So last millenium

Here's the deal:

RantWoman really wants to rave about many things to do with the just concluded Startup Weekend.gov
http://seattlegov.startupweekend.org/  

RantWoman wants to rave, but first RantWoman needs to digress, to offer memorial commentary, to gush unapologetically about being out in the country all weekend out of cellphone range without even a device she felt like connecting to the Wi-Fi.

1. RantWoman meant to try to tell some of her groupies about the pre-event and the event. RantWoman's e-connections only got news if they are already on the right lists. RantWoman tried in person to interest some other groupies, but for whatever reason, this did not take Either RantWoman either is an inadequate spokesbabe or RantWoman's ability to wax enthusiastic exceeeds her groupies' capacity to be charmed or intrigued.

2. RantWoman actually thought of registering to participate but RantWoman needed to be out of town all weekend. Somewhere in the link-clicking RantWoman also hit something that said something like "this site is not accessible to screen readers." At that point, RantWoman threw up her hands and sent email. This meant RantWoman bypassed some important badge process but RantWoman is grateful to be mostly welcomed regardless.

3. If RantWoman had been thinking with more of her brain cells, RantWoman would have tried specifically to ask people submitting ideas and forming teams to articulate something about how they planned to address accessibility. RantWoman would grade gently on the question: RantWoman would be grateful if the teams managed just to mention some accessibility standard. RantWoman would also give points if anyone recognized that sometimes a reasonable approach to accessibility is something like "Does anyone here have a Smartphone?" When RantWoman asks this question, she tends to find both Smartphones and people willing to deliver at least some content aloud to RantWoman. If RantWoman weere better at teamwork, she MIGHT think of this more often.

4. RantWoman went to the pre-event open house and wishes to note strong interest, meaning way more green dots than RantWoman alone had at her disposal, in some kind of app approach to finding temporary or longer-lasting walkability disruptions and also strong interest in geolocating public restrooms near where one happens to be. RantWoman notes that several of the prizewinners in the contest reflect ideas for delivering information about specific kinds of locations such as bus stops or public art. RantWoman would be thrilled if the nearyby restroom and walkability info ideas were to get built into these aps as things progress.

RantWoman also supposes that one could work with some scenarioes where all that bus and restroome info came with, say, e-coupons promising discounts on lattes if one shows one's ORCA card or some other blandishments.

RantWoman notes these interests both to reflect the imperatives of the people RantWoman tends to go places with and in memory of Lara Harding who died about a year ago this week. http://rantwoman.blogspot.com/2011/05/lara-harding-1974-2011.html


RantWoman is perfectly well aware that it would have been great to articulate her accessibility concerns ahead of time and in ways that they could have been incorporated into the contest. Ordinarily, rnatWOman does not mind in the least saying pointed things like " LOOK at Seattle topography! If you mean to have people walk to your public art, think people, some merely RantWoman's age who are vexed by issues such as the grade of the paths at the Sculpture Park.

RantWoman is aware of options for spekaing of accessibility in advance, but RantWoman was being a mere mortal. In particular RantWoman needed to attend a meeting that occurs about this time of year every year at a church camp outside of Ellensburg. The camp has NO cell towers nearby. There is Wi-fi but as noted, RantWoman decided she did not even care enough to put the camp Wi-Fi password into her Kindle.

The weather was gorgeous. The creek was running high and fast, as things should be this time of year. RantWoman burst out laughing on the way home: the friend RantWoman rode with talked of needed to WALK across the camp to another building to collect her son when he did not come back to their sleeping space at a time expected. Walking oneself rather than relying on one's cellphon to round up one's family is just SO last millenium.

This year on the way home, RantWoman's cellphone clanged with news of text messages as soon as the car got within range of a tower and RantWoman remembered last year hearing similar tidings including a voicemail indicator. When RantWoman heard the voice on the voice mail, she just "knew." RantWoman would SO not mind NOT being psychic in this way. RIP Lara and Happy Startup Weekend to the rest of us!