to the unfurling cosmos
Had a fun gathering today, inspired by Instructables and MAKEzine.
Made a solar oven. We need to find a better cooking container than the one we had. Also need to start earlier in the day.
From PBS Kids > Zoom we made glue and during dinner, were entertained by dancing raisins.
I keep thinking of making tethered sky/fire lanterns (mini hot air balloons) for a backyard party.
My dad passed away Saturday, June 30th 2007.
The Freep had a little write up on him. (text follows)
George Cooney Jr.: Ferndale lawyer was a watchdog for the elderly
July 3, 2007
BY JOE ROSSITER
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
Safeguarding the rights of the aged, while ensuring that their golden years were rewarding ones, was a role attorney George Cooney Jr. steadfastly played throughout his career.
Mr. Cooney, a private practice lawyer concentrating on elder law, estate planning and probate administration, died Saturday at his home in Ferndale after an extended battle with prostate cancer.
He was 64.
“As a watchdog for the elderly and infirm, he was concerned about people being treated properly,” said his youngest son, Cameron Cooney. “In his mind, old age shouldn’t be something to be feared, but rather revered.”
Mr. Cooney started his law career with his father, George, at Cooney & Cooney in the Dime Building in Detroit. They practiced there for nearly two decades. He established his own law office in 1986, practicing for 20 years. He became a member of the law firm Mall Malisow & Cooney in Farmington Hills in 2006 until health concerns resulted in his retirement in April 2007.
“He relished the opportunity to make a meaningful difference in the lives of people and use his unique insights and knowledge of law to advocate for people who were in need,” said Sanford (Sandy) Mall, founder and senior partner of the Farmington Hills law firm.
A Detroit native, Mr. Cooney graduated from U-D Jesuit High School in 1959 and attended the University of Notre Dame where he graduated as an English major in 1963. Three years later, he earned his law degree from the University of Michigan.
Mr. Cooney was a member of the law faculty at Wayne State University for eight years He was a recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the State Bar of Michigan in the spring.
A lover of music and nature, Mr. Cooney played classical guitar and sang in the chorus with Michigan Opera Theater for several years.
In addition to his son, survivors include his second wife of 23 years, Mary; sons Christopher, Daniel and Jonathan; four grandchildren; two brothers, and many nieces and nephews.
A memorial service is at 11 a.m. Friday at St. John Episcopal Church, 26998 Woodward Ave., Royal Oak. Visitation will precede services at 10 a.m. Burial will be in Pleasant Prairie Cemetery in Spokane, Wash.
by Dianne J. Hall and David Paradice
The ability to see the big picture is often marred by the strengths of one’s individual values, particularly as they relate to the problem at hand. Because individual values are deep-seated, they often form the basis for decision bias – that is, the inability to expand the lens through which one observes the world. This myopia leads to inefficiencies in information collection and assessment.
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In this study, the DSS debiasing component forced participants to articulate both good and bad points of a given problem or alternative, thus forcing consideration of at least two perspectives.
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This research suggests it is possible, through a system component such as that developed here, to change the behavior of decision makers at least for a specific decision domain. Supporting a decision maker’s consideration of multiple perspectives will, at least temporarily, broaden their perspective base and will result in that individual considering a greater number of perspectives during that decision task.
I am very amused by Girl Genius. Great web comic.
I just watched a video of a truly amazing demo of Photosynth at the TED Conference.
I can imagine families sitting down after dinner and just looking at the world through this. Self-directed virtual tours.
The O’RLY book made me cry with laughter.
KTHXBYE
I just spotted a draft in my list of posts from about a year ago that I forgot to publish. Here is the piece that was semi-finished:
MOCHI meeting was this evening. I walked away with many ideas – amongst them a curiosity of how a reputation aggregator would work. Something that pulled into one place all online indications of my past participation and reputableness. These would include my eBay stats, Amazon reviewer ranking (if I had one), Slashdot karma points, the number of songs I’d listened to on last.fm, the keywords and # of posts I’d made on del.icio.us, the number of hours I’ve been running SETI@home… anything that was evidence of how I participate in a group and I am judged.
so, does anyone know of such a thing?
I went to Classic Cup Cafe one morning this spring. I had a pecan … pancake, maybe? I recall it was good, but a little too sweet. I had been at A2 Auto Glass getting my windshield replaced, and there was going to be a wait, so they suggested I head to this cafe. The A2 Auto Glass owner, Jim Balcom, gave me a ride. Excellent service – my new windshield makes me happy.
And, Classic Cup Cafe has wireless!
The sign is up on the Google Ann Arbor outpost.
An insightful post at Ed Vielmetti’s blog where Ed responds to a few questions posed to him by a researcher at SPARK – a Ann Arbor economic development group.
“From a technology point of view, the opportunity is to turn Ann Arbor into a global knowledge hub knit together by and for people who have shared time and perhaps a bowl of bi bim bop in Ann Arbor but who have scattered to the four winds.”
