Do something Now!

The countdown is on! 11 days from now the Central Park Challenge will happen! Act NOW to make a difference in the life of a child, an adult or a senior citizen with developmental and learning disabilities!

Here is what you can do to help:

1. Click here and make a donation of whatever you can afford
2. Form a team online and raise funds, or
3. Spread the word (by sending the URL to friends and family, encouraging them to help out too)

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment, or signing up for email or RSS updates. You can also e-mail me at pbaffour.wordpress@gmail.com. Thank you.

Can you make a difference?

Disclaimer

The views expressed below are the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views YAI/NIPD Network or any of it’s affiliates, or its Board of Directors or the people they represent.

I blogged about the Central Park Challenge in the past (please click here to visit that blog post), but I don’t think I said much about the organization that’s responsible for this wonderful day: YAI/National Institute for People with Disabilities Network.

The YAI/NIPD Network has been creating hope for people with disabilities for over 50 years. Most people who know about this organization usually know one thing: that it’s a “national leader in the provision of services, education and training in the field of developmental disabilities”. What people might not know is that the YAI/NIPD Network is a leader in the fight for human rights. You can read here about a recent gorundbreaking lawsuit won by the YAI/NIPD Network, that has major implications for the future of housing for people with developmental disabilities and their families.

Please help support YAI’s great work by clicking on the photo below and:

1. Making a donation of JUST $10 (or more if you can afford it)
2. Forming a team and raising funds, or
3. Spreading the word (by sending the URL to friends and family, encouraging them to help out too)

You can also view YAI/NIPD Network’s photostream on flickr here . You can also see YAI’s video’s here.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment, or signing up for email or RSS updates. You can also e-mail me at pbaffour.wordpress@gmail.com. Thank you.

CNN, your daily source of useless News!

If any other media outlet reported on this, I probably wouldn’t waste my time chewing them out. But when CNN publishes a story about someone calling another person “sweetie” (read it here), and attempts to pass it as “serious” news, I begin to wonder what the hell is going on?! With all the catastrophes going on around the world, with all the wars, natural disasters, falling cranes in NYC, police abuse of power, racism, and the ever worsening economic situation of this country, CNN finds the time to go after Barack Obama for calling someone sweety!

Now, I understand that some may find that a little derogatory, and I can accept that– though I don’t think it is. Many people who commented on that article said they had the same habit– and seriously, who hasn’t slipped up and called someone they shouldn’t have honey, hon, babe, sweetie, darling etc. before? My point is, It might not be right, but it happens UNINTENTIONALLY! AND he apologized!

And WHAT in the world is wrong with the people who use this as a basis on whether or not to vote for him?! I thought we had thinking people in this country. If you don’t want to vote for him, base it on his policies damnit, and not on the fact that he called some lady sweetie!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment, or signing up for email or RSS updates. You can also send me e-mails at pbaffour.wordpress@gmail.com. Thank you.

Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!!

Just read this and here’s what I think:

If the pilot of this plane is really that dumb, he SHOULDN’T be flying the plane in the first place! This whole thing might have been a set-up by the passenger and his “friend” who works for jetblue (or not), but that’s not the point. The point is that the pilot should have had more sense, and controlled his flight attendant, and asked them to remain seated in the jump seat– after all, they had already agreed to let the passenger have the other seat– instead of bullying him into the toilet. At the very least, he could have offered him the jump seat as opposed to the toilet!

Besides how dumb the pilot is, I feel bad for jetblue for having such poor staff training. Please leave your comments.

Amendment to “Stab-In-The-Dark-Innovation: Plausible?”

So, soon after I made my last post “Stab-In-The-Dark-Innovation: Plausible?”, I recieved and e-mail from Mr. Joachim Breitner letting me know he had responded to a comment I left after I read his blog Nomeata’s Mind Shares.

After reading his respose, I realized that I probably wasn’t too clear about what I said, so I replied to his response. I posted his response and my response below to help you understand better. You can find another one of his blogs here: http://planet.openghana.org/

Joachim Breitner:

Hi Papa,

I wasn’t there for the money (although it was nice to get it, of course), but I went in the spirit of a volunteer – so I went when I felt that it would fail.

Nevertheless I think the trip would have been worth it for SOSHGIC if it had been used properly. Some of the skills I hoped to teach to the kids were rare in Ghana and valuable everywhere else and would have benefitted them.

Ah, and I just find your blog entry at http://pbaffour.wordpress.com/2008/05/14/stab-in-the-dark-innovation-plausible/
and it has a slightly different tone than your comment here , and I agree with what you said there. Please note though that it wasn’t really missing research that caused the failure, but missing internal agreement or even communication.

And BTW, I wasn’t played “a lot” for the standards of a German university student, but it wasn’t cheap for a Ghanian school either.

Papa (Me):

Hi Joachim, thanks for getting back to me. And thanks for seeking out my blog too. I’m really sorry if it sounded a little “stiff” and cold– I can assure you it wasn’t aimed at you. The point I was trying to make in the blog (which I think I need to clean up a bit more) was that SOSHGIC did not do the research THEY needed before deciding that they needed someone to teach Linux. I’ve looked through your blog, so I know you’re very competent in your area of expertise, so again, I do NOT blame you at all for wanting to leave. Rather, I blame SOSHGIC for not taking the time to do the research into how to make sure the students took full advantage of your skills, BEFORE asking you to come in. I hope this clarfies my point.

Also, I agree with you, you probably were not paid “a lot” by German high school standard. I’ll make an amendment to my posting.

Again thanks for going out and trying to help. I am in NY and I work for a non-profit, so I fully understand the heart of a volunteer. Thank you and stay blessed.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment, or signing up for email or RSS updates. Thank you.

Stab-In-The-Dark-Innovation: Plausible?

NOTE/Disclaimer: I only have one side of this story, so if you have any information concerning this issue, please leave a comment or send me an e-mail at pbaffour.wordpress@gmail.com and I will post it for you as an update to this blog. Thanks

I love my high school…It’s LARGELY responsible for the person I am today and I will forever be greatful to everyone involved in making that experience happen. AND because I love my school so much, I just had to write this blog post to help it do better. I look forward to some interesting comments.

I just read a little blog post by a guy who was hired by my high school to teach Linux. You can go here to read it if you’re interested. Anyway, this post kinda got under my skin a little bit and got me thinking: why would they do that? Why would they find a guy from Germany and give him money (a lot, i’m sure), pay for shipping/ freight and housing, to come teach Linux? The only logical conclusion was that he would be providing an invaluable service that merited all the expenses. However, after reading the blog to the end (and still being in touch with my high school), I realize this Linux program bore no fruit! My brother just graduated and doesn’t know the first thing about Linux. Another brother is still there, and hasn’t mentioned Linux to me (I’ll ask him about it).

I am a HUGE fan of innovation and creativity– how couldn’t I be after being a business major at Whittier College and studying under Dr. Jeff Decker ? But I’m can not, with any logic, business or otherwise, support innovation wich isn’t backed by research. And it seems that this is exactly what happened in this case. According to the posting, there was no interest– absolutly NONE– in the Linux initiative, thus leading this guy to resign. Which only means, the executives who hired this guy didn’t do their homework before making that decision– or they made a decision because it sounded “cool”, not because it would actually do something for the students.

See, the thing that gets to me is that they wasted money on this guy (who by the way I think is an amazing person for resigning– he could have stayed on an kept taking the money) without first assessing what exactly they needed Linux for or if there would be some interest in it. At the very least, they could have made Linux a required part of the Computer Science course in SOS if they were going to spend all this money on this Linux guy. If his primary purpose there was to implement a system (as opposed to teach), then they should have instituted mandatory hours during the week, when all staff and students went to learn Linux.

Anyway, my whole rant aside, I know that the people who run SOS HGIC are some of the smartest I ever met (yes, I really believe that), so they must have has some good reason to hire this guy. I’d really like to read some comments from people who have any idea what this thing was all about.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment, or signing up for email or RSS updates. Thank you.

Is it really spam? Hell yeah it’s really spam!

Have you received some automatically generated comments that have been blocked by Akismet? Are you unsure whether or not these comments are spam (THEY ARE!)? Check out this blog for answers to your questions: http://blog.akismet.com/2007/11/27/it-really-is-spam/

Me T-Mobile wing – Part 2

Issue 2 – The Java e-mail application isn’t working

The my last blog about my TMO Wing phone, I ranted about how I went on a holy grail quest to find a way to make the e-mail application that comes with the phone to work. And I found the answer and brought it to you! Today, I’m going to rant a little about another e-mail related problem with my TMO wing.

Most if not all of you have heard about GMAIL going mobile with a Java based app for your wm6 phone (other requirements apply– see here). If not, just google it and it should come up–and here’s a link that downloads the app directly to your phone, gmail.com/app. Just enter it into your phone browser. The problem with this mobile app though is that it doesn’t work…well, not for me anyway, and a couple hundred (if not thousand) other people as I’ve discovered. See, just like I did with the problem before, i’ve been to internet heaven and hell, trying to find a solution to this problem, but this problem is a little different– it seems this app worked for some people right out of the box, whilst others just can’t seem to get it to work.

The classic symptom of this app not working are is an certificate error massage when you try to download your messages with the app:

“Sorry, Gmail for mobile will not work on your phone. Your phone doesn’t have the appropriate certificate to communicate with the server. Try accessing Gmail for mobile in your mobile browser at http://mail.google.com”

THE SOLUTION: Now, in some forums, i’ve found that downloading a verisign class 3 public certificate directly to your phone solved the problem for people, so here’s the link if you want to try that: https://www.verisign.com/cgi-bin/support/rootcert/getrootcert.cer

yes, I know it’s a long link, but it’s work the finger exercise if it gets the app to work for you. If this doesn’t work… Well, I have no idea how to fix your problem though i’m still looking and will bring you an update as soon as I find one. In the meantime, Please leave a comment if you have some ideas on how this problem can be fixed. Thank you!

Barack Obama on disabilities

My T-Mobile Wing

So, after sticking with sprint for about 6 years, I finally grew tired of their crap; the random extra charges, bad service, crappy non-gsm phones (though they suddenly seem to have some good ones)…you get the idea. I made the decision to change change my sprint service on a kinda whim, as I was standing on the corner of 14th st and 6th ave. I walked across the street, walked into a store and said, “I’d like to change my service please. And while you’re at it, could I have a new phone.”

I started to looked through the stacks and spreads of phones on display and very soon fell in love with the look and feel of the TMO Wing. So I got it. Let me just say here that the Wing is probably the most amazing phone in North America right now (because we all know that the Japanese probably have a phone that flies and fits in your cuff links!). O.k, so maybe it kinda ties with the I-phone, but It’s got some pretty awesome features- check out netfxharmonics for a some reflections on the TMO Wing.

Anyway, I’m not going to reinvent the wheel– the above link will have almost EVERYTHING you want to know about the awesomeness of the Wing. I will instead be publishing some issues AND solutions I’ve encountered since I got my phone about a week and a half ago.

Issue 1 – Can’t get my e-mail on my T-mobile Wing.

The Wing, right out of the box, allows you to set up your e-mail and have it downloaded to the “desktop” of your phone, so that with just a touch of your fingertip or styllus, you can read all your e-mail! It supports pretty much any e-mail you use– from outlook to gmail and more! Now that’s all dandy init? Until you realize it doesn’t work, then it’s a pain in the butt! Basically what was happening was that though my e-mail was supposed to be all set up by following the VERY intuitive leads the phone gave (i.e. e-mail address field means enter your e-mail address, password field means enter PW etc.), I didn’t see any e-mail in my inbox on the phone! I tried re-setting my phone 3 times, setting up the e-mail account again 5 times and everything else in between. the I spent precious sleep hours online scouring the web for an answer, but many people had the same issues I did, and others had no problem at all when setting up from the box– there just was no answer…that is until this afternoon when I stumbled across a forum that gave me the answer. You can see the forum here if you’re interested–it’s the last post.

THE SOLUTION: When entering the “username” make sure it reads “recent:’username’” SO, a username like ‘john.smith’ would read “recent:john.smith”. That’s it! Please don’t ask me why or how, but I can tell you that that’s all it takes to stop you from pulling out your hair in frustration! If it doesn’t work and you figure something else out, please, PLEASE post it in the comments section and share with other readers. If on the other hand it does work, please feel free to stroke my ego for helping you out . Good luck.