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LodatoClan@aol.com
I have been fighting MS, in specific SPMS, for the last thirty years and now I am acripple in a wheelchair.
Over the years I have worked as a Correspondence Secretary for a Californian StateSenator, now the Insurance Commissioner of California. Later I taught, in theSilicon Valley, English as a second language to many high tech people from all overthe world. At present I am in the process of writing important books and technicalarticles. I enjoy being busy. However, after fighting off an assault of multiplesclerosis (MS), my hands can no longer type.
I am quadriplegic and most people when they see me cannot deal with my problems. Iam a useless cripple in their eyes, a burden on society.
But my aging geek husband and caregiver, a Hungarian revolutionary, said it well:"nobody is a cripple on the Internet". The Internet is a great equalizer, thegreatest ever invented.
So we had to put it in a poem. Poems are a great and short way to communicate,perfect for the Internet especially on small size screens like a mobile phone or aPDA.
Sickness, sickness everywhere
So hard for one to stay alive
Caregivers, they surely care
Swamped, they work in overdrive
Handicapped folks are all out there
With the Internet they all thrive
Crippled ones, most people they scare
But on the Web they are equal, they strive
The Internet can also be great benefit or extreme danger to mankind, just like theatomic energy and weapons development. So maybe there is a third Hungarian, myhusband Laszlo, (in addition to Dr. Edward Teller and Dr. Leo Szilard) who can claimthe potential destruction or the potential safety of mankind based on the power ofthe Internet and his contributions to it.
The Internet, unfortunately, is a great tool for destructive elements in ourpopulations: the terrorists, the sexual abusers, the pedophiles, the scam artistsand many others. The terrorists use it to recruit, organize, educate, propagandizethe 1.2 billion Islamic population.
Each new great invention has the potential for both uses: doing great good, butdoing great evil as well.
The atomic bombs are a great example. The bomb may have threatened the world withtotal and complete destruction but that very potential most probably eliminated theCold War turning into the Third World War between the West and the Soviets. Thepotential of mutual total destruction has done the job.
Now the H-bombs fusion technology may reduce the reliance on petroleum and solve, inpart, the energy problems of the world before the BioTech based fuels from soy,corn, sugar cane and other plants, with their BioTech enhanced DNA to producegreater amounts of BioDiesel, are made available on the massive scale.
In order to continue writing, I now rely on voice recognition technology to do mytyping for me. Baby boomer that I am, I must learn new tricks of the trade, with newtools of the trade, taking into account the effects of my multiple sclerosis. Onceconnected to my new technology, I feel connected to the world via email and wordprocessing.
Voice recognition technology is still in its infancy, and has provided me with someamusing and frustrating moments. Finding a voice recognizable to readers is tricky.Finding a voice recognizable to a computer is even trickier. But voice recognitionplus my husband who works as my InfoBot: I tell him what I want and he keyboards itinto the computer, thus he is an information robot of mine. These capabilities allowme to become involved with the world in spite of my quadriplegic condition. I findthis involvement very beneficial for my mental conditions and even my physical wellbeing. By concentrating on something which is worthwhile I do not feel that anybodywho reads my articles pays any attention to the fact that I am handicapped.
In order to connect to the Internet one must have a PC (personal computer) and theWindows version by Microsoft just simply will not do. Windows based PCs by Microsoftare maddeningly complex, insanely unreliable and criminally expensive.
The Internet can be very good and it can be summed up in the following poem:
Data, data everywhere, not one chance to think;
Email, email overbear, one can hardly blink;
Virus, virus constant scare, Windows, you sure stink;
Promo, promo all unfair, in trivia we sink;
But,
Info, info searched with care, to knowledge one can link.
What we need is a simple, reliable, clean, low cost PC like the ones running Linuxand just equip them with a search capability, e-mail features, instant messagingfeatures and simple document generation capabilities. That is all needed to getinvolved.
Maybe a courageous company like Wal-Mart with the help of Google and Sun alliancewill do this for the 100 million people in need: the disabled, the chronically illand the frail elderly as well as their 44 million caregivers: family and friends.This 144 million population segment is just in the USA, and it is the same all overthe world especially in the group of ten nations.
The Internet is a great tool for PsychoNeuroImmunology (PNI), the medical term forthe potential of getting involved thus helping the people in need to improve theirphysical conditions.
There is increasing scientific interest in the area of brain-immune systeminteractions and the physiological changes that are induced by activation of theimmune system. It is apparent that behavioral and psychological factors can modifythe function of the immune system and health. Susceptibility to viral infections,activation of latent viral infections, and relapses/remissions in patients with HIVpositive individuals are influenced by interactions between the brain, endocrine,nervous, and immune systems. Stress and other behavioral and psychological factorsmay be linked to disease susceptibility and progression.
The best way to control someone's chronic conditions or disabilities is throughinvolvement and the PNI effects such activity brings about.
Most of the 100 million population segment of the USA who are in need have majordifficulties to participate in face to face group interaction which would be verybeneficial to bring about PNI effects. But they can do it in a "virtual" manner viathe Internet: instant messaging, blogs, emails, group teleconferencing are allpotential tools offered by the Internet.
Janine M. LodatoP.O.Box 838SAN ANDREAS, CA.95249-838~|__( o )\_http://www.publishedautho rs.net/janinemlodato/bio.html http://journals.aol.com/lodato clan/StemCellResearch/ http://www.publishamerica.com /greetingcardpro/createcard1.a sp?PostCardID
