converting printed books to electronic books

My comment is on rayanshine last blog which is Electronics Texts might not benefit students, Education. I agree with blogger that setting up the device, training teachers, providing uninterrupted internet connectivity and so on are costly to change printed books to electronics . I also agree that printed books are quicker for short look. But, there are some electronic book readers out there for easy access and lighter to carry it around and they can hold tone’s of books at once. And they fit in to a pocket. There would be no more heavy stuff to carry around. I think students would benefit from electronic books. Especially blind students including myself.
it would be a big relief for us if all print books convert to electronics; that way we can get access to all books, newspapers, magazines and so on. Especially getting text books for school is a big challenge for us. Yes we do get our books in Braille or audio format, but that takes a lot of time and it is tiresome for people who records or Braille’s them out. Plus, sometimes, the semester would be over before we get the text books. Not only that, Braille paper is expensive, and Braille takes a lots of space. For example, one print page would be two or more pages in Braille. Because of that, it is heavy to carry it around and takes a large amount of place to store it. Life would be much easier for me and for all blind students if all printed material were to be converted to electronics. We really do get benefit from electronics format. Thanks to technology now a days. We can use computer with screen readers to read electronic books. I can’t wait to see this happen. I understand that blogger’s big concern is today’s economy as it is mine. One thing we can do is pray to all mighty God who can change things around and bless us as he blessed us before. God bless America.

life in Texas

Texas is the best place to live. Especially the city of Austin. I like it because, life is cheaper compared to some other states. There are a couple of reasons that makes Texas the best place to live. One, housing: it is cheaper here in Austin. For instance, the rent for One a bedroom apartment is 500 to 600 dollars a month while it is 900 to 1000 dollar a month in Washington DC or California. Two, Texas has a better educational system compared to some other states; especially public school for kids, it is well organized. Another reason is because there is less crime and better job opportunity here in Texas compared to most other states. Also people in Texas are more friendly and sociable due to the old southern values.
The only problem I find is less transportation. There are a lot of places that City buses don’t go, Like Cedar park, Leander and so on. The train stations are very limited and far from where most people need to go. Because of that, people have to have cars in order to travel around Austin while in other cities or states people don’t have to own a car because there is more public transportation. They can catch a bus or train or subways; and the buses and trains run every five minutes or so. It would be nice if the busses go everywhere in the Austin area and the train station is extended.

This is my first time filling out the census form. I didn’t know what it was and why I have to fill out the form until I learned about it in the class room. And also the blog on “Texas state and local government” made it very clear why we need to fill out the form. The blogger said filling the senses form helps the government to determine how many people live in the house hold and how much money to bring in to Texas. The blogger also told us that filling out the form makes more job available for house of representatives. the blogger did a good job on clarifying why we need to fill out the form, what would happen if we don’t fill out the form the consequences would be drastic.

Metro access

Metro access is a special transportation system for disabled people, especially here in Austin. They have the best service compared to other states and cities. it is a great service. I am one of the frequent users of the metro access, and I am so grateful for it. Without metro access, I wouldn’t be able to go to school or anywhere else around the Austin area.
There are only two things that I suggest metro access should improve. 1) The pickup time. It would be nice if they give us ten minutes waiting time instead of five minutes after they get to our pick up place. five minutes is not enough. Because, some clients needs more time to get to the car depending on their disabilities. 2) The drivers should call us five minutes before they get to us just like taxi cabs. Sometimes, the metro access takes longer to get to us so we have to wait for our ride for more than 30 minutes and that is a waste of our time and it is frustrating . we have to be outside in the rain or heat depending on the weather condition where they can see us when they get there. If we don’t wait for metro access outside, it is hard for the drivers to find us. Especially at big facilities like hospitals, stores, and schools; if they don’t find us after five minutes, they would leave. We don’t want to miss our ride. It would be nice if they give us a call before they get there. Oh!!! One more thing. It would be nice if taxi voucher would be provided for office trips like social security office or other offices just like hospitals and grocery stores. Because, we never know when we finish taking care of our business. Other than that, everything is good. I hope to see these three things improved soon.

"what is in diploma"

I found an article from off the cuff. it is called what is in diplomait is about a group of student from Trinity University who wanted the word “our lord” to be removed from diploma. the editor told us that the student argued over the phrase “our Lord” which appears on the diploma does not include all religion according to Sidra Qureshi, president of Trinity Diversity Connection. He said that “the phrase our Lord directly refers to Jesus Christ. “
Which I believe that it is true . “our Lord” refers to Jesus Christ, my Lord and savior. Amen. The editor did a great job. The writing is clear and easily understandable.

Austin's economy

I found this article in the Austin American statesman called "Austin more than staying afloat". It is about exciting news for Austenite job hunters. Number one, facebook is opening a company with 200 more job opportunities. Number two, Yingli Green Energy Americas, Inc relocating a manufacturing plant with possibly 300 more jobs. I believe this article is well written. The editorial board of the statesman did a great job in making this article exciting and seem less like an essay.
As the editor wrote, Austin has lost about 2,300 jobs between December 2008 and December 2009. If those two great plans go well, approximately 500 jobs will be created here in Austin. The editor told us that Austin, TX and Phoenix, AZ are in competition for the same job creations.
In the article, president Harry Truman defined recession and depression. He said that recession is a neighbor who lost a job and depression is someone who lost his own job. A lot of central Texans are under a depression because under Truman’s definition they lost their job.
I hope facebook and Yingli picks Austin to plant their organizations, because that would help a lot of Central Texans get out of the economic depression, as well as keep Austin’s economy growing.

Texas graduation rate.

Hi all, I read this article from politifact.com called Texas has the 43rd best graduation rate in the United States. I think it would be great if you all would take look at the following article because it makes you aware of Texas struggling with educational retention and the student graduation rate. In the article you will find statistics supporting the decline of graduations compared to some of the other states around the US, such as Vermont and South Carolina. It is sad to see that a proud state like Texas would allow such a thing to happen within its own boundaries.