November 2017 - NOMC - lists.nbpcb.org

FW: Iowa Department for the Blind youth librarian position
by ebell＠pdrib.com 27 Nov '17

27 Nov '17

I have been asked to help circulate the below position at the Iowa Department for the Blind for a youth librarian. This is a newly formed position. We really need someone who believes in blind people and enjoys working with children, teens, and is a good role model for this position. Come and join our great team to improve the lives of blind Iowans! Job Posting - Youth Librarian Iowa Department for the Blind Iowa Department for the Blind is now hiring for the below Youth Services Librarian position. Please follow instructions in the "To Apply" section when applying for this position. Youth Services Librarian DATE POSTED: November 13, 2017 CLOSING DATE: December 1, 2017 CLASSIFICATION/POSITION NUMBER STATUS: Librarian 1 131-J01-CIRC-01315-002 1 Permanent/Full-Time Position LOCATION: Iowa Department for the Blind 524 Fourth Street Des Moines, Iowa WORK UNIT: Library SUPERVISOR: Sarah Willeford SHIFT (Hours of Work, Days off): 8:00 am - 4:30 pm, M - F SALARY: $42,473.60 - $63,502.40 The Iowa Department for the Blind is seeking applicants for the position of Youth Services Librarian for the Iowa Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. This position will develop and conduct statewide library services, programs and outreach activities for children and teens with print disabilities. The position will also assist in the development of a new children and teen library space and makerspace. Essential Functions: * Develop and conduct all aspects of library services for children and teens with print disabilities; including their parents, caregivers, counselors and teachers * Publicize, plan and conduct outreach and special programs for youth and families * Develop and maintain active partnerships with related organizations to introduce, promote and increase awareness of the library and its youth services * Performs youth collection development including selecting, ordering, weeding and cataloging materials * Consults with parents/guardians, caregivers, counselors, health care providers and teachers on the challenges of blind, visually impaired, physically disabled or learning disabled youth and children * Travels frequently throughout the state on outreach visits, meetings with libraries and youth or disability related organizations * Compiles statistics and reports regarding youth services and tracks use patterns and data to determine youth services needs * Assists Department staff and library patrons in the use of information resources and alternative format library collections * Provides general library services to patrons; including reference, readers advisory and technology services * Assists patrons in the use of equipment, OPAC (Online Public Catalog), BARD (Braille and Audio Reading Download) and other library resources * Manage patron accounts through the use of the library's integrated library system and applying National Library Service and library policy and procedures * Work regularly scheduled shifts at the Information and Youth Service Desks * Communicate effectively, verbally and in writing in the English language * Ability to work autonomously and in a team setting Qualifications: A Master's Degree in Library Science from an accredited school of library science Or An undergraduate degree from an accredited four year college or university and one year of full time professional librarian or archives experience (similar to the work indicated in this description) TO APPLY: It is the policy of the Department for the Blind to conduct background checks on all finalist candidates prior to any offer of employment. Positions in this class are exempt from the screening and referral requirements of the Iowa Department of Administrative Services - Human Resource Enterprise. Persons who wish to be considered for this position must submit a resume and letter of application to: Iowa Department for the Blind, Sarah Willeford, Library Director, 524 Fourth Street, Des Moines, IA 50309-2364 or via email: sarah.willeford at blind.state.ia.us <mailto:sarah.willeford at blind.state.ia.us> Phone: 515-281-1333 E-mail: <mailto:information at blind.state.ia.us> information at blind.state.ia.us Iowa Department for the Blind 524 Fourth Street Des Moines, IA 50309-2364 Stay Connected with the Iowa Department for the Blind: <http://links.govdelivery.com/track?type=click&enid=ZWFzPTEmbWFpbGluZ2lkPTIw MTcxMTIxLjgxMjc3NTUxJm1lc3NhZ2VpZD1NREItUFJELUJVTC0yMDE3MTEyMS44MTI3NzU1MSZk YXRhYmFzZWlkPTEwMDEmc2VyaWFsPTE3NDY5NjI0JmVtYWlsaWQ9c2hhd25tbWF5b0BnbWFpbC5j b20mdXNlcmlkPXNoYXdubW1heW9AZ21haWwuY29tJmZsPSZleHRyYT1NdWx0aXZhcmlhdGVJZD0m JiY=&&&101&&&https://www.facebook.com/idbonline/?utm_medium=email&utm_source =govdelivery> <http://links.govdelivery.com/track?type=click&enid=ZWFzPTEmbWFpbGluZ2lkPTIw MTcxMTIxLjgxMjc3NTUxJm1lc3NhZ2VpZD1NREItUFJELUJVTC0yMDE3MTEyMS44MTI3NzU1MSZk YXRhYmFzZWlkPTEwMDEmc2VyaWFsPTE3NDY5NjI0JmVtYWlsaWQ9c2hhd25tbWF5b0BnbWFpbC5j b20mdXNlcmlkPXNoYXdubW1heW9AZ21haWwuY29tJmZsPSZleHRyYT1NdWx0aXZhcmlhdGVJZD0m JiY=&&&102&&&https://twitter.com/idbonline?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govde livery> <http://links.govdelivery.com/track?type=click&enid=ZWFzPTEmbWFpbGluZ2lkPTIw MTcxMTIxLjgxMjc3NTUxJm1lc3NhZ2VpZD1NREItUFJELUJVTC0yMDE3MTEyMS44MTI3NzU1MSZk YXRhYmFzZWlkPTEwMDEmc2VyaWFsPTE3NDY5NjI0JmVtYWlsaWQ9c2hhd25tbWF5b0BnbWFpbC5j b20mdXNlcmlkPXNoYXdubW1heW9AZ21haWwuY29tJmZsPSZleHRyYT1NdWx0aXZhcmlhdGVJZD0m JiY=&&&103&&&https://blind.iowa.gov/newsroom/blogs?utm_medium=email&utm_sour ce=govdelivery> <http://links.govdelivery.com/track?type=click&enid=ZWFzPTEmbWFpbGluZ2lkPTIw MTcxMTIxLjgxMjc3NTUxJm1lc3NhZ2VpZD1NREItUFJELUJVTC0yMDE3MTEyMS44MTI3NzU1MSZk YXRhYmFzZWlkPTEwMDEmc2VyaWFsPTE3NDY5NjI0JmVtYWlsaWQ9c2hhd25tbWF5b0BnbWFpbC5j b20mdXNlcmlkPXNoYXdubW1heW9AZ21haWwuY29tJmZsPSZleHRyYT1NdWx0aXZhcmlhdGVJZD0m JiY=&&&104&&&https://www.youtube.com/user/IDBonline?utm_medium=email&utm_sou rce=govdelivery> <http://links.govdelivery.com/track?type=click&enid=ZWFzPTEmbWFpbGluZ2lkPTIw MTcxMTIxLjgxMjc3NTUxJm1lc3NhZ2VpZD1NREItUFJELUJVTC0yMDE3MTEyMS44MTI3NzU1MSZk YXRhYmFzZWlkPTEwMDEmc2VyaWFsPTE3NDY5NjI0JmVtYWlsaWQ9c2hhd25tbWF5b0BnbWFpbC5j b20mdXNlcmlkPXNoYXdubW1heW9AZ21haWwuY29tJmZsPSZleHRyYT1NdWx0aXZhcmlhdGVJZD0m JiY=&&&105&&&https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/IACIO/subscriber/topics ?qsp=IACIO_30> Manage Subscriptions <http://links.govdelivery.com:80/track?type=click&enid=ZWFzPTEmbWFpbGluZ2lkP TIwMTcxMTIxLjgxMjc3NTUxJm1lc3NhZ2VpZD1NREItUFJELUJVTC0yMDE3MTEyMS44MTI3NzU1M SZkYXRhYmFzZWlkPTEwMDEmc2VyaWFsPTE3NDY5NjI0JmVtYWlsaWQ9c2hhd25tbWF5b0BnbWFpb C5jb20mdXNlcmlkPXNoYXdubW1heW9AZ21haWwuY29tJmZsPSZleHRyYT1NdWx0aXZhcmlhdGVJZ D0mJiY=&&&106&&&https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/IACIO/subscriber/edi t?preferences=true#tab1> Help <http://links.govdelivery.com:80/track?type=click&enid=ZWFzPTEmbWFpbGluZ2lkP TIwMTcxMTIxLjgxMjc3NTUxJm1lc3NhZ2VpZD1NREItUFJELUJVTC0yMDE3MTEyMS44MTI3NzU1M SZkYXRhYmFzZWlkPTEwMDEmc2VyaWFsPTE3NDY5NjI0JmVtYWlsaWQ9c2hhd25tbWF5b0BnbWFpb C5jb20mdXNlcmlkPXNoYXdubW1heW9AZ21haWwuY29tJmZsPSZleHRyYT1NdWx0aXZhcmlhdGVJZ D0mJiY=&&&107&&&https://subscriberhelp.govdelivery.com/> <http://links.govdelivery.com/track?type=click&enid=ZWFzPTEmbWFpbGluZ2lkPTIw MTcxMTIxLjgxMjc3NTUxJm1lc3NhZ2VpZD1NREItUFJELUJVTC0yMDE3MTEyMS44MTI3NzU1MSZk YXRhYmFzZWlkPTEwMDEmc2VyaWFsPTE3NDY5NjI0JmVtYWlsaWQ9c2hhd25tbWF5b0BnbWFpbC5j b20mdXNlcmlkPXNoYXdubW1heW9AZ21haWwuY29tJmZsPSZleHRyYT1NdWx0aXZhcmlhdGVJZD0m JiY=&&&108&&&https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/IACIO/bulletins/1c6941 6?reqfrom=share>

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FW: OREIENTATION AND MOBILITY SPCLST AER
by ebell＠pdrib.com 20 Nov '17

20 Nov '17

The New Jersey Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired (CBVI), a division within the Department of Human Services, is seeking to hire up to four Orientation and Mobility Instructors. Must have a valid O & M Certification issued by the Academy for Certification of Vision Rehabilitation & Educational Specialists or the National Blindness Certification Board, as well as, 24 months of appropriate certified teaching experience in an approved school. Email resumes to: Lalita.vishwanath at dhs.state.nj.us <mailto:Lalita.vishwanath at dhs.state.nj.us> From: Angela.Sutton at dhs.state.nj.us [mailto:Angela.Sutton at dhs.state.nj.us] Sent: Friday, November 17, 2017 2:58 PM To: Ebell at latech.edu Subject: OREIENTATION AND MOBILITY SPCLST AER Hello Dr. Bell, I hope all is well and that you are enjoying your Fall:) If you would, please tell any our your graduates, and or post the attached Job Opportunity within the University. We appreciate all of your help. Thanks _____ This E-mail, including any attachments, may be intended solely for the personal and confidential use of the sender and recipient(s) named above. This message may include advisory, consultative and/or deliberative material and, as such, would be privileged and confidential and not a public document. Any Information in this e-mail identifying a client of the Department of Human Services or the Department of Children and Families is confidential. If you have received this e-mail in error, you must not review, transmit, convert to hard copy, copy, use or disseminate this e-mail or any attachments to it and you must delete this message. You are requested to notify the sender by return e-mail.

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Of Little Faith: A Troubling Trend with Blindness Professionals
by mperet＠BISM.org 16 Nov '17

16 Nov '17

https://medium.com/@lisaferris/of-little-faith-a-troubling-trend-with-blind… Maurice Peret, Talent Recruiter, Human Resources Department Blind Industries & Services of Maryland 3345 Washington Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland 21227 Office: 410.737.2673 Mobile: 804.928.4015 mperet at bism.org<mailto:mperet at bism.org> https://www.bism.org/career <image001.png>************************************************** ************************************************** ?Ignorance and fear are but matters of the mind?and the mind is adaptable.? ?Daniel Kish **************************************************

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Fwd: O&M position
by cordlesslansaw＠yahoo.com 15 Nov '17

15 Nov '17

New posting for the orientation and mobility position in Tulsa Oklahoma. This is a growing little town with bus transit, Uber, lyft, and a great little Nfb chapter. We are growing and moving forward. Come be a part of us and work with a great team. from the world's smallest keyboard. Begin forwarded message: From: "Jane E. Lansaw" <JLansaw at okdrs.gov> Date: November 15, 2017 at 11:19:36 AM CST To: "'cordlesslansaw at yahoo.com'" <cordlesslansaw at yahoo.com> Subject: O&M position

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FW: University of Maryland, School of Pharmacy, PATIENTS 10-Step Research Program Soliciting Blind and Vision-Impaired Participants for a Study Conducted by Telephone
by ebell＠pdrib.com 14 Nov '17

14 Nov '17

*** FYI, posted on behalf of Daniel Frye ** Subject: University of Maryland, School of Pharmacy, PATIENTS 10-Step Research Program Soliciting Blind and Vision-Impaired Participants for a Study Conducted by Telephone Friends and Colleagues: I have been working with the University of Maryland, School of Pharmacy, as a consultant for the last several years. In very simplified form, I agreed to participate, as a representative blind person, on an external advisory panel, consisting of a diverse collection of stakeholders who interact with the American healthcare system. The PATIENTS program has, as its broadest mission, conducting research that will, at its end, help healthcare professionals, across the spectrum of the healthcare system, better engage with, and understand the needs of, patients. This seemed like a worthwhile objective, as a blind person who has experienced less than optimal empathy, access, and communication from representatives from different segments of the healthcare industry. We have now reached a point in the research where we have a need for blind and vision-impaired people to participate in an exercise that is calculated to help achieve research in this arena. I am sharing this invitation with you to participate in a telephone interview, that will last approximately 90 minutes, and will see that you are given a $25 gift card in compensation for your time, as part of this study. I am approaching each of you personally, as friends or colleagues, who I know to be thoughtful and interested in improving the quality of life that blind people experience. I have sent this to each of you in the BCC field of this message to preserve your confidentiality. This is one sphere in which I have devoted some of my personal, discretionary time to try and improve our life experience as blind and vision-impaired people. I will be grateful if some of you would take the time to agree to participate in this important, consumer-focused, research. Following, I am providing some preliminary information about this research opportunity. I realize that the description below is a bit vague and uses some research buzz phrases that may not be familiar to you, but I assure you that this research promises to yield valuable information that should improve the experience of blind and vision-impaired people who engage with the healthcare system. If you are interested in participating, either respond to me alone, by replying only to me, or communicate directly with Hillary Edwards, whose details will be provided below. Again, I am communicating with a random number of my friends and colleagues, with an emphasis on people in Maryland, but since this research is being conducted by phone, I have included other potential research participants from across the country. Please do not feel any obligation to participate, but I am bringing this to you as a personal request that I hope you will consider. The details about the research are here: Dear Stakeholders: The University of Maryland PATIENTS Program is leading a study funded by the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to map methods of engaging patients and stakeholders to the various steps of a research study. We also seek advice regarding the resources required to achieve meaningful and sustained engagement, particularly with the blind and vision impaired community. Given your interest in community-engaged research, we would like to invite you to participate in a ninety-minute interview by phone in the coming month. These interviews will be conducted on a one-on-one basis. During the interview, we seek to learn about your experiences with implementing methods to engage patients and stakeholders throughout the research continuum. In this session, we will describe and discuss with you a ?game board? in which we will ask you to select the engagement methods that you believe are most appropriate at each phase of research. These methods are based on an environmental scan that we conducted during Phase I of our research, and we will ask you if there are other methods that were not uncovered during Phase I. Participants will receive a $25 gift card as compensation for your participation. For more information on the project, please contact Hillary Edwards at 410-706-1068 or hedwards at rx.umaryland.edu <mailto:hedwards at rx.umaryland.edu> . If you have colleagues whom you think would be interested in participating, please pass along our information with a CC or provide us with the referral. Thanks! We look forward to hearing from you. With Kind Regards, Daniel B. Frye, J.D. Executive Director State of New Jersey Department of Human Services COMMISSION FOR THE BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED 153 Halsey Street, 6th Floor, P.O. Box 47017 Newark, NJ 07101 Office: (973) 648-2324 ? Mobile: 973-951-1156 ? Fax: (973) 648-7364 Email: <mailto:Daniel.Frye at dhs.state.nj.us> Daniel.Frye at dhs.state.nj.us _____ This E-mail, including any attachments, may be intended solely for the personal and confidential use of the sender and recipient(s) named above. This message may include advisory, consultative and/or deliberative material and, as such, would be privileged and confidential and not a public document. Any Information in this e-mail identifying a client of the Department of Human Services or the Department of Children and Families is confidential. If you have received this e-mail in error, you must not review, transmit, convert to hard copy, copy, use or disseminate this e-mail or any attachments to it and you must delete this message. You are requested to notify the sender by return e-mail.

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FW: Iowa Department for the Blind Job Posting - Independent Living Teacher
by ebell＠pdrib.com 13 Nov '17

13 Nov '17

Iowa Department for the Blind JOB ANNOUNCEMENT Job title: Independent Living Rehabilitation Teacher (SSB2) Domiciled: Blackhawk County (with potential to negotiate alternative domicile location within Northeast/North Central Iowa) Salary Minimum: $44,012.80 Salary Maximum: $ 66,851.20 Post Close Date: November 16, 2017 Job Description: This is a courtesy posting for a non-merit position. Please follow instructions in the ?To Apply? section for directions on how to apply for this position. The Iowa Department for the Blind (IDB) is seeking applicants for a position that will promote IDB?s mission, vision and values through providing blindness-skills instruction and training to independent living and vocational rehabilitation clients throughout the state. This position is assigned to the Independent Living Program Division. The program serves a diverse population and ages. Essential functions: ? Support the mission, vision, values and culture of the agency. ? Communicate effectively, verbally and in writing, in the English language. ? Promote a positive philosophy of blindness including that blind persons can be as proficient as their sighted counterparts ? Adheres to Federal program and State Administrative Rules as well as agency and program policies and procedures. ? Verifies and where assigned completes program applications with agency?s applicants. ? Collects, analyzes, and interprets various data and information including but not limited to eye and/or medical reports. ? Determines and certifies applicant?s eligibility for program services. ? Assesses client independent living service and skills training needs. ? In partnership with client, develop a service plan that offers sustainable, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound solutions/goals. As necessary, in partnership with client amend service plan. ? Provides adjustment to blindness counseling and guidance for the benefit of clients. ? Provides instruction/training using structure discovery model incorporating alternative techniques of blindness/non-visual skills training. ? Delivers core service training in the areas of orientation and mobility or travel with long white cane; daily living/home-management; communications to include Braille literacy; leisure; and integration. Where identified as a service need, offers information and make referrals. ? Facilitate and document observed and client reported confidence levels, skill gains, control over life advances, and positive attitude or acceptance toward their blindness. ? Recommends and prepares service authorizations. ? Moves each client in a positive direction to facilitate goal achievement and case closure. ? Responsible for client case management including entering information and data from application through case closure using an electronic case management system as well as ensure relevant documents and forms are filed into the client?s paper files. ? Responsible to manage large case load within assigned service region(s). ? Ability to effectively read, write and communicate routinely with agency constituents, agency staff, and general public. ? Ability to travel extensively statewide and to stay overnight two to three times per work week to ensure effective service delivery. ? Ability to ambulate from place to place, climb standing, reaching, critical thinking, stooping, bending, lifting and carrying up to 20 lbs. ? Ability to work outdoors in all types of weather. ? Ability to learn concepts and apply what has been learned. ? Demonstrates independent living assistive technology, adaptive devices, aids, and equipment. ? Use sound judgement, and works with a high level of integrity and ethics. ? Ability to work autonomously and in a team setting. It is the policy of the Department for the Blind to conduct background checks on all finalist candidates prior to any offer of employment. For further information, contact Kimberley Barber, 515-281-1299 or Kim.Barber at blind.state.ia.us To Apply: Positions in this class are exempt from the screening and referral requirements of the Iowa Department of Administrative Services ? Human Resources Enterprise. Persons who wish to be considered for this position must submit letter of application and resume to: Kimberley Barber Independent Living Program Administrator Iowa Department for the Blind 524 4th Street Des Moines, IA 50309-2364 Kim.Barber at blind.state.ia.us Edward C. Bell, Ph.D., CRC, NOMC Director, Professional Development and Research Institute on Blindness Louisiana Tech University 210 Woodard Hall PO Box 3158 Ruston LA 71272 Office: 318.257.4554 Fax: 318.257.2259 (Fax) Skype: edwardbell2010 ebell at latech.edu <mailto:ebell at latech.edu> <http://www.pdrib.com> www.pdrib.com ************************************************************** "I am somehow less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein's brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops." -- Stephen Jay Gould From: Bickell, Tiffany [mailto:tiffany.bickell at blind.state.ia.us] Sent: Tuesday, November 7, 2017 8:08 AM To: Tiffany Bickell <tiffany.bickell at blind.state.ia.us> Subject: Iowa Department for the Blind Job Posting - Independent Living Teacher Hello, Please see the attached job posting from the Iowa Department for the Blind and send out to your distribution lists. Thank you, Tiffany -- Tiffany Bickell Executive Assistant to the Director, Commission Board Secretary Iowa Department for the Blind 515.281.1336 tiffany.bickell at blind.state.ia.us <mailto:tiffany.bickell at blind.state.ia.us> https://blind.iowa.gov ?A proud partner in the American Job Center network?

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““Fully self-driving cars are here.””
by mperet＠BISM.org 08 Nov '17

08 Nov '17

Waymo Waymo, the autonomous vehicle division of Alphabet, Google?s parent company, reached an important milestone recently: since mid-October, the company has been operating its autonomous minivans on public roads in Arizona without a safety driver ? or any human at all ? behind the wheel. And starting very soon, the company plans to invite regular people for rides in these fully self-driving vehicles. The news that Waymo?s vehicles have been on public roads with no human in the driver?s seat was announced today by the company?s CEO John Krafcik at a tech conference in Lisbon. The announcement comes on the heels of Waymo?s decision to invite a group of reporters to visit Castle, a 91-acre facility in California?s Central Valley that it has been using as a training course for its self-driving vehicles. At the time, Krafcik declined to provide an exact timetable as to when it would begin testing fully self-driving vehicles on public roads. Little did we know at the time, they were already doing it. ??Fully self-driving cars are here.?? ?Fully self-driving cars are here,? Krafcik said, according to a copy of his speech provided by Waymo. There are some caveats, of course. A Waymo employee will remain in the vehicle for now. But instead of being in the front seat, that employee will likely sit behind the driver?s seat. (Waymo says that won?t always be the case, though.) The cars won?t have free rein over Arizona?s roads. They?ll be geofenced within a 100-square-mile area of the town of Chandler, a suburb of Phoenix ? though Waymo says it plans to expand to areas beyond that as its cars collect more data and conduct more trips. And the cars won?t be available to just anyone who wants to go for a ride. Members of Waymo?s Early Rider program, which has been in operation in Chandler since last April, will be the first to experience the new technology. But it most certainly signals a growing level of confidence by Waymo, and, by extension, Alphabet, in the technology developed by its engineers over the last eight years. It represents a raising of the stakes for the rest of the industry that sees full, Level 4 autonomy, in which a vehicle is capable of driving itself, with no human behind the wheel, in most environments and road conditions, as the ultimate goal. In the year since it spun off from Google, Waymo has moved aggressively to test its cars on public roads. The company has certainly been testing self-driving cars on public roads longer than the broader tech and auto industries, and it has access to Google?s machine engineering talent, making it a formidable competitor to companies with decades of car-building experience. But Waymo isn?t going it alone. The company has partnerships with Fiat-Chrysler, Lyft, and Avis, even while it?s manufacturing its own sensors and hardware to reduce dependence on suppliers. In his speech, Krafcik enumerated the many advantages that Waymo?s vehicles have over its competitors. ?This is the most advanced vehicle we?ve developed to date,? he said. ?Everything in it is designed and built for full autonomy. Our combination of powerful sensors gives our vehicles a 360 degree view of the world. The lasers can see objects in three dimensions, up to 300 meters away. We also have short range lasers that stay focused close-up to the side of the vehicle. Our radars can see underneath and around vehicles, tracking moving objects usually hidden from the human eye.? ?The next step for Waymo is a big one: a commercial ride-hail service? Chandler?s local government has been informed of the driverless cars, and appears to welcome the fame (and scrutiny) that comes with playing host to Waymo?s experiment. "Waymo's work here in Chandler is groundbreaking as they work toward their goal of fully autonomous vehicles,? said Chandler Mayor Jay Tibshraeny, in a statement provided by Waymo. ?At the same time, this research and development taking place in our community will ultimately make our roads safer and provide new freedom for those unable to drive.? The next step for Waymo is a big one: a commercial ride-hail service, in which riders can hail one of the company?s autonomous minivans via an app like Uber or Lyft. ?People will get to use our fleet of on-demand vehicles, to do anything from commute to work, get home from a night out, or run errands,? Krafcik said. And because Waymo is operating its vehicles in Arizona, where the laws regulating autonomous tests are practically non-existent, a lot of the reporting on the progress of these vehicles will be incredibly one-sided. Unlike California, which is another hotbed for self-driving vehicle testing, Arizona doesn?t require companies to publicly disclose accidents involving its cars, nor the number of times human drivers were forced to take control of their driverless vehicles. Of course, disengagements are moot for a vehicle without a human in the driver?s seat. (Its last report to California showed that Google?s disengagements dropped precipitously.) Waymo recently released its first safety report, a glossy, 41-page document that details its testing regime that involved 3.5 million miles driven on public roads and 2.5 billion miles driven in simulation. The report, which was released voluntarily, earned the company an atta boy from US Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao. Chao?s department is scrambling to amend its voluntary autonomous vehicle guidelines to include buses and trucks, the latter of which Waymo is also working on. And Congress is weighing legislation that would give companies wide latitude to deploy, test, and make money off of self-driving vehicles. But most companies are still moving cautiously, cognizant of the fact that most people are skeptical or flat-out distrust autonomous technology. They say they plan to keep their safety drivers behind the wheel until 2020 at the earliest. But not Waymo. Maurice Peret, Talent Recruiter, Human Resources Department Blind Industries & Services of Maryland 3345 Washington Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland 21227 Office: 410.737.2673 Mobile: 804.928.4015 mperet at bism.org<mailto:mperet at bism.org> https://www.bism.org/career [cid:image001.png at 01D14DDC.986E89E0]************************************************** ************************************************** ?Ignorance and fear are but matters of the mind?and the mind is adaptable.? ?Daniel Kish **************************************************

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