A Father's Story
Kirk Foutts is not just a loyal Redmond Report reader, he is also an intensely loyal father. Five years ago, Kirk's son Michael fell and was left seriously disabled, incapable of controlling movement. It was so bad that Michael could only communicate with his thumb -- down for no, up for yes.
Kirk wouldn't accept this, and used his IT gifts to craft a system that allows Michael to more fully engage with those around him.
The system is based on a touchscreen that Foutts saw in action at Michael's rehab center.
Foutts managed to procure the touchscreen computer, but it was underpowered and the XP-based unit was unstable.
Foutts ended up buying a touchscreen running Windows 7 that had wireless so his son could stream movies. The only problem -- it still had to run XP software, which was taken care of by XP Mode, a virtual machine for older apps. The new machine even has Skype and a Webcam so Kirk can keep in touch with his son at all times.
Kirk Foutts, you are the man!
Kirk isn't just an IT guru -- turns out he is a gifted writer as well. Read his full report here.
If you‘ve been part of an unusual or groundbreaking project, share your story by writing me at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 05/26/2010 at 1:17 PM