» On 8/16/2025 06:33:00 AM Mountain Standard Time, Alan wrote:
Tap Anywhere© To Silence Alarm? 

When your phone alarm goes off, do you struggle to find the button that stops it? Tap Anywhere© is a feature that could be incorporated on any platform - iOS, Android or other - to make it easy for groggy users to silence their alarms. It allows you to turn off an alarm by simply tapping any part of the phone's touchscreen.

Advantages:
Convenience - easy to silence or snooze an alarm, especially when half-asleep.
Accessibility - helpful for users with visual impairments who may find it difficult to locate small buttons on a screen.

UPDATED THREADS: Apple (nuked: "not constructive") ~ Android (nuked: "irrelevant") ~ FB (shake to silence) ~ IG ~ LI
©2025 Alan C. Baird

Labels: ta

 
» On 8/10/2025 05:00:00 AM Mountain Standard Time, Alan wrote:
R.I.P. Julia Lynn [Higgins] O'Connell (16 Dec 1956 - 21 Jul 2025; Age 68). 

KITTERY [MAINE] - Julia Lynn Higgins O'Connell died July 21, 2025 in her home in Kittery, after a long battle with cancer. Julia was born in Alameda, CA to Richard (Dick) Higgins and Nancy (Flint) Higgins on December 16, 1956. The oldest of four children, she spent her childhood in California and Cape Cod. Driven, principled, and independent, Julia lived an incredible life filled with world-spanning adventures, advocacy for the environment, and the joy of art and dancing. Through her actions, she showed that life is what you make it: glass ceilings, stature, and traditional expectations need not get in the way of doing what is right or wonderful. Julia's life was filled with incredible experiences driven by her adventurous spirit. At the University of New Hampshire, she competed on a world-class crew team. In 1977, she fought wildfires in California as the only woman on a smokejumper crew. Julia also spent two years bicycling around the world with the friends she met along the way. She was a registered nurse for over 30 years, providing medical care to family and friends. In San Francisco, she volunteered her medical expertise at a free clinic for 10 years. She also believed in keeping the body healthy through yoga, which she taught and promoted to friends and family. Throughout her life, Julia was an intrepid defender of the environment who found opportunities for change, spoke out bravely, and organized the communities she lived in to make it happen. In the 1990s, she helped protect pristine environments by working towards the creation of the Santuit Pond Preserve on Cape Cod. She monitored water quality in Cotuit, MA, every month for five years. As a member of the Cotuit town council, she supported wind energy in the Nantucket sound. Julia continued her environmental work after moving to Maine in 2012. She served on the Kittery Energy and Sustainability Advisory Committee and helped implement energy saving programs by engaging with local businesses, students, and citizens. In 2019, she was the first woman elected to the water district Board of Trustees where she worked to protect drinking water and improve forest management. She initiated the rewriting of the 100 year old charter which was signed into law in 2021, enabling all water users the right to vote. Ever the artist, Julia sang in choirs and attended contra dances wherever she lived. She made pottery, bronze sculpture, and paintings that brought greater awareness to social and environmental issues and celebrated the beauty of nature and the human form. Julia was keenly aware that her journey was enabled by the thousands of friends she met along the way and the big spirit that surrounds and supports us all. She was especially grateful for the love, support, and assistance from her loving partner, Mike Thompson. He was a man for all of her seasons. Julia was predeceased by her partner, Mike, earlier this year; her father, Dick, in 2002 and her mother, Nancy, in 2005. She is survived by her three younger siblings: Richard Higgins and his wife Kim, Brian Higgins and his wife Aviva, and Phyllis Higgins, as well as a niece and nephews, grand-nieces, and grand-nephews. Julia's life will be celebrated at a memorial service on September 20, at 2 p.m. at the South Church Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Portsmouth, NH.
--The Weekly Sentinel, Friday August 8, 2025: https://theweeklysentinel.com
p12: https://issuu.com/weeklysentinel/docs/ws_aug._8_2025/12

It is with great sadness that we share news of Julia O'Connell's passing. Julia was a longtime member who frequently exhibited and volunteered with the KAA. She was an expert at delivering one-liners and sharing surprising facts. Julia left her career in nursing to fight wildfires in California before moving East. She could often be found doing yoga at sunrise at Seapoint Beach. A member of the Seacoast Moderns, Julia saw art as a medium to promote social change, self awareness, and a greater appreciation of the beauty in and around us. When she was not sculpting with clay or volunteering in the arts, she devoted her time to climate advocacy through her work with the Kittery Water District, Energy Maine, and The Kittery Land Trust. Julia was a force of nature and will be dearly missed.
--Kittery Art Association, Friday, August 1, 2025:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DM0oQ7Yxkl7

Labels: jo

 
» On 8/01/2025 12:05:00 AM Mountain Standard Time, Alan wrote:
Famous People With Myasthenia Gravis. Plus Anecdotes. 

[I was diagnosed with MG in June.] According to Wikipedia, Aristotle Onassis (billionaire who married Jacqueline Kennedy in 1968) died in 1975 at age 69 of respiratory failure, a complication of the myasthenia gravis from which he had suffered the last years of his life. MG affected his ability to keep his eyelids open. [classic Onassis anecdote] [Rembrandt]

Other famous people with MG include Sir Laurence Olivier (actor, 22 May 1907 – 11 Jul 1989; Age 82; diagnosed @60yo), David Niven (actor, 01 Mar 1910 – 29 Jul 1983; Age 73), Phil Silvers (actor, 11 May 1911 – 01 Nov 1985; Age 74; diagnosed @61yo), Karl Malden (actor, 22 Mar 1912 - 01 Jul 2009; Age 97), Suzanne Rogers (actress, b. 09 Jul 1943; Age 82; diagnosed @41yo), and Monica Seles (tennis legend, b. 02 Dec 1973; Age 51; diagnosed @48yo).

Also, the character of Sleepy (from "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs") was reportedly inspired by a friend of Walt Disney who had MG, exhibiting the well-known symptom of drooping eyelids.

The following interchanges are from a book called Disorder in the Court and were actually said in court, word for word, taken down and published by court reporters...
_______________________________
ATTORNEY: This myasthenia gravis, does it affect your memory at all?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: And in what ways does it affect your memory?
WITNESS: I forget.
ATTORNEY: You forget? Can you give us an example of something you forgot?
_______________________________
ATTORNEY: What gear were you in at the moment of the impact?
WITNESS: Gucci sweats and Reeboks.
_______________________________
ATTORNEY: What is your date of birth?
WITNESS: July 18th.
ATTORNEY: What year?
WITNESS: Every year.
_______________________________
ATTORNEY: So the date of conception (of the baby) was August 8th?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: And what were you doing at that time?
WITNESS: Getting laid.
_______________________________
ATTORNEY: Doctor, how many of your autopsies have you performed on dead people?
WITNESS: All of them. The live ones put up too much of a fight.
_______________________________
ATTORNEY: ALL your responses MUST be oral, OK? What school did you go to?
WITNESS: Oral.
_______________________________
ATTORNEY: How was your first marriage terminated?
WITNESS: By death.
ATTORNEY: And by whose death was it terminated?
WITNESS: Take a guess.
_______________________________
ATTORNEY: Do you recall the time that you examined the body?
WITNESS: The autopsy started around 8:30 PM.
ATTORNEY: And Mr. Denton was dead at the time?
WITNESS: If not, he was by the time I finished.
_______________________________
ATTORNEY: Are you sexually active?
WITNESS: No, I just lie there.

Labels: mg