With CES winding down, the SlashGear crew now has some time to take a step back and consider what just happened. We learned a lot, saw a lot, and walked away mostly excited for the future. The Internet of Things is still alive and well, but there’s another topic we’d like to discuss today: wearables. the darling of CES 2014 … Continue reading
The decision of Taiwan’s Ma administration to release former President Chen Shui Bian brought joy and relief to many of Mr. Chen’s followers. But joy quickly turned to grief when the public learned the release was for 30 days only. After that time, health officials will determine whether Chen’s health has improved enough for him to return to prison. In other words, if Mr. Chen starts seriously making progress, he will be returned to prison, so that he can be ill again. Is it a joke or a continuing vengeance?
This 30-day limit on medical parole has never been applied before; it was tailor made for Mr. Chen only. Can he survive a return trip to prison or will he be willing to surrender himself without an attempt on his own life? Will his 85 years old mother survive a second loss of her son?
This kind of release is not a humanitarian gesture but an embarrassment. The Ma administration should hope the outside world pays no attention to it. Sending a prisoner home to recover from prison induced illnesses is contradictory at best. A patient on the mend needs time, space and care to recover fully; one who knows that getting healthy means a return to jail does not have that care. One is condemned for getting better. Doctors treating him may also fear they will be condemning him to death by curing him as well.
Is this the wisdom of President Ma? Is it his justice department? If it is the latter, Ma should fire them. If this is President Ma himself, then he needs to recover himself from his self inflicted mental wound. If people in Taiwan allow this to happen, the joke is on Taiwan.
Mr. Chen’s medical recovery will take time. His decline is the result of six years of brutality in prison. The first four years were filled with flash visits to hospitals at 4:00 in the morning; a perpetually burning bright light in his cell so a surveillance camera could monitor his every move; time out of his cell was limited to 30 minutes at most; his cell mate and Mr. Chen had to sleep on the floor, unable to stretch fully, among the defense files stacking up to waist high; and little attention to Mr. Chen’s quickly declining health issues. Now he is being told he gets 30 days to get better only to land back to jail. I have written that the pursuit of Mr. Chen has been vengeance. It is cruel and unusual treatment for sure, and this kind of nonsense proves it once more.
Whether in life or death, all presidents, unless they committed treason, remain symbols of their nation. It is the respect not only to the person but also to the presidency. The responsibility of the presidency provides the person with unique perspective, experience, and wisdom, which a country should treasure. Mr. Chen, the former President of Taiwan, was severely hurt and nearly killed in inhuman imprisonment conditions. This blot on the history of Taiwan is barely cleansed with his release, but do we want even more shame by a second attempt on his life? Will the people in Taiwan have the wisdom, if their vengeful government has none, to treasure their national symbol?
Mr. Chen has served six hard years in jail. An American governor of Virginia, Bob McDonnell, just got sentenced to two years for corruption. If and when Mr. McDonnell goes to jail, the jail system won’t be designed to kill him or to inflict serious mental and physical wounds to him. It will be a minimal security prison and in truth will be an easy stay with lots of benefits to the prisoner. Compare this to Taiwan. Many of the corruption charges against Mr. Chen have been tossed. More may or may not be thrown out, but the original charges that many Taiwanese once believed are no longer defensible. Thus, given the time served and that the controversial charges against Mr. Chen might still be thrown out, is it not time to simply release the man? My advice is this: leave him alone to live as he sees fit in a democracy that has respect for medical recovery as well as legal propriety.
Doctors know that incontinence and shaking of hands, as well as mental trauma, are not corrected quickly, if ever. Do not Mr. Ma and his advisers know this? Surely they do. It seems that Ma’s government does not give a damn that the man is ill and needs time to recover fully.
People in Taiwan must rally to this broken man. During the two-hour ride home, Mr. Chen revealed to his son that he had endured six years of darkness for the sunshine to be with his mother, his wife, his children and grandchildren as a free man. People in Taiwan must keep this light of hope shining by dispersing the dark cloud of a 30-day limit imposed by the KMT/Ma government of vengeance.
The winter brings cold, dry and dreadfully dark mornings. The happy jaunt that a run from a brisk Fall day provided is now a distant memory, and all you can do is focus on keeping warm while doing your best to stop the cold from completely taking over. Layers are the only thing that will slow the chill to your core, but if you live in an area running a bit low on street lamps, you’ll still need light if you want to keep to your regular routine.
The best place to put a light for running would be on your noggin so that it stays in one place, and isn’t constantly jostled. The X-Cap does just that, while simultaneously adding another layer to your winter garb. This is a beanie with an integrated LED lamp that has three different light intensities. You can choose how bright you want your light to be through the push of a button, and it can shine up to 120 lumens onto your path. This is a one-size-fits-all deal, so those with exceptionally large or small heads may want to see to a more accommodating option.
Seeing that this hat will keep your head warm and provides light, it would also be great for work, walking, and seeing the keyhole at night after coming home from a long day. This will cost you around $31, which sounds about right for a hat and a light combination. This will provide 4 hours of light, and needs an equal amount of time to charge through USB.
Available for purchase on Unikia
[ The X-Cap makes sure a morning run doesn’t happen in the dark copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
If there’s one thing Detroit in January needs, it’s a new convertible, but GM couldn’t resist bringing the new 2016 Buick Cascada drop-top along to the show. The 2+2 has a soft-top, rather than the more fashionable retractable solid roof other convertibles sport, and is a rebadge of the Opel Cascada already available in Europe. That includes an engine perhaps … Continue reading
Fuhu is known for Nabi, its brand of kid-friendly tablets. The current top of the line Nabi is the Big Tab HD 24, a 24″ tablet. But this year Fuhu is expanding the Big Tab line with 32″, 43″, 55″ and 65″ models, with the latter two equipped with a 4K display. You whippersnappers and your fancy toys.
Aside from the expected WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity, the new Big Tab tablets will also have NFC, an HDMI input and up to 40-point capacitive touch. They will run on NVIDIA’s new Tegra X1 mobile chip, which is designed to handle 4K videos and “PC-like” gaming.
The tablets have a kid-friendly mode, but you can also unlock their full capabilities at any time and run them like a normal Android tablet.
In case you didn’t watch the videos, the new Nabi Big Tabs will be released later this year. The 55″ tablet will cost $2500 (USD) while the 65″ tablet will go for $4000.
[via Fuhu, Network World & Laptop Mag via Gadgetify]
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — From Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello in Virginia to Pennsylvania’s Gettysburg, an ambitious memorial is slowly sinking roots: the planting of 620,000 trees representing the Civil War’s human toll.
With only about 2,000 trees in the ground, the goal of the nonprofit Living Legacy Project will likely extend well beyond the Civil War’s Sesquicentennial, which concludes this year. The project is undaunted, with 8,000 plantings already scheduled in 2015. Organizers are looking ahead to another milestone for completion of the $65 million memorial — the war’s bicentennial.
The project is part of the Journey Through Hallowed Ground Partnership, a national heritage tourism nonprofit that aims to highlight the rich American history along the 180-mile route through Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia and Virginia.
Chevrolet is set to reveal a second hybrid EV, the Chevrolet Bolt, in concept form at the Detroit Auto Show on Monday, insiders claims, as a pre-emptive strike against the upcoming cheaper Tesla. The Bolt – its name a nod to the existing Volt, which itself will be updated for the 2016 model year at Detroit – will reportedly cost … Continue reading
Who would have thought that the humble SD memory card would have evolved beyond that of just storing data – images in particular? Well, we are now truly well into the third generation memory card from Toshiba, known as the Toshiba FlashAir III wireless SD card, and as you can tell by its name, this is one particular SD memory card that doubles up as its very own wireless LAN access point, so that users will be able to share images, videos and files – sans any kind of wires. Now, thanks to its enhanced photo sharing and management features, users are able to quickly designate just which particular photos they want to instantly share, not to mention the files being easily manageable straight from a web browser on a PC.
With the Toshiba FlashAir III wireless SD card, one will be able to experience speedy data transfers in order for users to quickly upload their images and videos. The FlashAir III Wireless SD Card’s Internet pass-through feature opens up the door for users to access the card and Internet (through your separate wireless router, of course) simultaneously, hence enabling the ability to upload images in real-time. Thanks to the integration of a wireless LAN chip, the FlashAir III Wireless SD Card can be made accessible to any wireless capable computers, smartphones or tablets, where it will be able to support simultaneous access from up to seven devices. Not only that, the built-in Wi-Fi access point would also enable transfers without the need for an Internet connection.
Toshiba knows that hardware, without the right kind of software support, is not optimal. Hence, they will be offering a free FlashAir mobile app which makes it a snap to share via iOS and Android-based devices. Each purchase of the Toshiba FlashAir III wireless SD card will be accompanied by a five-year standard limited warranty for that added peace of mind. You can pick it up from March this year onward where it will arrive in 16GB and 32GB capacities, retailing for $79.99 and $99.99, respectively.
Press Release
[ Toshiba FlashAir III Wireless SD Card paves the way for easy sharing copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
Bad Box Art Mega Man is the opposite of Doom Guy. The joke character came from the infamously ugly North American box art of the first Mega Man game. To be more specific, he’s the middle aged version of the dude in that horrendous drawing. ModxToy member momoji brings home the bacon with this custom action figure of Bad Box Art Mega Man.
This dude is the personification of how Capcom has treated the Blue Bomber. Heyo! Head to momoji’s thread on ModxToy to see more shots of the action figure.
[via Kotaku]
I wept when I first heard of Leelah Alcorn’s tragic suicide. I felt her despair in her Tumblr message. Her words touched my heart and made me feel ill all at the same time. I thought about whether I should blog about it since there were already so many wonderful pieces being written. Would my words help bring justice for Leelah? I asked my son if he thought I should write about Leelah’s death. My son’s words propelled me to do just that. He said “Mom, you should, after all you write a blog about raising a transgender teen it would be silly for you not to write about Leelah.” He was exactly right. I know Leelah won’t see or hear my words but I am a spiritual person and I believe somehow her spirit will feel these words and take comfort in them. I strongly hope these words will also bring comfort to other transgender kids everywhere and to their parents as well.
Dearest Leelah,
I need you to not only hear these words but to feel them in your soul. Let them sink in and truly feel them and let them envelope you. I have something very important to convey to you. I need you to know that: I am sorry. I am so very sorry that you didn’t have the love and support from your parents you so richly deserved. I am sorry that there wasn’t someone you felt you could turn to. I am sorry that you felt isolated and alone. I am sorry that you felt you had no hope. I am sorry that your parents couldn’t see past their own ignorance to embrace their daughter instead of condemning her. I want to be angry at your parents and condemn them right back. I want to yell at them and scold them harshly as they scolded you. I want to tell them that they can have their religious beliefs and still love and support their child. I want to but I know it won’t change anything. I know it certainly won’t bring you back. I also know even though your parents are grieving the wrong gender of their child, they are grieving nonetheless. I can only have pity for them and hope they educate themselves and that they one day apologize to you and ask for your forgiveness. Instead of posting your obituary, your parents could have been posting the birth announcement of their beautiful daughter and for that I am sorry most of all.
I need you to know sweet beautiful Leelah that the poignant words you posted before your death have not gone unnoticed. You say in your Tumblr post that your death needs to mean something and that we need to fix society. Leelah please hear this: Your death has meant something and because of you brave beautiful Leelah society is being fixed. There has been an overwhelming amount of support for you. There have been many smart talks on supporting your transgender child and smart articles because of you. Society has listened dear Leelah and you have NOT gone unnoticed. There is now a petition with over 300,000 signatures (including mine) to stop the very damaging conversion therapy. This petition asks for a law to stop conversion therapy and this law will rightfully be called: Leelah’s Law. Dearest Leelah your life has mattered as a matter of fact your life has become legendary. You had more wisdom in your 17 years on this earth than most people have in a lifetime.
I am so sorry that you didn’t get to attend your high school prom as the young lady you were. I am sorry that you didn’t get to legally change your name to what it should have been. I am so very sorry that you couldn’t dress as the lovely young lady you were everywhere. I am so sorry that you couldn’t take female hormones and have surgery to transform your body into the female body you should have had all along. I am further sorry that you didn’t get to fall in love with the man of your dreams and that your father didn’t get to walk you down the aisle with pride. You Leelah deserved all of those wonderful moments and so much much more.
I regret that you didn’t see one of my blogs and reach out to me. I post my email: transparentmary@gmail.com after every blog so that kids in transition and their parents can reach out to me for support and they do every day. I would have replied to you Leelah that you were a beautiful young lady and that even if your mother couldn’t find it in her heart to support you that I would support you and love you. I would have told you that you matter and to please not give up. I need kids out there who are transgender and their parents to please know I am there for them. They must know if they email me that I promise to answer every single email and to be a support for them. I need parents to know there is support for them too. I moderate a private Facebook group called: Parents of Transgender Children. Parents can send a request to join and then email me at: transparentmary@gmail.com as every request is screened for safety and privacy of our members and I will then add them. Our group has reached over 1300 supportive and caring members worldwide and we continue to grow every day.
I started this letter dear Leelah as an apology to you and I will end it as a thank you. Your untimely death will pave the way for my son and for transgender kids everywhere. It will give them the hope that may be lacking in their lives. They will now have the very hope you should have had. As Harvey Milk said: “I know that you cannot live on hope alone, but without it life is not worth living. and you.. and you.. and you.. gotta give em hope.” I promise Leelah I will not stop until there is hope for all. Rest in peace sweet angel.
With Love,
Mary
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Mary J. Moss is a feisty single mom to a terrific 16 year old boy who just happens to be transgender.
Email me at: transparentmary@gmail.com
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
