possibly a way to get money for our Linux-based project

[robert b <http://dummy.us.eu.org/robert>]

This person had written something in Linux Gazette (I think) a while ago and I had contacted her.

I haven't read this all in detail, but I will eventually.

I suppose this is at least food for thought.

--- http://www.aol.com/~LaGiannina wrote:
> From: http://www.aol.com/~LaGiannina
> Date: Sun, 23 Feb 2003 15:22:19 EST
> Subject: Let us team up for large grants.
> To: http://dummy.us.eu.org/robert
> 
> Let us team up and go after a series of grants with SBIR and others.
> I know how and I qualify ahead of others due to my conditions.
> 
> In addition to Phase 1 and 2 grants, $ 1 million, to build the prototype,
> we could get a series of Phase  million dollars each, one for each
> application of the platform.  
> 
> We can do our arrangement as a simple partnership, no real cost at all,
> I know how to do the papers. Partnerships do qualify for grants
> especially if minority and disabled people own a portion of the partnership.
> 
> Then later, if we want to, we can upgrade into a copropration
> or a non-profit 501(c)3 type org.
> 
> Giannina
> 
>               Equal Digital Rights for the 
>               Needy People of the World
>                        
> (A grant request to architect a low cost Linux based collaborative  systems 
> to be used by the virtual support communities  to lower the cost and increase 
> the quality of care and support as well as quality of life for the elderly 
> and aging population)
>                   
>                   by  Janine M. Lodato
>                    http://www.aol.com/~LaGiannina
> 
> A very significant upgrade of self-supported health 
> improvement can be achieved using assistive 
> technologies (AT) connected via the Web.
> Recent scientific studies by major universities 
> in the field of behavioral medicine including 
> psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) indicate that getting 
> involved with collaborative group activities 
> has significant rehabilitation potential. In fact
> behavioral medicine can prevent disease, and
> improve quality of life and rehabilitate. 
> Of course it does not replace the pharmaceuticals, 
> but it does improve their effectiveness.
> 
> This type of supportive group activity can also benefit
> other individuals in need such as the learning disabled, the aging
> and the participants in clinical trials. Of course this involvement
> in supportive groups requires that the individual in need 
> attend such group activity sessions physically. That may not
> be feasible for many individuals in need, but a virtual
> supportive group session via the Internet would be just as
> workable.
> 
> It is suggested that the collaborative virtual community
> systems, based on Web connected AT clients and servers, 
> supporting the disabled and the aging can also be used for
> the able-bodied eyes-busy, hands-busy professionals to 
> improve their productivity. Also learning disabled children
> can make very good use of AT. This low cost set of AT
> platforms and associated Web connectivity could be 
> very useful in many government and commercial employment 
> arenas. This dual-use type approach will significantly lower 
> the cost of the needed technologies for all groups.
> 
> But, this important project cannot be done using
> Microsoft based platforms because they are
> ...much too expensive,
> ...insanely unreliable,
> ...maddeningly complex.
> 
> These obviously negative attributes of Windows 
> as sold today make the PCs and Tablets almost useless 
> and beyond reach for the truly needy:
> ....the aging population,
> ....the physically disabled,
> ....the learning disabled,
> ....and the professionals working with all the above.
> The sum of these people accounts for more than half 
> the population of the world. They are in need of a 
> collaborative assistive technology (AT) system which 
> operates with telephone style simplicity. An end-to-end 
> AT-based collaborative system connected via the Web
> will allow the professionals to provide support group
> style assistance in the form of a simple virtual community.
> 
> Now that Linux is available, it is feasible to approach 
> this very large market using a low-cost, rugged and simple
> client system. Linux-based client systems connected
> to Linux servers are perfect for such end-to-end
> AT systems offering. The reliable and simple features
> of Linux coupled with low cost Linux based hardware
> and platforms and applications are the only solution
> for these end users who need AT capabilities.  As 
> www.cio.com Dec. 1. 2002 edition pointed out: 
> â Å?get serious about Linuxâ  .  28% of the user 
> are now considering Linux for their desktop OS.  
> 
> Of course there is still work to be done. Applications for 
> AT platforms must be developed or perfected to allow collaboration 
> between the health service professionals or social worker professionals 
> and the many people in need. 
> Web connected AT oriented software components running on Linux client 
> machines connected to Linux servers have to be created such as...
> ....simple and application specific user interface,
> ....voice based interaction via computer/telephone,
> ....always on and always available systems,
> ....a collaborative virtual community systems.
> 
> Through such systems the professionals can monitor, 
> mentor and moderate and even medicate the members 
> of the collaborative community. For a good example: 
> Dealing with students who have learning disabilities, it is 
> important to get their attention, to bolster their behavior 
> and finally to improve their cognitive productivity.  With 
> assistive technology people can prevent further destruction 
> of their faculties, improve their quality of life and can even be 
> rehabilitated somewhat.  Just the idea of being productive 
> adds to a person's self-esteem enormously.
> 
> This end-to-end Linux based and voice recognition enhanced AT systems 
> architecture is what needs to be developed and this is the project for 
> which a grant is being sought by me and my supportive team with educational 
> and information technology experts as members of the team.
> 
>     One of the first project to develop for this population in need is 
> a unified messaging system, preferably voice-activated, that lets the 
> user check for caller ID, receive short messages, check for incoming and 
> outgoing E-mail, access address books for both telephone numbers and e-mail 
> addresses, and place and end telephone calls.  
>      Everything that is now done by typing and text, will be more 
> quickly and easily performed with voice recognition.  That is, a voice will 
> identify a caller , read short messages aloud, provide e-mail services in 
> both 
> text-to-voice reading of the incoming e-mail and voice-to-text for 
> outgoing E-mail, voice access of address books, and voice-activated 
> placing and closing  out phone calls.   
>          Once the users are able to answer, make and end a call using 
> just their voices, working with the telephone will be a breeze and seniors 
> will not feel isolated and lonely.  What a boon to society voice-activated 
> telephone services will be.  
>      Whether or not users are at all computer-savvy, e-mail will also 
> be an option applied to the telephone.  It is, after all, a form of 
> communication as is the telephone. It is a Linux-based unified communication 
> system. 
>      Of great value to the user would be e-mail and its corresponding 
> address book.  As e-mail comes  in, messages could be read by way 
> of a text-to-voice method.  
> Also of great value would be a telephone system with its corresponding 
> address book and numbers.  Short messaging could be read through 
> text-to-voice technology and short messages can be left using voice 
> -to-text methodology.
> 
> The professionals in the  health-care market alone may justify the 
> Linux based voice recognition project. Health-care services are the largest 
> expense of the Group of Ten nations, and it is the fastest growing sector as 
> well. 
> Health-care workers would benefit from using their voices to document 
> describing the treatments of patients. Voice recognition allows them a 
> hands-free environment in which to analyze, treat and write about 
> particular cases easily and quickly. 
> Electronically connected medical devices via wireless LAN can benefit: 
> 
> *   ...Hospital administration staff 
> *   Improve the usage efficiency of resources 
> *   Achieve standardized, quality patient management 
> *   Dramatically reduce data recording (transcription) errors 
> *   Lower costs 
> *   Make any room a telemetry room on demand (that is, do laboratory 
> measurements in any room regardless of where the central equipment is 
> located) 
> 
> *   ...Medical staff 
> *   Be empowered with a 24/7 complete set of vital-sign data 
> *   Have more time for hands-on care 
> *   See changes in patient status immediately to enable quicker 
> responses 
> 
> In this life sciences field, the simplicity, reliability and low cost 
> of Linux for servers, tablets, embedded devices and desktops is paramount. 
> Only about 10% of the documents in the health-care field in the USA are 
> produced electronically due to the cumbersome and unreliable nature of the 
> Windows environment. 30% of the cost of health-care is a direct result of 
> manual creation of the documents and many of the malpractice cases are also 
> due to the imprecision of transcriptions of manually scribbled medical 
> records and 
> directives, as anybody who looks at a prescription can attest. 
> Obviously, the market for these new technologies exists. What remains 
> is for a hungry company with aggressive sales people to tap into that market. 
> Once those sales people get the technology distributed, the needs of many 
> will be met and a new mass market will open up that Microsoft isn't filling: 
> assistive technology (AT). Actually, the field already exists but needs 
> to be expanded to include both physically disabled and functionally disabled. 
> Yes, voice recognition offers great promise for the future. However, it 
> isn't perfect and needs to be improved. One improvement could use lip reading 
> to bolster its accuracy. Still another is multi-tonal voice input. Another 
> is directional microphones. Every generation of voice recognition software 
> will improve as the hardware for Linux gets bigger and stronger. 
>   
> 
>      Anything that allows independence for the user is bound to be 
> helpful to every aspect of society. 
>      With the attractive price of a Linux-based unified communication 
> device encompassing all the applications mentioned above, users can be 
> connected and productive without the need for an expensive Windows system.  
>   
> 
> I have many years of personal experience using AT and found 
> it very helpful in SPMS (secondary progressive multiple sclerosis)
> conditions as described below in a brief review of my
> personal experiences.  
> 
> In addition to my extensive experience with AT, I also have
> related graduate credentials from both Ca State 
> Univ at Northridge  (the center for AT corporate interactions) 
> as well as CSU in Sacramento and UOP in Stockton.   
>         
> In spite of my handicap, I find it gratifying and fulfilling to 
> concentrate my efforts on projects worthwhile to a very deserving community.  
> Involvement such as this has proved to have healing powers for me.  I am 
> living 
> proof of the powers of   behavioral medicine based on deep personal 
> involvement.       
>      The best way to use these intellectual strengths is to get 
> involved with collaborative teamwork and personal communications within the 
> disabled community and with companies who provide assistive technologies for 
> this community.         
>      There are many AT type technologies that focus on, and make good 
> use of the physical abilities a disabled person may still have such as voice, 
> lip movement, eye motion and brain waves. These capabilities can be used 
> with brain-actuated computer systems and voice recognition software, to name 
> a few.  Integrating these already-existing technologies into something 
> usable by disabled clients so they can express themselves will offer them 
> freedom in spite of their handicap.    
>      Understanding that there are companies already seeking to address 
> this market makes my involvement in the area that much easier and completely 
> natural.  Finding companies geared toward brain-actuated computer 
> control systems is my next assignment.  
>      As a handicapped woman who still has control of her mental 
> faculties and voice, I have something to offer by connecting the right people 
> so that 
> I can integrate systems through the Internet to develop a mutually beneficial 
> virtual community.       
>      Personal communications and collaborative teamwork need assistive 
> technologies to further the self-esteem of the disabled.
>      In short, involvement allows disabled people not only a 
> distraction from their problems, but also a constructive way to spend their 
> time while helping a cause they believe in.  
>      The positive rehabilitative effects of Behavioral Medicine is my 
> method of surviving and thriving until a final cure for MS is developed.
> 
> Janine M. Lodato
> box 838
> SAN ANDREAS, CA.
> 95249-838
> 
> Phone: 209-754-3822
> 
>    ~|__
>      ( o )\_
> Linux Journal web article:
> http://www.linuxjournal.com/article.php?sid=6610
> http://linuxgazette.com/issue85/Lodato.html
> http://www.e-bility.com/articles/voice_recognition.shtml   
> http://atnet.org/news/sept02/090105.html
> http://www.funlist.com/www/coke/lib/symbol.html
> 
> Janine M. Lodato
> box 838
> SAN ANDREAS, CA.
> 95249-838
> 
> Phone: 209-754-3822
> 
>    ~|__
>      ( o )\_
> Linux Journal web article:
> http://www.linuxjournal.com/article.php?sid=6610
> http://linuxgazette.com/issue85/Lodato.html
> http://www.e-bility.com/articles/voice_recognition.shtml   
> http://atnet.org/news/sept02/090105.html
> http://www.funlist.com/www/coke/lib/symbol.html