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Daily Archives: May 21, 2020

Find wheelchair accessible places with Google Maps

Google Blog: “Imagine making plans to go somewhere new, taking the journey to get there and arriving— only to be stuck outside, prevented from sitting with family or being unable to access the restroom. It’s a deeply frustrating experience I’ve had many times since becoming a wheelchair user in 2009. And it’s an experience all too familiar to the 130 million wheelchair users worldwide and the more than 30 million Americans who have difficulty using stairs. So imagine instead being able to “know before you go” whether a destination is wheelchair accessible, just as effortlessly as looking up the address. In recognition of Global Accessibility Awareness Day, we’re announcing a new Google Maps feature that does just that. People can now turn on an “Accessible Places” feature to have wheelchair accessibility information more prominently displayed in Google Maps. When Accessible Places is switched on, a wheelchair icon will indicate an accessible entrance and you’ll be able to see if a place has accessible seating, restrooms or parking. If it’s confirmed that a place does not have an accessible entrance, we’ll show that information on Maps as well. Today, Google Maps has wheelchair accessibility information for more than 15 million places around the world. That number has more than doubled since 2017 thanks to the dedication of more than 120 million Local Guides and others who’ve responded to our call to share accessibility information. In total, this community has contributed more than 500 million wheelchair accessibility updates to Google Maps. Store owners have also helped, using Google My Business to add accessibility information for their business profiles to help users needing stair-free access find them on Google Maps and Search…”

From Print to Digital: Making Over a Million Archived Photos Searchable

NYT Open – A team of technicians have scanned over a million photos into a New York Times database. It took a team of technologists to make those photos searchable. “A block away from the hustle and bustle of Times Square in New York City, buried three floors below street level, lies The New York… Continue Reading

States Are Reopening: See How Coronavirus Cases Rise or Fall

ProPublica: “Update, May 21, 2020: After a story in The Atlantic reported that states may be inflating test numbers, we changed this map to display positive tests per capita rather than as a percentage of total tests. Many states are lifting stay-at-home orders and other restrictions on social and business activity that were put in place to curb… Continue Reading

Your ZIP Code and Your Life Expectancy

The New York Times: “For many, the past few weeks have been tough, but at least we’ve had a respite from pollution: With Americans staying home, emptying the roads and highways of traffic, skies have cleared across the country. That, at least, feels good. But for neighborhoods with historically high levels of air pollution, a… Continue Reading

America’s Patchwork Pandemic and CDCs compounding mistakes

Via The Atlantic see – America’s Patchwork Pandemic Is Fraying Even Further – “The coronavirus is coursing through different parts of the U.S. in different ways, making the crisis harder to predict, control, or understand..This pattern exists because different states have experienced the coronavirus pandemic in very different ways. In the most severely pummeled places,… Continue Reading

Protecting Nursing Home Residents from Infections like COVID-19

GAO Watch Blog – “Recent COVID-19 related deaths at nursing homes have raised concerns about the health and safety of the nation’s 1.4 million residents living in these facilities. In today’s WatchBlog, we look at the federal role in protecting nursing home residents and our recent report that identified ongoing gaps in this effort that… Continue Reading

Amazon rivals thrive during the pandemic as shipping delays level the playing field

NBC News – “Over the nine months Andy Hunter courted investors for his online bookselling business, Bookshop.org, he was repeatedly told it was doomed to be crushed by Amazon. Three months since its launch with less than $1 million in funding, Hunter said the business has already far exceeded levels he’d hoped to achieve by… Continue Reading

New models, reports and polls underscore the magnitude of coronavirus challenges

Washington Post Daily 202: “Columbia University epidemiologists estimate in a new study that enacting social distancing measures a week earlier, on March 8 instead of March 15, could have saved up to 36,000 lives in the United States. That’s about 40 percent of the current reported fatalities from the novel coronavirus. The study found that imposing… Continue Reading