i don't think i can ever understand how difficult it must have been for bob cringely to write about his son's recent death:

"Chase Cringely sounds like the name of a NASCAR driver. Chase Cringely was my son. He died this week after 74 days of life, a victim of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). He literally stopped breathing lying in my lap while I did e-mail. There was no sound, no struggle. I just looked down and he was no longer alive. I have no idea whether he had been dead for one minute or 10, but we were unable to revive him. He was never sick, he just died, and now there is a void in our lives that we can never fill."

robert has decided to devote significant time and resources to inventing sensors to help fight SIDS ans is looking for help:

" I need your help. I need hardware engineers, software engineers, I need people experienced with biomedical sensors and sifting mountains of data. I need folks who make tiny processors and RAM chips. I need people who know more about this stuff than I do. Yet they must also be people who are willing to believe that there is an answer, since the medical establishment seems to have given up.

Nobody will make money from this, but everybody will benefit. Whatever we learn will be given to the world for free. "

a long time ago, i had a cousin who died very young, very unexpectedly and without a established cause ever found. it was, of course, completely devastating for the entire family. i remember simply not being able to wrap my head around the fact that she had died. for a long time. best wishes to bob as he picks up the pieces and learns to live with void. [ via doc ]