While it may be a little creepy to have a conversation with a robot, I’m excited to cool advances like this in technology. In a way, Bina48 reminds me of a mix  of the Terminator and 2001: A Space Odyssey. While watching the video, I also found myself rooting for Bina and I’m sure the time will come when Bina will be able to have a full conversation with no glitches in speech.

Check out the video and let me know what you think.

On Tuesday, June 22, 2010, from 3:00 pm-4:00 pm (EDT), AIDS.gov will host a National HIV Testing Day (NHTD) webinar for Federal staff and grantees working with domestic HIV/AIDS programs. National HIV Testing Day is an opportunity for us to work together to promote HIV testing in the community.

The webinar, “The Current and Future State of HIV Testing in the United States,” will feature some of the U.S. Government’s leading voices on HIV/AIDS. Participants will be encouraged to ask questions.

To participate, register here by June 18.

Speakers include:

• Dr. Howard Koh, HHS
• Mr. Christopher Bates, PACHA
• Dr. Kevin Fenton & Dr. Bernard Branson, CDC
• Dr. Deborah Parham Hopson, HRSA
• Dr. Carl Dieffenbach, NIH/NIAID
• Ms. Beverly Watts Davis, SAMHSA
• Ms. Barbara Edwards, CMS
• Dr. Ronald Valdiserri, VA
• And other invited guests

Space is limited. Registrants will be joined on a first-come, first-served basis.

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from barackobama.com

No, this isn’t a bootleg shirt I printed up marking the much needed overhaul of our health care system. This is actually a legitimate shirt from barackobama.com marking the historic vote in the House to send health reform to the President.

I received an email from the website asking me to co-sign the bill along side President Obama’s name to show my pride in helping bring about this great achievement (I’m still not sure what I did). I usually read over and delete these emails, but I couldn’t help adding my name to the list of those who would also sign. After submitting my name I was sent to the usual donation page with a chance to order the shirt.

When I saw it, I couldn’t help but laugh because the best way to piss people off even more is to wear around this shirt to really rub it in. Nevertheless, I donated the $25 to get one because this really is history in the making and he’s going to need that money in a couple of years. Growing up, I used to wonder what major events would shape our society and this is one of those events. Will it work? I have no clue. But I do know something needs to be done and this is the first step in getting the ball rolling.

I admire the tenacity of the president and despite the drama in Congress, he was determined to make it happen. Most of the people complaining will probably benefit from these changes and what’s a couple of more trillion dollars to an already high national debt? The debt was already on the rise before Obama got in office, so my kids were going to pay for it either way.

2012 is going to be crazy!!!

It’s hard to believe it’s already 2010. But we’re here and there are still new things in store for this blog. When I started blogging, the main goal was to share information and hopefully open up dialogue on issues that affect the black community. I think I did that in some way this year, but it wasn’t to the extent that I’d done in previous years.

The goal for this year is to continue on the track of keeping the site informative. I plan on opening it up to others who are interested in sharing their point of view with the readers of this site. There are some talented, well-written people out there and I want to showcase them and get some real discussions going.

Late in the year, when I got swamped with projects for work, I fell off the blogging scene for a couple of weeks. Blogging can be a daunting task and coming up with things to write about can be time consuming (especially when it isn’t one of my strengths). So this year, I’m going to solicit your help. If you or someone you know are interested in blogging, but don’t want to manage their own site, email me at info @ theotalks.net. I’m always in need of someone to write and it usually turns out to be a win-win situation for both parties.

This year, I also want to focus more on minority small businesses. In these turbulent economic times, a lot of people are turning to owning their own business. I think that’s great, so I decided to start a list of some of my favorite small businesses. I’ll be highlighting small business owners throughout the year, so contact me if you’re interested in participating.

Finally, here are some websites that you need to keep an eye on for 2010. I’ll be blogging a lot about them and hope to be visible on most of them as time permits. Check them out when you get the chance:

• Liberate Magazine
• Tech Relations Firm
• Dallas South News
• Barter My Biz

Have a Happy New Year and God Bless!

I’m sure you know someone who has high blood pressure, diabetes (sugar) or high cholesterol. The American Heart Association is dedicated to helping people learn how to control and improve their quality of life by reducing the number of deaths from coronary heart disease. If there’s anyone who’s down for that, it’s me. My dad died of a stroke at the young age of 57. His first stroke happened in his early 40s. When I do walk in Heart Walk, I do it for him and my family. I do it because I understand what heart disease and stroke can do to a family. I do it because I want to bring awareness to others who may not know how they can prevent it.

If you would like to donate, please follow the link here. Donations can be accepted at any time throughout the year. If you are interested in walking in Heart Walk, I’ve provided some information below. For additional information, you can visit the Frequently Asked Questions page on the event website.

The Dallas Heart Walk is Saturday, September 12, 2009. The Opening Ceremony starts 8:30 a.m. and the walk begins at 9:00 a.m. The Dallas Walk will start at Victory Park (at American Airlines Center), 2500 Victory Avenue, Dallas, 75219 and will take a path through downtown for a total distance of 3 miles. Parking is free at the American Airlines Center in Lot F, Lot E and the Platinum Parking Garage. If you want to take the rail, the Red and Blue Line will be running to the American Airlines Center. DART passes are available from your Heart Walk staff person in limited quantities. DART passes will be acceptable for use on the light rail, buses and the TRE.

For those who haven’t been to the website, check it out at www.dallassouthnews.org. This is going to be a good deal for the South Dallas community. Blogging has opened up a different way in which news can be reported. Through it, us little people can have a voice and the real discussions can begin. Shawn Williams, the DSN editor shared an email with his board on how this type of media benefits the community.

Dear DSN Board and Advisory Board,

At the most recent board meeting, a discussion took place around why efforts like Dallas South News are important, and what type of value we bring to communities. I have reached out to a few people across the country leading initiatives on innovation in media to share their thoughts with us about just how significant our effort is at this critical juncture in journalism.

The first person that we hear from is Kelly McBride. Kelly is the Ethics Group Leader at the Poynter Institute, a school for journalists in St. Petersburg, Florida. More importantly for this discussion, it was Kelly that convened the “Sense Making” project funded by the Ford Foundation, “a yearlong project to help the public develop skills for making sense of news in the digital era.” At the gathering of “sense makers” last Spring, I learned about other cities utilizing local nonprofit news.

Here’s what Kelly had to say:

Humans understand the world through narrative. Communities exist because groups of humans share portions of a common narrative (That could be, “We live on this street.” or “We share the same faith.” or “We fought the same war.”)

The more narratives are communicated, the more effective they become in building communities. Communities are necessary to create positive social change. People may argue about the veracity of these statements, but I believe they are demonstrably true.

Since the dawn of American democracy, we have had reliable institutions that create a common narrative for our communities. Granted these have been flawed institutions that left out huge portions of that narrative. But these newspapers and later radio and television stations, at least had the capacity, if not the will, to tell the stories of their communities.

Today, those institutions are losing their ability to tell a community’s story. As a result the community is losing the ability to address problems and make the world better.

So, other institutions must be created to share stories and to document narratives, particularly untold stories, so that communities can continue to move forward.

Kelly McBride
Ethics Group Leader
The Poynter Institute
kelly@poynter.org
Twitter: kmcb
www.poynter.org

Check out the site and let me know what you think. If you would like to donate or volunteer, email editor@dallassouthnews.org or call 214-485-0683 for more information.
BTW, here a slide show with some of the photos that I was able to take between conversations.

Know What to Do About the Flu:Visit http://www.flu.gov

To ensure that the HIV community is prepared for the H1N1 flu and understands how H1N1 can affect people living with HIV and AIDS, AIDS.gov is sponsoring a webinar on H1N1 Preparedness and HIV.

What: H1N1 Preparedness and HIV: A webinar for Federal staff and grantees who serve people living with HIV and AIDS

When: Wednesday, September 2, 2009, 2:00 – 2:45 pm (EDT)

Join experts from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and HIV grantees to hear an update on H1N1 preparedness, especially as it applies to people living with HIV and AIDS.

Register by Friday, August 28 by visiting www.AIDS.gov/webinars

Questions? Please email contact@AIDS.gov. For more information about H1N1, visit www.flu.gov.

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