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.
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?
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...
You can head over to YouTube to watch this CBS News feature.
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.
There are still Disney movies from when I was a child that I haven't seen, because they didn't have captions.
Can't read cartoon lips.
Last night I made a pleasant discovery. The Bluetooth antenna in this PC works very well under Linux Mint - as long as I remain within range, of course.
I've been relying on my Xbox wireless headset heavily for the last couple of years & it's begun to deteriorate. Out of curiosity, I tried pairing my hearing aids with the PC and IT WORKED! The signal is much stronger than it ever was under Win10, and it doesn't stutter as much. I will be able to experience a bit more nuance and richness, clarity in sound, even.
Nice to know I have a higher-fidelity fall back. Thanks, Linux.
If you want ASL to be taught in a mainstream way, they need to stop treating it as a "foreign language", which is what most school systems in the United States have it listed as.
Last night, I was able to witness something I'd never seen before: A live broadcast of a hockey game, with Deaf commentators using American Sign Language (ASL) throughout the game. What was groundbreaking to me, was the fact that the NHL recognized that Deaf people could capably carry a live broadcast and also make it engaging - even if you didn't know any sign language.
Here is an example of the broadcast feed - I shall attempt to describe it beginning from the top left. The scoreboard is situated at the top. Other player details would pop up as needed. The largest slice of screen real estate was directly underneath that, reserved for the game itself (as it should be). On the right are 3 split scenes, beginning with the top window. Important game info was represented by the use of emojis - the same ones you use in your phone messages; like the referee blowing the whistle, crowd noises such as cheers and jeers, and in-game events such as icing. The 2nd and 3rd window were reserved for the 2 hosts, Jason Altmann and Noah Blankenship, who provided in-game commentary. They took care to explain as to why a play was blown down by the referee, in effect providing pertinent information to a first-time hockey viewer. The bottom of the screen was split into 2 main parts, which included a noise-level meter which gave a good visual representation of the arena ambience. Additionally, a real-time tracker of each player entering and leaving the ice plus including on-ice time helped to fill in the game details.
This broadcast was a wonderful example of inclusion. There were a few seconds of dead air and feed interruptions, but that's the nature of live broadcasts, one has to be prepared for mistakes and gaffes. I believe both hosts pulled it off, and I am looking forward to their next broadcast. I do not get to sign as often as I'd like, so I was a bit rusty, however by third period puck drop I was pleased to notice I was accustomed to their signing styles and showmanship. Bravo, NHL - more events like this, please.
Today I have a very important virtual meeting; which I've been waiting to happen for almost 2 years. Awoke with a start, after which realizing it was 5:30 AM and not 5:30 PM - I'd not missed it, thank goodness.
Stop doing that to me, brain! Fed the cat his breakfast, collected my thoughts over a glass of water.
"Woke" is not the insult they think it is because the antonyms are: lulled, hypnotized, mesmerized, et al. The racist right would have me believe that stupor is better? It is to laugh, because in their efforts to cast themselves as morally superior, they demonstrate their fragile world-view. They cannot handle change and are brittle and bitter because of that.
Here's my take on the Microsoft Co-Pilot AI issue.
1) Is it possible Microsoft is so disinterested in the consumer PC space it's willing to cannibalize those sales, so Windows evolves even more into an Enterprise product
2) Consumer focus is on the XBOX. If the future plans for releasing COD for the next Nintendo Switch 2 is any indication, other platforms too.
3) It's all about Azure (and virtual Office) for Microsoft now - that's where it makes its money - the enterprise.
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| An R2-D2 mug in my hand, which is currently holding a collection of pens and pencils. |
R2-D2 is probably my favourite #StarWars character. Before R2 showed up, robots & Androids in films and TV shows were typically subservient, low or no vocabulary enabled machines built to perform single tasks. Star Wars Droids had personalities & attitudes, and boy did R2 ever have a 'tude.
I wanted to talk about how lately I've been signing more often while at home with my partner. I'm encouraging her to take her time and respond back to the best of her ability (which isn't terrible, I must say). Taught myself to verbalize English while signing (what is known as 'Contact signing') for the benefit of people who couldn't sign around me; now I mostly sign "voice-off". I'll break the rule at home, obviously.
A downside happens when I'm talking and a response is required: if it's an off-the-cuff thing, I tend to sign them without verbalizing. Additionally, while typing text, I'll use ASL shorthand for things that people who aren't part of a signing community wouldn't know anything about. Whoops?
In the film "Stand By Me", there is a dramatic scene where the boys are crossing the bridge, when halfway through that, the train is coming & they're panicking, the train whistle is blowing, they're facing certain death! The caption simply reads:
[Choo]
It's not only underwhelming for the tension created by the scene, it's also fucking hilarious.
Apple's Air Pods are getting a "hearing aid" mode - however, before you get too excited - this is for mild to moderate hearing loss, not severe (like I have). My units are way more powerful than puny ear buds - they have to be.
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My wife & I began watching "Hawkeye" - they've finally written in that Barton is supposed to be #deaf.
I was busy last night - blew away Windows 10 and installed Linux Mint like I'd been threatening to do for the last while. I was happy to learn - with all of my backing up - was able to save this wonderful photo from a friend. It matches a dark desktop theme beautifully.
Perhaps I actually should start meditation again. Shit going on in the world is making me too emotional sometimes to think straight. I'm speaking out of pain, instead of light.
I have nothing against enlightenment, after all, but I have every problem with dogma.
RSS feeds are a way to collect news sources that interest you. There are many ways to achieve this, from using an e-mail client to dedicated applications. The aim of this document is to help you become familiar with curating your feed. I am going to outline a simple, online way using a free resource called Feedbro. Feedbro is an extension that runs within your web browser. You can download it from the Google Chrome web store, Microsoft Edge Add-Ons and also Firefox Add-Ons. For this example, I will be using Firefox.
RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. When an organization publishes a feed, any people who are subscribed to the feed gets the latest news. Feedbro allows you to gather your favorites sources into one place. After installing the extension, you’ll be greeted with this screen. There are 5 options on the bottom: “Add a new Folder”, “Add a new Feed”, “Import Feed Subscriptions as OPML”, “Settings”, and “Help”. Adding a new feed is the simplest way to begin.
So where do you find these? If you’re lucky, your news source will publish a link right on their page – all you need to do is right click on it, select “copy link location”. Here’s an example of what it might look like. The 3 lined symbol that looks like a WiFi icon indicates RSS.
Paste into the Feed URL field and click “Load”. Feedbro will fetch the most recent headlines. It might take a minute for all the headlines to download, but once it’s done, you’ll be able to pick and choose which ones interest you. Keep repeating these steps for each RSS feed you find.
Maintaining your favourites is easy. That’s what the “OPML” format is – you can import and export all of your favourites with whatever reader you choose to use going forward. I hope this little how-to helps. Have fun!
You mean to tell me you're trying to get a rocket to Mars and back, but you can't figure this out?
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| Closed Captioning symbol (Wikipedia) |
Listening to hearing people who complain about "captions" on movies and TV shows, you might be better off switching to subtitles - which are for meant for dialogues.
Closed Captions is not that - it's meant to try and relay more information that just text, or dialogue. It attempts to try and fill in more "details" about the sounds occurring in the scene.
Complaining about them existing or being switched on, is ableist at the least. It makes you look and sound like an asshole.
Y'know, for the longest time while I was growing up, I thought I was hearing "Crab RACCOON."
