      the national office bid a fond farewell to Jen Barrow and
her pup Pumpkin as our intern wends her way back to school soon.
We really enjoyed Jen and Pumpkin and wish them every success as
we know they will be great advocates up in Boston for all the
things we care about.  We also said a sweet so long to Bloom who
has been Melanie Brunson's faithful guide for years and now is
looking forward to lots of fun in the back yard and teasing
Melanie's new pup when she gets back!

      In a related story, you'll remember Philip Strong who took
on a long internship with ACB on our pedestrian safety issues.
We've hired an attorney to help us bring Phil back for a time
limited job to finnish up on the work he started within the
greater Washington area.   Phil is from up in Canada and the
paperwork and legal issues of getting someone from outside the
country are certainly doable, but complex!  So look forward to
seeing Phil back in town as soon as we can get him here and we
appreciate the grant monies we have been able to attract to bring
this task to fruition.

      *  a good time was had by all!

      Yup, our big Washington picnic for members and friends was
held yesterday.  OOO, it was great!   Music, friendship,
laughter, and great yummies.  Say, this is the way to spend a
summer Saturday for sure!  The weather cooperated and the folks
had a great time.  So let's get ready for next year!


                                ***

      News notes are a compilation of the highlights of the events
of the preceding week and are not intended to provide a
comprehensive listing of all activities, or treatment of the
topics mentioned.  For information and more detailed treatment of
especially legislative concerns, call the Washington Connection
at 800-424-8666 nights and weekends eastern time.  Be sure to
read the Braille Forum each month and check in with the ACB web
site and radio at WWW.ACB.ORG and WWW.ACBRADIO.ORG respectively.