New Logo for Our Web Site

Some concerns were expressed regarding the use of a modified version of the logo of Heritage Village Recreation Club (see our first post) . It was intended to reflect the Village content but not to claim "official status" or put burden of responsibility on the Club. A new logo has been designed which could be used in the future for both the Web site and the Community Wifi portal.

For 20 years, the signage at Heritage Village has displayed a galloping horse. Some say it is a rocking horse, some say it gallops on a meadow. Our project for a Web Site and Community Wifi wants the old horse to take flight, into cyberspace to lift our spirits.

Pegasus is the flying horse from Greek mythology, symbolic of knowledge and inspiration. According to legend, the birth of both wine and art occured when Pegasus' hooves unleased the sacred Spring of the Muses. Today he can be seen in the sky as the star constellation Pegasus, and is still the symbol for immortality of the soul.

For Heritage Village residents who feel that a rocking horse is more appropriate for a retirement community, our new logo is also a "rocking horse-fly". Alice met such a mythical creature when she went Through the Looking-Glass. We want to inspire more Seniors to seek the Looking-Glass of their computers, and see the new world of the Internet.

For Christmas: 1 laptop per needy Child

This past month saw the first production run in China of the new educational tool, the " XO-Laptop" developed by One Lap Top per Child Foundation of Cambridge, Massachussetts. Read about it at: http://www.laptopgiving.org/

If you think that education of children is important to bring third-world communities out of poverty, this charitable project may be of interest. Between now and December 31, 2007, you can donate a laptop computer to a child in one of the poorest nations of the world, and at the same time, receive an XO Laptop, to give to a child in your life. The XO Laptop was initially called the "$100 Laptop" but cost over-runs during development drove the price closer to $200. For the Give One, Get One program, the donation of $400 (US) covers the gift to the needy child and the gift to your own child.

Even though it may look like a toy, the X0 laptop is an amazingly capable machine with features not available on any retail laptop. For example, it is "Wifi mesh" capable, meaning it can connect to any other WiFi-enabled laptop within a few hundred feet, and to the Internet through a WiFi hot spot. It is so energy efficient, it can run on solar panels. It is rugged enough to drop from a 4 foot table, having no hard drive to damage, using instead a 1GB flash memory.

Could this educational tool also work for seniors who don't have computers but would like to e-mail and browse? I'm going to find out. Marge and I have donated to the One Lap Top Per Child program. We still have one child in our house looking for a Christmas toy: me.

E-mail and Web browsing without Computers

We are in an age of technological change like no other. Yesterday's purchase is history before we have had time to learn its feaures. Such rapid change in the computer industry and telecommunications is causing many seniors to throw in the towel and just ignore the new opportunities provided by the "information age".

At a time when some seniors are losing their mobility and traditional contact with relatives and friends, they should be taking advantage of new ways to communicate and "see" the world. The World-Wide-Web has opened up "virtual travel" to anywhere for everyone. E-mail and Instant Messaging and video conferencing allows people to interact and even "meet" visually if not physically. Many seniors have embraced such new technology and their lives have been enriched. Others shun it because of the cost and complexity if they don't have a computer geek in the family to set things up. Is there a better way to spread the benefits of the technology revolution? Can seniors without computers and Internet connections participate?

New hand-held devices less intimidating than fully loaded computers can now handle the functions of e-mail and web browsing. Internet access can now be set up as a wireless connection called "WiFi". Out of sight, out of mind: only the computers and cell phones know it is there.

I am currently investigating two devices that have the potential to help seniors communicate: the XO Laptop, a new Wi-fi enabled tablet computer designed at MIT, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and a hand-held Internet tablet from Nokia, the Nokia N800. Anyone who has some experience with these devices, please leave a comment.