Meta

I've had a long relationship with Facebook as a user, pretty much from their start. There was a time that having a dual Facebook/Twitter login meant you were online and informed. Not so much these days. I've decided to ditch Facebook itself, but I'm hanging onto Insta for uploading photos of my cat.

Meta's recent decision to "stop fact checking" convinced me that social media companies have too much sway in public opinion - an audience that large becomes the message. They should be subject to the same rules and regulations as print media if they're going to exert that much influence. Not to mention the fact that an unstable person is about to enter was voted into the WH for a second time.

New Year

 

Although this blog might sound very negative at times, it was really an exercise to get my thoughts written out, often times reactionary.

I will try to search out more positive news in the future, or I'll shutter this blog & try something different. Have a prosperous new year.

Sign Of The Times

After much reflection, I have decided that I am not going to pursue an ASL teaching certificate. I've been in the workforce for over 30 years, and if hearing people actually meant it when they said "Oh, I've always wanted to learn to sign.", we would have legions of somewhat capable signers by now, if they were earnest.

Where are they?

As It Was Foresigned

I recall a certain conversation that occurred during a Deaf social while I was attending the second year of my Sign Language Communicator degree. The purpose of the gathering was to allow students studying sign language to gain exposure to different Deaf people, signing styles, and different viewpoints.

This individual inquired why I was wearing hearing aids. I think I shrugged my shoulders because it had always been that way for me; if I was heading out in public, I put them on out of habit - because I needed to in order to function. They suggested pulling them out of my ears and throwing them away. This blew my mind a bit at that age - that sort of rebellious attitude against the system! How punk it seemed to want to do that - rip them out, stomp them into the dirt and say NO MORE! That was not the first time I would be exposed to that attitude - reject the system.

I didn't do that. Instead I spent the next three decades bouncing from job to job trying to endure; however I can't recall any job lasting longer than five years with any employer. After 30+ years of being in the workforce,  I'm worn out with dealing with hearing people. Age, physical wear and tear, and bouts with COVID have me considering an early, forced semi retirement. That head spinning realization that occurred in my 20s makes me wonder if they were right, now that I'm in my 50s: just stay at home, collect some sort of pension, and find a way to beat the system. That's what they implied - there's no use trying to advance in this society, they'll just beat you down. You'll always be stuck in entry-level jobs. Yes, there are exceptions but they're exactly that - exceptions.

I hate the fact that as a hard of hearing person, I'm supposed to pick myself up by my bootstraps and blaze a path to self-sufficiency, while the entire system is constructed for people who are able to hear or have no disabilities.

I spent over a year trying to lip-read with face masks on everyone. If people don't believe me that it takes its toll, I don't know what else to tell them.

The Canadian Association of the Deaf conducted a survey and reported low levels of gainfully employed individuals or family. My own experience, coupled with that of others in the community seems to back this up. Perhaps it is time to heed the advice of my elders, as it was foresigned...

Airpods = Hearing Aids?

 

I certainly am aware of the cost of traditional prescription hearing aids. I applaud Apple for figuring out the software algorithms to allow their 2nd generation AirPods to function similarly to over the counter hearing aids. Having options is always a good thing. Good work, Apple.

You can head over to YouTube to watch this CBS News feature.

Quitting The Smartphone Race?

 

The first "smartphone" I ever owned was the Nokia N8. It had a 12 MP camera - in 2010, that was groundbreaking at the time. This was my real introduction to digital photography. Since then, I have owned phones with progressively more powerful chip sets, and then more capable cameras. The Lumia 1020 blew me away with its 41 MP main camera in 2013. Those were some large strides and my interest was piqued.

A disturbing trend began when Apple decided to charge $1000 for their iPhone X, Samsung & others jumped on the bandwagon marketing "premium" phones. They're now so common, if you don't have a smartphone, there must be something wrong with you. No, there's something wrong with a mindset of changing something like a phone every couple of years. Perhaps it's FOMO - fear of missing out, status symbol, whatever.

I began thinking about this much more seriously 4 years ago when it came time to purchase a new phone. I ended up choosing a Pixel 5 because I wanted to experience their camera system & software. Likewise, I was impressed, and I've learned more about computational photography since I started with the N8. The time has come again for me to "upgrade" to another phone because of software obsolescence - the Pixel's support was only 3 years. I loved everything about that model - it's pocket-able size, great camera and software experience. The most recent Pixel 9 launch in Canada has every model priced above $1000.00 CAD - these are not cheap phones. Neither are most models from Samsung or Apple. Today’s smartphones are fully capable computers – some are as powerful as laptops and can replace those items for some people. I already have a desktop PC and a tablet – there may be some unnecessary duplication going on here.

I get it! It's convenient, but more than that it's convergence, and Nokia was one of the first to do that with its N90. It was a phone, camera, media player all in one. However, it was a niche device and most folks still got by with point and shoot cameras and dumb phones. I'm thinking of going back to that.

Recently, I switched my SIM into a spare dumb phone to check that it still works. It's got 4G/LTE connectivity, Bluetooth and works with my hearing aids. It cost about $100.00 when new and its small. I'm realizing now that what I was looking for in an upgrade was a better camera - so I think perhaps I'm going to do more research on an excellent camera instead. I enjoy taking pictures more than taking phone calls, anyway.