512 Pixels

Our son is a patient at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital here in Memphis.

When he was six months old, he was diagnosed with an extremely rare form of brain cancer. He’s received over a dozen rounds of chemotherapy, numerous operations, countless MRIs and hours of physically, occupational and speech therapy at St. Jude.

Josiah will never be “out of the woods” with his cancer, but today, he’s basically a normal almost-three year old. He’s a picky eater, loves Hot Wheels cars and just about every Pixar movie.¹ He’s legally handicapped, but the way he plays with his little sister, you might not notice that he limps and doesn’t have good use of his left hand.

All of his progress is thanks to the tireless doctors, nurses, researchers, fundraisers, teachers, janitors, cooks, tour guides and volunteers at St. Jude. This is the hospital’s mission:

The mission of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is to advance cures, and means of prevention, for pediatric catastrophic diseases through research and treatment. Consistent with the vision of our founder Danny Thomas, no child is denied treatment based on race, religion or a family’s ability to pay.

That “ability to pay” phrase is shockingly meaningful to families like ours. Josiah’s care has cost over $2 million to date, and thanks to that care, he is doing very well.

St. Jude has an entire organization of people raising money for the hospital, to pay for treatment and research for kids like Josiah. Countless individuals, families and companies make it possible for me to enjoy watching my son run around our apartment.

Without this support, St. Jude couldn’t be saving lives. Without it, I could never afford this level of care and treatment for Josiah.

Chili’s is probably one of the most-recognized examples. On St. Jude’s campus, there is an entire building named the Chili’s Care Center, built from the kindness of the restaurant chain’s leadership and customers.

This Monday — September 26 — the restaurant is donating 100% of its profits to St. Jude. So, go fight the crowds and eat out Monday night. Raise a margarita to St. Jude, and to Josiah. Both are miracles.

Darren Murph at Engadget, reviewing a phone that was cancelled before it went on sale:

The harsh reality is this: even if HP would’ve gone ahead with the Pre 3’s launch on AT&T, moving ’em would’ve been tough. The company showed minimal interest in moving the TouchPad (well, until they showed nothing but interest in moving the TouchPad), and attempting to hawk a tired, understated design for an on-contract price that aligns with the iPhone 4 and a vertible plethora of tremendous Android phones would’ve probably led to even more tears. HP stepped it up with the Pre 3’s processor and panel, but almost everything else looks like it was directly ripped from a phone that first launched over two years ago. When you’re the underdog, those kind of tactics don’t do anything to further your cause.

So, even with the Pre 3’s hardware, webOS wasn’t quite there yet. Sadly, that’s the legacy this OS will leave. I don’t see it having a future. Which just makes me sadder.

Headline source

Sigh.

The Amazon tablet cometh.

Neil Armstrong isn’t thrilled with the state of NASA. In a talk to the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, the first man on the moon said:

We will have no American access to, and return from, low Earth orbit and the International Space Station for an unpredictable length of time in the future.

For a country that has invested so much for so long to achieve a leadership position in space exploration and exploitation, this condition is viewed by many as lamentably embarrassing and unacceptable.

A lead, however earnestly and expensively won, once lost, is nearly impossible to regain.

Eugene Cernan, the last man to walk on the moon said in the same meeting:

Get the shuttle out of the garage down there at Kennedy (Space Center), crank up the motors and put it back in service.

You want a launch vehicle today that will service the ISS? We’ve got it sitting down there. So before we put it in a museum, let’s make use of it. It’s in the prime of its life, how could we just put it away.

While NASA’s shuttle program may not have been everything it as supposed to be, it is hard to disagree with these guys that the shuttle is better than nothing.

NASA seems set on Mars. The “let’s go back to the moon” mission got canceled in chase of the red planet. While I am excited about Mars, I am doubtful I will have the experience my parents did, watching images, beamed from space, of man walking on another surface.

If you’ve always wanted a PDF of the installation guide, but couldn’t find one, today is your day.

In 1997 — just after the company bought NeXT — Apple showed off its plans to move from Mac OS to Rhapsody, the code name given to the work that would ultimately birth Mac OS X.

In March 1997, Apple executives outlined this plan and its benefits. Now in 2011, it’s obvious that Steve Jobs’ vision would indeed become the driving force for the Mac OS for years to come.

Paul Roberts:

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley said on Tuesday that her office would be inquiring into long-standing complaints about fraudulent purchases that leverage Apple’s popular online music store.

In a lunchtime address to business and technology leaders in Massachusetts, Coakley said she was a victim of identity theft in recent months, and that her stolen credit card information was used to make fraudulent iTunes purchases.

Seems like a perfectly reasonable use of state resources.¹

via The Loop

Neven Mrgan, on iOS app design:

A Back button labeled “Back” is never a good option.

Shocking.

I haven’t played this game, but I’m willing to, just based on this:

GoatUp is easily the best goat-related platform game on iOS.