2019-08-27 1-4 PM Eastern - 3D Printing Class for the Blind and Visually Impaired

3D Printing

From ArcticPixy, Virtual Ability community member

If you are blind or visually impaired, you may think the 3D printing craze is not accessible to you. Not so!

The Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Library (New York, NY) is offering a class titled “Accessible & Assistive Technology: 3D Design with Code: a Gentle Intro to OpenScad.” The class will be held on Tuesday, August 27, 2019, from 1 to 4 pm Eastern (10am to 1pm ST/Pacific).

OpenScad is software that lets you create shapes with just a few lines of code. Combining these shapes allows you to build any 3-dimensional object you like using a laser cutter, 3D printer, or CNC machine. Although the software does show a visual image onscreen of what you create with code, you do not need to see it. You’ll learn to read the code itself to understand and revise your design. You will be using your spatial thinking abilities.

You do not need to have any prior coding experience! If you use a screen reader, set it so it reads punctuation marks (because those are parts of code). Braille readers work well with this software.

Learn more about the class here: https://www.nypl.org/events/programs/2019/08/27/3d-design-code-gentle-intro-openscad

Everyone is welcome to attend this class, either in person at the library in New York City or remotely using Zoom. You do not need to be a resident of New York, or of the United States, as we understand it. Please register for both in-person and Zoom attendance by emailing ChanceyFleet@nypl.org or calling (212) 621-0627.

TIP - Key nutrients to improve your health

Nutrients come in many forms!

Protect your arterial linings from getting clogged with cholesterol plaques by consuming more antioxidants. Antioxidant chemicals include vitamins C and E, selenium and carotenoids  (beta-carotene, lycopene, lutein). Good sources include berries, broccoli, dark chocolate, grapes, kale, red cabbage and sweet potatoes.

Lower your LDL (“bad”) cholesterol levels by increasing your consumption of dietary fiber from apples, beans, berries, bran, greens, peas, squash, and whole grains.

Decrease your risk of peripheral artery disease and stroke by lowering your homocysteine levels. B vitamins, found in broccoli, eggs, dairy products, legumes, meat, spinach and whole grains, will help.

Omega-fatty acids, found in cold-water fatty fish (salmon, tuna, sardines), fortified milk, and walnuts decrease your risk for heart attacks.

Small additions or changes to your diet can have big effects on your lifetime health.

TIP - Curb cravings with a different mental image

Do you want to eat a whole carton of chocolate ice cream when you feel down? Do you feel you need a cigarette after a meal? By mid-afternoon, are your thoughts turning to the snacks in the vending machine? These are not healthy thoughts. To get those cravings under control, replace them with healthier images.

Instead of a food craving, picture something more nutritious. Rather than thinking about how it feels to smoke, picture yourself hiking easily in a natural setting or climbing a mountain on vacation. In other words, use your imagination to replace the craving with a vision of yourself doing your favorite physical activity, or feeling good about your healthy body.

TIP - Work up to your exercise goal

Working up to your goal

It feels good to have set an exercise goal as part of your effort to improve your lifestyle. However, it pays to start slow and work up to your intended level of exercise. Most injuries caused by exercise come from doing too much before your body is adequately prepared to do that much.

Instead, start off with short sessions of low-intensity exercise just a few days a week. As you become comfortable with that exercise routine, start increasing the frequency until you are doing a small amount of low-intensity exercise almost every day.

Then it is time to increase the duration of your exercise session gradually, until you are meeting the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommendation of 150-300 minutes per week.

Finally, when that amount of exercise has become routine, it’s time to increase the intensity or how hard you are working. This may mean jogging instead of walking, using heavier hand weights, or increasing the pull of your exercise band. Work up to moderate intensity activity.