Santa and his elves send braille letters to children

National Federation of the Blind
Partners with Santa to Promote Braille Literacy

Baltimore, Maryland (November 15, 2010): Once again, Santa has enlisted the help of the elves at the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) Jernigan Institute to get Braille letters out to hundreds of blind boys and girls this Christmas season.

Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind, said: “Santa approached the National Federation of the Blind a couple of years ago and asked us to be his helpers. I’m quite fond of the fellow and was delighted that we could assist him in his work. Braille literacy is the key to success and opportunity for the blind, but unfortunately too few blind children are learning it today. This program will not only spread holiday cheer but will also serve an important educational purpose, as blind children will be able to practice reading Braille as they enjoy their letter from merry Saint Nicholas.”

Between November 15 and December 20, parents can go online at
http://www.nfb.org
and fill out a Santa Braille Letter request form. The form can also be printed and faxed to (410) 685-2340. Beginning December 1, the Braille letters from Santa will start going out to boys and girls around the country. The Braille letter will also be accompanied by a print copy (for mom and dad to read), and parents can choose the contracted or uncontracted form of Braille for the letter. Requests for letters must include the writer’s name, the child’s name, birthday, gender, mailing address, and a telephone number or e-mail address in case Santa’s helpers at the National Federation of the Blind have questions.

The deadline for letter requests is December 20, to ensure that a return letter in Braille is received before Christmas. For more information about this and other programs of the National Federation of the Blind, please visit our Web site at http://www.nfb.org.

Science Tarot

Posted to The Art of Darkness blog
The Science Tarot
http://www.sciencetarot.com/
examples of some of the cards
http://www.sciencetarot.com/cards.html

I am including a snippet from the AOD post below because the blogger gives some descriptions of the suits and some specific cards and I must say, if one is interested in writing a technomancy story, this deck would provide a lot of inspiration for the world-building.

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...I have to give mad props to the clever artwork. The suit of Cups is represented by beakers, Swords are scalpels, Pentacles are magnifying glasses, and Wands are bunsen burners. The major arcana are all famous scientists, and the deck attempts to match their work with the various cards’ “meanings” (the nurturing Empress, for instance, is represented by Mendel and his peas). The minor arcana illuminate various scientific ideas, and again an effort has been made to match them appropriately: The ambitious Seven of Swords is represented by the expansion of a red giant star, and the partner-oriented Three of Cups is illustrated by an orchid and its symbiotic fungus.
In particular, the fact that the Wheel of Fortune is represented by Schrödinger’s Cat is utter genius.
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