Great blog post about the true story behind the so-called first Trans-Atlantic telegraph cable from Queen Victoria to the United States...speed so slow...several minutes for each character due to a weak signal.
How did Helen Keller learn to speak and is it usual for other similarly-abled people to be able to learn?
Answer by Tracy Smith:
Here is a link to an account about Helen Keller's attempts to learn oral communication.
The Story of My Life
She first took instruction in 1894. From various accounts I've read, her early training in oral communication was successful only to a certain extent; that how she was trained at first was partly responsible to obtaining results that were less than what she hoped for, and what she would continue to strive to improve. In other words, the early training produced certain habits she would struggle to unlearn.
From early on, she was very interested and determined to speak. She was aware that others communicated this way, and wanted to do so herself. Her teacher, Annie Sulivan also worked with her.
Some people could understand her; children sometimes understood her better than adults. She also learned foreign languages and reportedly, her pronounciation was better in her foreign tongues than in her native english, according to reports.
The link above leads to account of her giving a speech in public. She worked very hard to prepare for it and had some success, because of her hard work and determination.
She also participated in a vaudeville act with her teacher. She would speak a few lines, that the audience could understand; but as the show progressed, if I recall correctly, her teacher (and later her assistant who accompanied her) would "translate" her answers to questions posed to her by members of the audience.
How did Helen Keller learn to speak and is it usual for other similarly-abled people to be able to learn?
Knowing a few good websites helps a librarian provide effective tech help. Here's key websites for creating, sharing, accessing, and formatting files. Software installation not required, and signing up for an account is often not required. Here’s a few I find most helpful:
• Gotfreefax.com—Send up to 2 faxes per day, up to 3 pages per fax free of charge. Upload files to fax. Email access required for receiving a verification email. To send fax, open that email and click on a link to send fax and tracks the faxes' progress in real time.
• Printfriendly.com—Print Friendly removes ads and optimizes a page for print. Paste URL of page into the box to generate a print friendly page. Customize the print friendly page by choosing font size, remove text/images. Options to save the web page to email or save the web page to a PDF file are convenient. No installation required
• Smallpdf.com—Need to convert a PDF file to Word for free? Or convert a PDF to PowerPoint or Excel? This website performs PDF file conversions, including PDF merge, lock, compress split and more. No registration or software download required and no need to provide your email address.
• Onlineocr.net— This free web-based optical character recognition (OCR) service converts scanned PDF to word. Try this when other file conversion services do not work.
Also converts an image files (JPG, BMP, TIFF, GIF) of text into an editable word file. No software installation required; registration not required.
PDFescape.com--Free web-based PDF reader, editor, form filler, and form designer. Use this website to complete a PDF form with typed text. Choose font, text size and other formatting options. Modify existing forms. No software required. Registration not required for a free account. Files must be less than 10 MB and less than 100 pages (for free version).
• Gotresumebuilder.com—Free online resume builder makes resume writing less of a chore. Get in-context resume writing help, fill out the online web form and create a resume faster. Offers a choice of templates. Add, delete, and re-order resume sections to customize the layout. Choose or change fonts, margins, or template and preview changes in real-time. Save and manage many versions of your resume. Download the resume in many formats, including Word, PDF and HTML. Students and library users may request a free premium account; link to request free premium account: http://www.gotresumebuilder.com/account/premiumaccount.aspx (Create a free account first).
• Sumopaint.com Photoshop in your browser without installing anything on your device. This feature-rich photo editor comes with a full suite of photo editing tools needed creating professional images. For a browser based editor, this one works well. No registration required.
• Dispostable.com Get a temporary email address and avoid providing your email address just to access websites.
• Dropbox.com A free account provides 2 GB of cloud storage. Dropbox's simple interface and its compatibility across devices makes it easy to use. Dropbox makes accessing, sharing or saving files from any device easy. Now integrated with Yahoo accounts, Dropbox is a useful solution for sending large files. Share files by web link with anyone. Earn up to 16 GB free space by referring friends or via referral link. Help me earn free space by clicking here to sign up.
• Google Drive—Get 15 GB of cloud storage free. Available to anyone who has a Gmail account and it is accessible from any online device. Your Google drive also comes with free apps for accessing and working with your files. Use Google's apps for editing documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. Discover more apps designed to work with Google Drive in the Chrome Web Store. Link: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/category/collection/drive_apps
All you need is Internet access to use these apps and tools. Do more without having to install software. These web sites particularly useful for provide computer assistance. When patrons call me tech savvy, it’s flattering. What makes me glad is that I was able to help.
Bucket Brigade Saves the Library When Newton Most Disastrous Fire Struck on September 22, 1873
Disaster! Stories of Destruction and Death in Nineteenth Century New Jersey
In this volume, Disaster! Stories of Destruction and Death in Nineteenth-Century New Jersey by Alan A. Siegel, I read a most charming tale about how members of a community, particularly women and children, who started the effort, came together and formed a bucket brigade that saved the library from destruction.
As a Librarian and natural library lover, I find this story a wonderful inspiration within a volume that chronicles major disasters in nineteenth century New Jersey. I love knowing that communities value their libraries as much then as they do today.
The library was built with a gift of $25,000 from Alfred A. Dennis, It was a 3 story building that was said to be fire-proof. However, at the time when worst fire in Newton’s history occured, it’s fire department had been disbanded for several years. An aging fire engine proved of limited use. Efforts to connect fire hoses to a cistern of water were hampered as it proved to be nearly inaccessable. Volunteers spent 30 minutes chopping a hole. However, that effort was useless, as the firehoses, once filled with water, promptly burst.
The town, fearing its business district would soon be destroyed, telegraphed nearby municipalities Morristown, Hackettstown, Washington, Phillipsburg, Orange, Newark, and Hoboken for aid. However, because most telegraph offices were closed for the weekend, only Hoboken received the telegraph and responded. Citizens struggled to rescue possessions from buildings in the fire’s path whenever possible. A bucket brigade, was the only defense to fight the fire.
In the midst of all this, someone thought of the precious library.
As quoted from Newark Evening Courier:
“Separated by an alley from this was the handsome new Dennis library, cherished by the people of Newton as dearly as their household goods. Above the roaring of the flames, the crackling of the fire, the falling of Timbers and the shouts of excited men, was heard a great cry from the multitude that clustered at this point. ‘Save the library.’ The women and children hurried with buckets of water to the scene, and by the activity, courage and assistance animated the man–it was a fierce battle, human energy and devotion fighting against the angry flames, but at the last with the thoroughly drenching roof and walls, and beating down the flaming ruins of the buildings opposite, when the beams of sunrise broke upon the scene, the noble edifice was found to the entirely out of danger.”
The Hoboken Fire company arrived with a steam fire engine, several hours after the fire had been contained. Hoboken’s Steamer No. 1 so impressed the people of Newton, that they decided they must have one. A month after the fire, two new volunteer fire departments in Newton had been organized, and a steam fire engine, pictured below, was aquired.
This Newton steamer fire engine aquired in 1873 and now beautifully preserved. Note the year 1873 engraved on the steamer tank. Photographed in a 2006 parade in Dover.
This library is now part of the Sussex County Library system and has since been relocated to a newer building. The original structure no longer stands, but you can visit Newton’s Fire Museum and view these wonderfully preserved vintage fire fighting engines and equipment.
Sources:
Siegel, Alan A. Disaster! Stories of Destruction and Death in Nineteenth Century New Jersey. New Brunswick NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2014
Wright, Kevin K. Lost Landmark: Library Hall http://www.newtonnj.net/Pages/libraryhall.htm, published 2000. Acessed November 7, 2015.
Newton Steamer engine photo from Youngstownfire.com Forums. http://yngfire.com/index.php?topic=2223.15 Accessed November 7, 2015
Deal, Laura, “Aglow at Newton’s Fire Museum: Embers of Memory.” Sussex County Journal, July 2011, pages 27-28. https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.newtonfiremuseum.org%2Fdocs%2Fsc_journal_072011.pdf Accessed November 10, 2015
Having just read Dewey: the small town library cat who touched the world, I felt inspired to find the tribute album I created for my dear and departed cat Molly. She and I were close and we faced a lot together, but the biggest challenge, was letting her go -- and as it turned out, a struggle to allow her to go on her terms. I wished for her to die at home once medical treatment for her kidney failure was not helping her. But once I checked her out of the veterinary hospital against medical advice, we were in uncharted territory. But in the end, caring for her was a powerful experience that made the end easier to bear...and with some help, we got through it, and Molly was euthanized at home, in my arms, which if death had to come, as it must, this was better than having her die in a hospital. But have you ever heard of hospice for cats? Maybe someday. Follow this link to learn about her life, our bond, and the uncharted territory we walked through so I could have Molly die at home with me, against medical advice, and still know at the end, that I had made the right decision.
4 Monarch caterpillars. The largest is 4 days old, the smallest, 1 day. In the past 3 years monarchs have been more difficult to find and there numbers are way down. My experience bears this out, as it was difficult just to find these. Prior to 2012, I found more monarchs than I could raise.
Monarch caterpillars eat milkweed exclusively and the loss of milkweed to feed on puts this population at risk.
In 10 days to 2 weeks these caterpillars will be mature and ready to make their chrysalis. Until then they will eat a lot and grow.
andulkaphoto
jbbartram-illu
yousharknotpass
annaxmalina
pixelskylines
vaporwave
kianamaiart
blakekathryn
gummygunk