Uber Cool Technology in Future for Deaf People?

Imagine a video technology whose screen thickness is the same thickness as a sheet of paper. Imagine the screen is so flexible to the point of actually bending it. A screen so thin you could wear it on your t-shirt. Pure fantasy? No. That technology is already here today but it would take a little more time refining this piece of technology to the point of being able to sell it commercially.

Now, imagine having a whole wall as your "tv screen" at Gallaudet University where you'd be able to communicate with another deaf person in real time and of the correct size dimension as if the person is standing in front of you. Let's say you get to talk to a person in Britain. Or have a whole wall down the hallway in one of Gallaudet University's building that act as one continuous screen so students walking down the hallway can peer into another hallway at another university or college like NTID, CSUN or god forbid the campus of MIT. You would get to see students in real time walking up and down their school's hallway while acknowledging your presence at the same time. Maybe even stop by and chat with another student who is thousands of miles away never needing the volume. Amazing potential.

Now, with this piece of screen technology, what would you like to see happen that could benefit you as a deaf person?



Flexible, razor thin video screen.

NUTS or Nuts for Jericho?

Now, I've watched the show "Jericho" a few times and it was a good show to watch complete with pathos and caveats of what may happen to surrounding towns and people when major cities get nuked.

However, I happen to prefer to watch the show called "24" which details a 24-hour period in the life of Jack Bauer, who works with the U.S. Government as it fights threats on its soil. Especially the recent season's show on how Jack Bauer tried to stop nuclear detonation by terrorists, namely the Islamic kind. It's more interesting to watch a show how characters try to prevent a nuclear detonation on American soil rather than a show on the aftermath where neighboring towns are at war with each other for survival sake. This is a bit of clue on which shows I'd prefer to watch in terms of context rather than watch a show just because one of the characters happens to be deaf and is deaf in real life.

Which leads me to ask this question.

Are Deaf people upset that the show "Jericho" is cancelled only because it happened to have a deaf character in it? Somehow I think the complaints over the show's cancellation is really about the deaf character rather than show itself for some/many/most Deaf people. And so a few Deaf people get on board the NUTS campaign in the hope to get the show re-instated.

Banjo brings up the word "NUTS" about a "NUTS" campaign that has been underway to try and convince CBS to bring back "Jericho". However, nothing was explained fully as to the real historical use of the word "Nuts" (some say that "NUTS" is the made up acronymn for "Not Understanding Terms of Surrender" which is not the same thing as the word "Nuts!" uttered back during WWII). Let's get some historical facts correct here.

The word "Nuts" wasn't even a phrase, as the nut company said, but rather a response to a question back during World War II to German officers on U.S. surrendering. This is well known and famous response in all of World War II. Now, what's really amazing is that this nut company never even watched the show!!

From a few orders, to a few more orders, to a few emails, to a lot more emails, we suddenly found ourselves in the middle of a campaign to support a show we had never even watched before. At first I thought you were nuts, but after interacting with a bunch of you I realized how real you were and how I could easily see myself in your place. Maybe I get excited too easily, but I was impressed with your devotion and passion and decided to fully embrace your campaign.

But I gotta admit. The "NUTS" campaign is turning out to be a cheap advertising gimic for a generational, family-owned nuts company to generate lots free exposures and additional revenues coming from "Jericho" fans to buy and send nuts out to CBS executives as part of their protest campaign to get the show re-instated.

Now. Which one is correct on the use of the word "nuts"? Would it be "N.U.T.S." or "Nuts" ?

The word "Nuts" was uttered by General McAuliffe during World War II at the Battle of the Bulge in response to a surrender call by the German officers.

The General's first reaction was that the Germans wanted to surrender to us. Col. Moore quickly disabused him of that notion and explained that the German's demanded our surrender. When McAuliffe heard that he laughed and said: "Us surrender? Aw, nuts!" the date was December 22nd, 1944.
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But then McAuliffe realized that some sort of reply was in order. He pondered for a few minutes and then told the staff, "Well I don't know what to tell them." He then asked the staff what they thought, and I spoke up, saying, "That first remark of yours would be hard to beat." McAuliffe said, "What do you mean?" I answered, "Sir, you said 'Nuts'." All members of the staff enthusiastically agreed, and McAuliffe decided to send that one word, "Nuts!" back to the Germans. McAuliffe then wrote down: "To the German Commander, "Nuts!" The American Commander."

McAuliffe then asked Col. Harper to deliver the message to the Germans. Harper took the typed message back to the company command post where the two German officers were detained. Harper then told the Germans that he had the American commanders reply. The German captain then asked, "Is it written or verbal?" Harper responded that it was written and added, "I will place it in your hand."

The German major then asked, "Is the reply negative or affirmative? If it is the latter I will negotiate further."

At this time the Germans were acting in an arrogant and patronizing manner and Harper, who was starting to lose his temper, responded, "The reply is decidedly not affirmative." He then added that, "If you continue your foolish attack your losses will be tremendous."

Harper then put the German officers in a jeep and took them back to where the German enlisted men were detained. He then said to the German captain, "If you don't know what 'Nuts' means, in plain English it is the same as 'Go to Hell'. And I'll tell you something else, if you continue to attack we will kill every g**dam German that tries to break into this city."

So, it's not about "NUTS" ("Not Understanding Terms of Surrender" - a recent made up acronymn) in terms of actual historical use of the word but "Nuts!" in response to a surrender ultimatum by the Germans.

Now, would I get upset if a show gets cancelled? In a, er, nutshell, no. Considering the vast number of shows on cable/satellite television nowadays, there are lots of shows to choose from. In fact, too many television programmings whether its sports, soaps, series or movies. If a show gets cancelled, it gets cancelled. I am not the one to run around to wring my hands just because a show gets cancelled.

Awww, nuts!

Are Deaf folks angry because they cannot watch the show that has a Deaf character in it or because it was simply a good show to watch and had nothing to do with that Deaf character in the first place? People need to be honest on answering this question.

Life moves on.

Hearing Firefighter to Learn ASL

I wonder what Neil over at Deaf Firefighter's Blog will say about this story about a hearing firefighter who decide to learn ASL? I'm sure it's a thumbs up from Neil.

He embarked on an intensive sign-language program after he went on a medical call last summer and the 6-year-old daughter of a deaf woman ended up being a translator between emergency personnel and her mother.

"I had no idea what she was signing and what her mother was telling her," he said.

In the past, Labrecque has responded to a handful of calls that involve deaf or hearing-impaired people.

"It's frustrating," he said. "The deaf community has no other way of communicating besides sign language, so if I want to get medical information about my victim, I should know their language," he said.

In the Search and Rescue, or other similar emergency events, there seems to be a shortages of these people who have sign language skills. It's good to know that I have something to offer in a forest fire emergency setting and this awareness will need to be raised since the wildfire season will peak in July/August. One never know should a community with a lot of deaf members be forced to evacuate because of a fire and whatnot. What are the resources in those areas? It's something that I can look into.

Be Back Next Sunday

Folks. I'm going on a week long business and training trip to Rapid City, SD. I turned off all Haloscan comments until I get back which will be March 19th.

Ya'll be good!

Getting Deaf People Interested in Earth Science

NASA has always been a big proponent on helping deaf and hard of hearing students get interested in Earth Science. They go out of their way to help teachers and students from elementary schools to colleges such as Gallaudet University by getting them interested in Earth Science. NASA provides materials such as Earth science captioned videos for classrooms. Or NASA may sponsor science field trips so students can see how the earth system works in such fields as geology, vulcanology (yes, that word does exist), or atmospheric science (“climate”). NASA continuously challenge students to try and excel in school, especially in Earth science. Who knows when one day NASA will have the first ever Deaf/deaf/hh astronaut?

From NASA’s “Signs of Science”:

"Deaf students often do not have good English language skills, so reading is not an automatic alternative to oral explanations," said Ellsworth, a science teacher at Gallaudet University's Model Secondary School for the Deaf in Washington, D.C. "We use sign language and plenty of visuals to teach concepts." Difficulties can arise because their first language -- American Sign Language -- is not a direct translation of English. Sign language has its own structure, grammar and other rules. So, reading English can be a bit like reading a foreign language.

For Earth science, whether students prefer ASL, PSE, SimCom, oral or voice, it doesn’t matter. What matters is to get these students interested in Earth science early on in an environment that they are most comfortable in. Nowadays there are more deaf and hard of hearing professionals that deal with Earth science but the number of them still remains small. I am one of them of the professionals that deal with Earth science. Earth science is an exciting field to be and it is full of discovery. I learn new things almost daily while researching and reading scientific journals in my line of work.

But if you had done your research you'd notice question that there are so few deaf/hh professionals in the field of Earth science. And why is that? And what can you do to help students get interested in Earth science so that they, too, may want to have a career in one of the many fields of Earth science?

QubeTV - a Conservative Choice

You know YouTube. It's all over the internet. And apparently they have a nasty habit of banning certain uploaded video content that questions certain Islamofascists behaviors, or certain videos like Michelle Malkins banned video "First, They Came." Now, there's an answer to all this and the name is QubeTV. Also known as the "Conservative YouTube." I'm sure YouTube's CEOs , which was bought out by Google, will object to that phrase. From the QubeTV blog on first announcing QubeTV back in March:

Two veteran conservative activists, Charlie Gerow and Jeffrey Lord, both former aides to the late President Ronald Reagan, have announced the founding of QubeTV.tv – a new and unique video and picture social network for conservatives.

QubeTV.tv invites and features user-generated content from conservatives. They are invited to upload videos and pictures about politics, their social life, music, sports, religion, academia, business, entertainment and the media. QubeTV will have a special focus on the 2008 presidential election.

Gerow will serve as Chairman of QubeTV while Lord will serve as president and CEO. Longtime friends from Pennsylvania and national politics, the two now work together at Quantum Communications, a public relations firm. Gerow worked as a Reagan campaign aide while Lord served as a White House political director.

“For decades members of the modern conservative movement have complained about a liberal bias in the media,” said Gerow. “The conservative response to this bias has, in the past, been limited by the technology of the day. That has changed.”

Lord called QubeTV the “next step in the revolution once led by the Great Communicator, Ronald Reagan.” He cited the 1947 founding of Regnery book publishing, and conservative magazines by William F. Buckley, Jr. (The National Review in 1955) and R. Emmett Tyrrell (The American Spectator in 1967) as the first communication signposts for the movement Reagan came to lead. Recent signposts include Rush Limbaugh and the advent of conservative talk radio in 1988, television’s Fox News (1996) and the birth of a conservative blogging community in 2004.

Is it time to stop this nonsense and stop supporting YouTube whose habit banning such informative videos but also tend to bend over forward while grabbing their ankles for terrorists who use YouTube as a tool and weapon?

Stop by QubeTV and see what you're missing and see what YouTube won't show you.

HatTip: "M"

Will Deaf Teens Get the Message?

I was over at Technorati checking out on a few things on my day off here when I noticed an advertisement on the right side of the screen on "Cyberbullying" from the National Crime Prevention Council with that famous dog "McGruff." That piqued my interest so I clicked on that ad. And inside it contains a short discussion on cyberbullying with a link to a video that makes a very salient point. I took the liberty on listening to the words spoken and wrote them down as a transcript for those who are interested on seeing what was spoken in that video as well as the overall message:

woman: Ok, Lindsey, you're up.

*audience clapping*

Lindsey: Today I'm going to talk about Patty.

(Note: Patty is the girl in the audience with glasses)

Patty best characteristics?

She's stupid.
Stupid and ugly.
Everything she does is ugly.
Watch her eat.
Watch her stuff her face.
Look at her.
Greasy hair and dirty fingernails.
It makes me want to vomit.
Her Dad doesn't work and they have no money.
That's why she wears that nasty pink sweater.
Everyone hates her.
Even her teachers.
And they are supposed to like everyone.
Get a life, Patty.

Thank you. (Lindsey smiles).

Message scrolls....

If you wouldn't say it in person, why say it online?
Delete Cyberbullying
Don't write it.
Don't forward it.

Figured this be a good message for Deaf/deaf/hh teens and, even for some adults, to learn by. It's so easy to say these things online. But you'd never say it in person. Would you? And it is good to see that many Deaf people are actually trying to clean themselves up or ensure that these things do not happen. Which is why I forbid attacking commenters using ad hominem in my Haloscan comment. Examples must be set for those before us, especially among the Deaf/deaf/hh teens who could be looking up to us everyday on the blogosphere.

Now, I wonder how many people would want to become friends with Lindsey after she said those things publicly on stage.

Would you want to be friends with her?

By the way, I am sending an email to the NCPC about the lack of captioning in that video, too.

Finding Joy in a Mother's Death

The radio business is probably not much difference from the blogger business except that the radio probably have more listeners than do blogs, with exception of the few blogs that radio stations could only wished to have. But below is a story I find dispicable.

A former alderman and controversial radio talk show host said he's happy the mother of his radio rival is dead.

Michael McGee Sr. made the comments during his radio show on WNOV-AM Thursday morning. Charlie Sykes is a radio talk show host on WTMJ-AM. Sykes' mother, Katherine B. Sykes, died in a house fire Tuesday. The Ozaukee County Coroner said Thursday that Sykes died of smoke inhalation...

..."Mother Sykes, she dead. To me it's the vengeance of God. I ain't got no tears. Matter of fact a woman that would have a fool like that deserve whatever is coming her. She raised a sure enough idiot," McGee said on his radio show. "My instincts say Charlie Sykes killed his momma, cuz she live out in this big palace in Mequon all isolated. He got tired of waiting for her money."

I wonder how many people are rooting for this guy? What if the scenario was reversed? Why , there'd be an outcry and people will take to the streets in protest over discrimination, insensitivity, bigotry, racism, and whatever other "ism's" you can think of here with people saying "How DARE YOU attack this guy!" It's like you attack this guy means you attack the whole community behind him. Unreal.

You see, if you touch a particular person belonging to a particular albeit sensitive but "special" group, you'd get more of an outcry from them than the other way around. It's called the "Imus Effect." This effect doesn't apply to all groups but only to a particular group and in the case of Imus it was because he was white and he was not allowed to say "Ho" except during the Christmas holidays.

There is such a thing as too much hypocrisy. I see that everyday here.

A Discourse on Who Said “What?”

I am not going to belabor this so much to the point of beating a dead horse but I will explain once more the goals and reasons on what I write and why.

As of late, there seems to be a number of Deaf people who may now be assuming that I write the way I write just because I want to show off my skillful flair in writing. In short, the use of, ahem, “fancy words” in my blogposts. Whatever.

Time for some of the readers and bloggers get back to reality here and get rid of the assumptions that are making rounds in the blogosphere.

What many may not realize is that each blogger has his or her own way of writing whether it’s the more dull form to the more verbose type or people who write you’d swear they’re the 21st century version of the Valley Girl talk. Some bloggers choose style over substance. Some choose simplicity over the more mundane to the more overly complex ones. Each to his/her own way. If a blogger chooses to use simple words, then that’s fine, if it fits their writing style and format. If not and instead use unfamiliar words then who it is to say one shouldn’t do that? That’s not really the readers’ decision, is it?

Now, I said “blogger” and not “Deaf blogger.” Note the difference before some of you start hyperventilating. Or jump the “audism” bandwagon on what I just wrote. A nasty habit for some people to do just that which is a trait I noticed as of late.

Apparently not all Deaf/deaf readers read only just deaf materials in the blogosphere and more often than not they’d like to read other non-Deaf blog sites for a change. Some may like the idea of reading deaf-related news and deaf-related blogs all the time. For others, it’d just be simply too much on reading just only deaf materials all the time. Readers and bloggers oftentimes want a change of pace and pace by using a different material. This would be a choice for both bloggers and readers. My goals are different here.

My blog is aimed at both hearing and deaf people. In time, I’ll blog more of the stuff that are not deaf-related like politics, oil, clean energy, technology or even geology. The same kind of thing I have been doing ever since I started blogging. I blog whenever and whatever suits my fancy whether to inform, have fun, educate or inspire but never to hurl insults and wish the death of Deaf/deaf/hh people just because I don’t like the person. That’s my real “tone” on this.

I peg Kokonut Pundits readers as smart enough readers rather the kind to complain over the use of “inaccessible” words, which is, in my opinion, a bit absurd. And that was basically the topic in my recent blogpost concerning a few individuals and not the whole Deaf community. In my opinion, it’d be a waste of time should readers choose the route to complain loudly at other bloggers for not being “accessible” enough to them when it comes to the use of certain written words not familiar to them. These kinds of complaints are the exception rather than the rule here. But nonetheless others see it as a kind of a bizarre response when that happens.

No hyperventilating now. These are my opinions and observation. Let's ground ourselves back to earth.

Now, this is not to say I won’t help those who do not understand certain words if they ask. But I won’t be party to this nonsensical approach in the hope that I would acquiescence to the demands that I’d be more “flexible” on how I write.

Have some of the people forgotten?

This is my style of writing. This is a style writing that reflects me, my personality, my identity and how it fits into my flow of thought whenever I write.
It’s really all about my flow of thought whenever I sit down and type away. The words I choose comes to me automatically whenever I write. It’s no big mystery here and it is in no way about “bragging” about how I write just because of the words I choose to use in my blogposts. I have written this way when many readers here were still in diapers while I was in high school and college. This is my style of writing. I have my supporters out there and the number is still growing. Then again I have my detractors as well and it’s probably growing, too. But, again, what is rather disingenuous is for readers to complain saying I do this just to look down on them. Not so. It's no more complex to tell them that instead of complain, use the darn dictionary if the guy is going to be like that. That was the message.

So, let’s get that one thing straight here.

Either one can accept what I write here ot not. And don’t think for a moment that everyone can be pleased all the time. If you actually think that can be done then you are either naïve or a simpleton. This is the reality here. Live it. Cherish it. And don’t be afraid to learn new words and don’t be afraid to ask, either.

Deaf Republicans Support Fred Thompson?

The poll voting continues on Kokonut Pundits and we'll have to wait to see the results. Pass the link around so more can vote for their favorite person for 2008.

But here's the biggest surprise. Well, maybe not that surprising. On another website there was a poll vote with over 2000 ballots cast and the majority of people voted for Fred! Thompson. The results basically blew the rest of the competition out of the water. This is not a landslide but an avalanche shaking the landscape. Over 65% choose Fred Thompson to be the candidate of choosing for the next Republican president for 2008.

Now, until my polling is done, what do Deaf/deaf/hh Republicans (or anybody else) think about Fred! Thompson?

For those who don't know about him. Here's the unofficial Fred! Thompson website if you want to learn more about him. Fred! Thompson is an actor on the popular Law and Order show as well which helps boost his recognizance up several notches compared to the rest of the candidates.

Are you going to vote for Fred!......? What do you think?

Behave now.

Who would you vote for president in 2008?

If you are deaf or hard of hearing and you plan on voting for president in 2008, take your time here and pick a person, whether a candidate or not, you would vote for president.


REPUBLICANS - click here for names and bio.

Which Republicans Would You Vote for President in 2008?
	Fred Thompson
	Newt Gingrinch
	Mitt Romney
	Sam Brownback
	Rudy Guiliani
	John McCain
	Mike Huckabee
	Duncan Hunter
	Ron Paul
	Tom Tancredo
	Tommy Thompson
	Chuck Hagel
	George Pataki
pollcode.com free polls

DEMOCRATS - click here for names and bio.

Which Democrats Would You Vote for President in 2008?
	Joe Biden
	Hillary Rodham Clinton
	Christopher Dodd
	John Edwards
	Mike Gravel
	Dennis Kucinich
	Barack Hussein Obama
	Bill Richardson
	Wesley Clark
	Al Gore
pollcode.com free polls

This polling is brought to you by Deaf Republicans, the first ever deaf grassroots political organization that began in 2004. It is an all-deaf organization designed by, written by, constructed and developed by people who are either deaf or hard of hearing. No hearing person was used to help write all articles in the Deaf Republicans website.

Face to Face Communications

Next week, DHHIG will hold a 3-day National Training Conference in Washington D.C. from May 8 through May 10. Greg Hlibok, Kelby Brick, Julie Bourne and many more familiar people will be presenting their own workshops at this 3-day conference.

For those who are deaf or hard of hearing and work for the Federal government, you may be familiar with DHHIG organization which stands for Deaf Hard of Hearing in Government. But for others who are not familiar, what is DHHIG?

DHHIG is a national non-profit organization whose purpose is two-fold. It serves as an employee support group for Federal employees who are either Deaf or Hard of Hearing and as a resource organization for the nationwide Federal government.

DHHIG coordinates and collaborates with external forces such as OPM, EEOC, U.S. Congress, the White House, President’s Task Force on Employment of Adults with Disabilities, Self Help for Hard of Hearing People (SHHH), National Association of the Deaf, Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf, and other entities.

From the Office of Personnel Management (OPM):

This three day training qualifies as training in compliance with 5 US.c. Chapter 41. The training is open to all employees and will provide training and workshops covering leadership, information and communication technology, and career development.

As a reminder, this workshop is open to all employees as well and not just for employees who work for the Federal Government.

Also, on Tuesday May 8 and Thursday May 10, Jason Curry will hold two workshops called “Face to Face Communications” where he will demonstrate the value of using the UbiDuo to communicate with hearing people. Jason Curry is the president of sComm, Inc, maker of the UbiDuo communication device. The workshop on Tuesday, May 8 is from 11:05 to 12:20 PM. And Thursday, May 10, from 2:55 to 4:05 PM.

This would be a good time to catch up on technology and communications as well as deaf and hard of hearing people's legal rights when it comes to equal communication access.

A Deaf NASCAR Driver Question....Impossible?

Here's something that made me think. Read the quote that come from that discuss a different professional but deaf driver on communicating between the driver and pit crew.

Kimberly from Centereach, N.Y.: I just read an article about a man name Daryn Miller who races in the Charger division in Riverhead, NY. Miller is profoundly deaf and gets thru his races by the aid of 4 lights inside his car at the top of the windshield. Two red lights surround a yellow and a green bulb. The red bulbs tell him to go either left or right, the green to just keep going, and the yellow indicates there is a caution -- an accident or other incident that causes officials to slow the race down -- on the track. His father/coach Bob Miller observes the conditions and lights the respective bulb with the remote control. In such places like Bristol and Dover, where radio communication has proven difficult to hear yourself think, how come NASCAR hasn't thought of this brillant idea?

Tom Jensen: Kimberly: Thanks for the story, which is an interesting one. I think it's a great solution for a deaf driver. But in general, drivers and teams would be reluctant to change to a system for just a few races a year and team owners wouldn't want to pay to change the cars over. Also, I think the system would work better in one car for a 50- or 100-lap race than in all 43 cars over 400 or 500 laps.

Do you think that using that lighting system discussed by Kimberly and Tom Jensen would work for Greg Gunderson who is trying to become the first ever Deaf NASCAR driver (click here and here for more stories on Greg Gunderson's goal)? Would having that lighting communication system work well in all kinds of races? In certain races? And for how many laps would it work the most effectively and efficiently? Impossible?

I already know the answer. So does Greg in last year's interview. Can you find it?

So, what's your answer?


UPDATE: Check out this first historical event ever to take place in the ARCA/NASCAR industry to bring the first deaf racing driver to the racing scene. See photos of this historic news.