From A to Zed or Zee with your smart hands!

If you've been reading my blogs, whether here, or on FastCupid or BadSumo, you know my love for Sign Language.

So I put the DeafRead feed on this blog. There's also the link to DeafPulse, another source of infos. While primarly for the deaf and hard of hearing people, hearing people would benefit too.

Today on DeafPulse, there was a link to a fun YouTube videoclip from http://www.mysmarthands.com/ . To hearing people who must learn ASL and have to teach it to their kids.

Believe me, your hands are smart. A lot smarter than you think!

Cheers!

Footnote to my hearing friends: In ASL, -even though this is a sign language-, the 26 letters of the alphabet are present.

Letters are commonly use when there isn't a sign for the visual concept that you want to express, or that sign isn't known to you (which is likely my case!!!). So you have to rely on English words for those visual concepts, and you "fingerspell" those words.

There are other usage for fingerspelling. For instance in the US, the 50 states are often fingerspelled using their 2-letter abbreviations. Imagine a vacation trip on Cape Cod, it would be insane to fingerspell that I'm currently in M-A-S-S-A-C-H-U-S-E-T-T-S. With a state with a name _that_ long, it's a lot easier to sign "M-A".

(External link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMQHd1UBkeI )

Captioned telephone...

Last February, I was in New York City for a weekend. To get some much needed respite from my caregiver duties and to see some blogfriends who I haven't seen in a long long time.

Anyhow, on a Saturday morning, I happened to watch TV and waiting for the weather forecast to come up. In the meantime, I saw ads for NY Relay.

To those not familiar, a traditional "relay" service is a way for deaf and hard of hearing people to communicate with the outside world, as well to receive calls. They have a device which goes to the phone. Pretty much a terminal, with a tiny screen and a keyboard. That device is called a TTY, or sometimes TDD (Telecom Device for the Deaf)

Incoming calls must go to a relay service, and the person talks voice with an operator. The operator in turn will call the other party, with the TTY. So, she will "relay" the voice conversion over the TTY device, and for the deaf person, she can type on the keyboard, which will be seen by the operator, which in turn will "relay" that text voice to the talking party.

There are variations of this. Such as IP Relay, which is the same idea, but over the internet, and there is also VRS (Video Relay Service) like Sorenson VRS which sadly is available *only* in the US, which, instead of relaying words, they relay *Sign Language* to spoken English. The video portion goes over the internet, and voice over traditional phone lines. I saw that in action, and I was absolutely floored! We should have that in Canada. Again, that's something our government doesn't see the need, but the the Americans do. (End of mini-rant here. :) )

But all these services operate the same basic way: If you want to reach a deaf / hard of hearing person, you have to call a special phone number *first*, in order to reach an operator. Ditto the other way around, for a deaf person to call an hearing person.

So I was genuinely curious at NY Relay's ad for... the Captioned Telephone (watch their video).

At first, I was thinking of voice recognition, which is a nightmare for computers to do, as anyone can notice that when calling some voice automated services like 411 directory assistance... with *very* varying success. :)

No, there's no voice recognition circuitry.

It's still a phone with a screen, and as the ad goes on, you dial *directly* the person you want to reach, as you would do with a normal call, and talk normally. Every word you say are captioned. I was wondering how.

This would be great for my dad who is almost completely deaf, and even for me, while I'm not deaf nor hard of hearing, but sounds do not translate well into "words" by my brain. Much like TV with closed-captioning was always on, I would love to listen to a conversation to get the gist of it, while reading the captioning on a screen.

I am also thinking of a few friends which this phone would be a wonderful gift. It would be great for them to call me directly and vice-versa. :) No more operators to dial in first!

There is a gotcha. Or even two, from a Canadian perspective.

The "Captioned Telephone" does two things. You call directly the other party so there's the convenience of a traditional phone call... but the phone also calls the relay service.

It shifts the paradigm of a relay service. The operator is no longer the person in the middle, relaying text to one side and voice the other side. The operator is set aside, and he just type everything that is heard on the line. In effect, this is the "closed captioning" like on TV, except that it's done over the phone.

I suspect there must be delays. First, you don't get an operator instantly, and throughout a lively conversation, I suspect the operator may fall behind, just like closed-captioning of live events, on TV. :)

The additional gotcha is that just like ip-relay, ditto for VRS, the "Captioned Telephone" works... only in the US, as always. So it's useless in Canada.

Anyway, there's a good idea. I wonder how it's going to evolve, over the time.

I suspect that at some point, phones will be equipped of voice recognition, which a keyboard could also be plugged in. Such an universal device would work every way possible, between deaf, hard of hearing and hearing people.

That said, if everyone knew Sign Language, the use of video would make the telephone obsolete. :)

Anyway, just sharing my joy of seeing technology helping people. In this case, to break the communication barrier. This is something that will always be of great interest to me (even more so here, since I have some vested interests, as a functionally hard of hearing person. :) )

Cheers!

-E

Deafness and privacy...

Why the silence on my blog? Oh, I spent a week and a half of vacations on "the Cape" and around, err... I mean Cape Cod, and then I venture to Boston and to the Lowell Folk Festival before going back home.

While on the Cape, I went to the beaches, and I cycled along the backroads of Eastham (and on their great Rail Trail). I had a great time.

While cycling on one of these backroads (notice the traffic "congestion". It sure beats Route 6!), I encounter that sign: "Deaf Child Area".

I had to pause. There's always a good intent in everything, but the way good intents percolate into reality, things go awry and miss the target.

Maybe I'm fussy because of my own work, I see privacy issues everywhere, but if I were parents, I wouldn't like to advertise the fact that I've deaf children. It's not a matter that my neighbours would know (I'm sure they would know!!!), but about people passing on that road, period. That's none of their business... and that might even giving ideas to bad people who might take advantage of my kids *because* they are deaf.

Yet, I can see the good intent behind that sign, for drivers to pay attention that there are kids who won't hear you coming.

The problem isn't with deafness, the problem is the road. The problem is the crazy drivers on that road! The problem is that there's no one enforcing the slow speed limit on these roads!

As you can see, this is a fairly deserted road and it parallels busy Route 6, the main thoroughfare on the Cape. So, the temptation to bypass the heavy traffic and to floor the gas pedal on these winding roads is there. So whatever is on the side of the road, kids, adults, deaf or not, walking or cycling... they all are in danger.

As a cyclist, my ears are my rear view mirrors. Problem is, when there's a car facing me, its engine noise covers everything else. I might not hear a car behind me. Or that car behind me makes so much noise, that it hides the fact that there are *several* vehicles behind that car.

A few times there have been very close calls, everytime because of vehicle speeding in excess of 60mph on these winding roads, and at that speed, they were just too busy attempting to stay on that road without hitting anything to even notice your presence.

I consider these backroads, while to be enjoyed (and *I* enjoyed cycling on them!), as far more dangerous than a busy street in downtown Montréal as a result. And I am a hearing person!

A sign that reads "Deaf Child Area" won't do much to vehicle speeding on that road. The driver doesn't care, and even to hearing people, things happen so fast there's no time to do anything.

And in the week and a half I've been cycling on these little roads, I haven't seen a single police cruiser. They were all busy ticketing motorists on Route 6. Maybe that's where the problem is...

Cheers,

-E

Cellphone monopoly...

Sometimes, I wish our CRTC has teeth, like its US counterparts, the FCC. The airwaves belong to the public domain, and like radio and TV broadcasters, cell phone operators are given a privilege to use some of that precious resource for commercial purposes.

In return, they should make good use of it, and this is on that principle that both CRTC and FCC do rule.

Two frustrating news went on yesterday. It reminds you that these cellphone operators operate as a monopoly in Canada and therefore they are laughing at you big time, since the CRTC doesn't want to intervene...

1) Bell *AND* Telus, 2 of the 3 cellphone operators both announced *at the same time* that not only outgoing text messages are billed, you will also be billed for *incoming* text messages.

Since text messages are likely to come from either their own network or from the other network, you really want me to believe that Bell and Telus didn't talk to each other, and it was just sheer coincidence that they both come to the conclusion they must bill incoming text messages as well and also a coincidence they made the announcement... on the same day, yesterday?

Hello?

What about Rogers (who also own Fido)? No plans to do double dipping like Bell and Rogers. On the other hand, since it costs twice as much to send a text message.... Bingo! It's a monopoly (or more technically an oligarchy, or a triopoly, since we have just 3 cellphone operators in Canada).

2) Rogers announced that they have "listened" to the uproar of protests from their customers about the iPhone and how insane it is priced here in Canada. Ah.

They'll now offer a data plan for $30/month. Rogers is making a lot of publicity that they are slashing the costs of the iPhone by half, initially priced at $60/month.

Where's the gotcha? Actually there are several of them. First, it's a time limited offer (until the end of August).

Second, it's a *data plan* (therefore no voice) at $30/month. Since monthly basic cellphone (voice) service is about $30. ... we're back to $60/month, so there's no savings at all. Gotcha!

A footnote: A data-only plan isn't that bad, and it would make sense to deaf people. This is what T-Mobile in the US offers for their Sidekick. However, the Sidekick has applications for the deaf people, such at internet relay, a service which we don't have in Canada, nor VRS, thanks again to our government procrastinating. Since we have a Bush-like Conservative government, don't expect anything good coming from them anytime soon.

So a $30/month data plan for the iPhone won't bring much benefits to the Canadian deaf communities... except of a better rate, and even there, the plan will be available only for two months. Not much to cheer about.

About myself? For the time being, it's no, I won't bite at the bait. Later? Maybe.

Since I'm often in the States, I'm still thinking of buying a US phone and I'll cough out the roaming fees when I'm in Canada. :) It would still be cheaper.

Besides, I'm still debating about the Sidekick vs iPhone. The one key feature missing on the iPhone is a *real* keyboard, like on the Sidekick. Other than that, the iPhone would be the perfect phone for me!

That being said, I have ZERO sympathy for Rogers, Bell and Telus. The only 3 cellphone operators in Canada, they are merrily price gouging the market, knowing that they can do so with total impunity from the government.

Like its wired counterpart, those wireless cellphones have become so useful that you can't think of getting rid of them. That's the bet the 3 Canadian cellphones have made. Grrr.... :)

Cheers nonetheless!

-E

Deaf world: Some debates that will never end...

I was reading DeafPulse (which you get the 10 most recent headlines on this blog), and reading other Deaf web sites...

CI, aka Cochlear Implant. It's a big thing in the deaf world. I guess that it is alike to a Christian seeing Satan in person. :)

I'm fighting all I can on behalf of my dad, and the last thing on top of many illnesses is deafness... it goes without saying, pun not really intended that I have to rely on Sign Language to get understood. Or words on a piece of paper, but even then you have to write in big letters, as his eyesight is also getting worse. Also a miracle that my dad was able to remember a few signs and to make use of them.

On top of other illnesses, it feels like the last straw. At least for me. But it's no use to get angered, frustrated, or anything. It's life as it unfolds, with the best and the worst and you have to take that.

One thing I notice how the world, so wide and infinite, gets narrower for him. While I have also my own 'bouts (I hear well, but decoding human speech is a nightmare for me, so I sometimes appear to others as if I were deaf), but I haven't realized what it means being deaf.

We're in an audible world, from the doorbell, the telephone, radio, even television, when all these audible infos become out of reach, you live in a strange narrowed world, because all those audible you depend on during all your life... are no longer there, and you realize the sheer void.

I had that in mind when I was reading several heated debates about CI. Whether parents who took decision on behalf of their children, or as a grown up, to go for cochlear implants.

For my dad, it's way too late of course, but I have been thinking that in the very audible world that we live in, if I were in that situation at my age, I'd seriously consider the option.

Which doesn't mean I'd stop using Sign Language, far from it, but I have to realize that 99% of the people around me, from friends to neighbours to colleagues haven't learned it. So I have very little use of Sign Language (but I continue to wish that Sign Language should be taught at school, just like other languages, because it *IS* a full fledged language, with its own culture. It's *NOT* a sub-standard language, just for the "disabled", with the double quotes! )

I'm a fervent partisan of "Vivre et laissez vivre". It's a French phrase to just say to let people decide for themselves. I feel in cases like that, there's no right or wrong choices to take. These are just... personal choices.

But in the deaf community, it isn't different than other communities. There are always some outspoken (?) people monopolizing as many means of communication as possible, and claiming high and low that we should all go their way.

When there's a language, there is a culture. There IS a deaf culture. The dilemma is when you are a minority, then you are in survival mode.

Incidentally, this is the debate we keep having in my province (Québec). Anyone who wants to understand the language debate there, the key to do so is to view from the angle that we're a tiny minority in North America, even in our own country. 24% of Canadians speak French. Stated otherwise, that's 76% who does NOT speak French, and the numbers have been steadily declining since Stat Can began to do statistics, a hundred years ago...

So I see in the deaf community the same patterns of self-defense. The debate against CI is also that. It is perceived as removing people from the deaf culture, which is not entirely false, but it isn't entirely true.

It is my understanding that the deaf culture while being a minority and having to beg from the majority for its needs, is far from going extinct.

The geek in me, who sees technology progressing, I have to say: Who could have thought a few years ago that there would be plenty of "vlogs", video blogs, people signing merrily in ASL? there are web sites in ASL, and already movies in ASL? Who would have thought there would be plenty of materials on the internet to feed things like DeafPulse?

Aren't these things... an expression of a *culture*, that is vibrant and dynamic? I would think so, and thanks to the technology, for providing a support for which a language can be transmitted. In this case, *visually* transmitted.

I was looking at the millions of channels on digital cable. I was joking a bit, but I am serious, what about an ASL channel? I'd sign for it right away. What about newscasts, game shows, sitcoms in ASL? There are millions of deaf and hard of hearing people across the US and Canada. Sorry, but closed captioning doesn't cut it.

There are TV channels that are on the air with an audience less than that. Besides, there are already linguistic channels, Spanish, Greek, Portuguese, German.

I think it's a matter of time someone who has the money will come up with a nationwide ASL channel? (and put closed captioning for the NON-hearing impaired? ;) )

I'd be the first to sign up, that's for sure.

So it seems that debates like against CI are so futile and such a waste of energy... it's being at standstill while the world keeps moving forward.

What else to say, or sign for? PEACE and ILY? Maybe...

That's a way to sign Vivre et laisser vivre, I'd say...

-E

Artificial deafness...

If you are reading my other blog on FC, you know that I'm about to travel. A tour of the west coast, as far south as San Francisco, and then the slow ride all the way to Vancouver. From the coast to the desert. An Eskimo in the desert definitively strikes my imagination. ;)

Suffice to say that I had it rough for the past couple of months, and taking a break from Montréal is definitively welcome.

On this blog, I'd rather like to focus on the geeky aspect of travels...

In case one wonders, San Francisco is 6 hours of flight from Montréal. Just as far away as... London, England. Add 30 minutes and you're in Paris. :)

And I wonder whether it was from excessive travel by plane (I completely max out last year), tinnitius (aka "ringing ears") has become an unwelcome guest, and the more I flew, the more it lingered.

Last summer in Seattle, I spotted this pair of headsets at an electronic store. "Quiet Zone" from Koss. It can act like a regular headset, plugged to your iPod/MP3 gizmo or like here with the adapter, plugged to the plane's PA system. But you wouldn't shell US $100 + a pop for these headsets. Besides, I'd say the sound quality is just average.

In fact, the best way to enjoy these headsets is when they are *NOT* connected to any sound device. Not bad eh?

Enter the wonderful world of active noise cancellation. In other words, artificial deafness. :)

Sound travels in the air as a sinewave. Like any sinewave, if you apply to that sinewave another sinewave that is 180-degree out of phase, both sinewaves cancel each other. The result? Silence.

Short of implanting an on/off switch onto my ears, this is the next best thing, at least in theory. (oh sweet dreams! I could be deaf to politicians and not just figuratively when they do speeches during an election. Neato, n'est-ce pas? :) )

In reality, these headsets cut down the noise considerably, but they fall short of the promised artificial deafness.

Also with the Koss, supposedly for my own safety (?), the headset will allow the human voice to go through. This is partially true. It filters the higher pitch voice of women, while male voices tend to get through in a bit muffled state.

Nonetheless, they cut down noise enough to make a long flight trip enjoyable. Enough to finally enjoy that in-flight movie, news bulletins or whatever is coming out of your iPod-like gizmo without having to boost the volume to the max, if you want to hear anything.

I lend my "deaf ears" to a few colleagues who had to travel by plane, and they all love it. The drawbacks, because there are always some, the thing is bulky (because it has to cover each ear completely) and somewhat heavy to wear. The battery doesn't last long. Just a few flights. All in all, a small price to pay to avoid tinnitius and major headaches.

These headsets also work very well on buses and trains.

On a philosophical side, isn't an irony that there are lots of research done and money spent in hearing aids and cochlear implants to help deaf and hard-of-hearing people to hear... and on the other hand, there's also a lot of big bucks invested to help hearing people... to become deaf.

All in all, my idea of an on/off switch implanted onto my ears isn't all that far out. :)

Cheers,

-E

Giggle of the day: Guess the ASL sign for government...

<--- Here is the answer from the LifePrint (ASL University) web site. It's a very good web site if you want to learn ASL.

Yup, they're all that crazy at the government!

Anyhow, I stumble on that sign tonight...

... and for some reasons, I just couldn't stop giggling. :)

Cheers,

-E

Sign Language revisited...

It's already re-run season on Radio-Canada.

Last November, I've blogged about "Le moment de vérité". On that edition of the show, contestants had one week to learn... 250 signs. No less. :)

I'm learning at my own pace, so between November and March, I've probably augmented my sign vocabulary by that much. These guys had to do that in just one week. Oops. :)

Last Saturday, I saw the preview for tonight show. The preview was presented... by René Simard. A popular singer and TV host here in Québec.

I was thrilled to see René Simard signing in LSQ (Québec Sign Language). The ASL signer would notice that there are some surprisingly similarities between the two sign languages.

Then, I was reminded that his two sons are... deaf.

If you want to learn more, I've done some searches on the internet. I've found this article (in French) about René Simard and Marie-Josée Taillefer and their two deaf sons.

On a personal note, I've been trying to teach some basic signs to my dad. He's completely deaf on one ear, and I might say that since his last exam, the other ear is quickly going deaf too.

Is teaching some signs to someone who is in his 80s and Alzheimer... Mission Impossible? To some extents... yes. :)

(But he has picked up some signs, like Toilet! Fine, Bad etc). The doctors approve my attempts. Actually, anything to keep him intellectually active is welcome, so why not sign language?

In a way... it's a labour of love. He's my dad... and it seems to me that what is the most precious thing in life... to someone who means a lot to you, someone who is in fact 50% of you...

Communication.

To stay in touch in him... Fighting with him... against all illnesses that are robbing my dad...

Sigh...

The love of a son for his dad.

-E

Signing in ASL... or trilingual woes...

It's been a while that I'm brewing this project: having a little "vlog" of my own, aka video blog.

In this blog, I've been mentioning that I'm learning ASL. At a slow pace, it's true. If life wasn't so busy, I'd spend more time learning.

Anyhow, I feel that I'm ready. I am at the point which... instead of watching others signing in ASL, it's *MY* turn to sign in ASL.

I have a vocabulary of ... about a 4-year old. But enough vocabulary to sign short sentences.

So I was thinking of a welcome message to my blog... in ASL.

My plan was to sign AND speak at the same time, in English. This would avoid having to do some post-productions (like adding closed captioning). I already have some editing softwares that would do that, if necessary.

By trial and error, I found out that the digicam I already have, in its "movie" setting give very decent results. It would quickly fill out the memory card, on the other hand for small projects like this one, it isn't a problem. The supposedly hi-res Logitech webcam was the worst. Oh well..

So I tried a rehearsal tonight... Yikes.

Well, I could sign... or I could speak in English or course, but I couldn't sign AND speak at the same time.

People who are interested in the way our mind works, this is interesting. Yeah I know, for everyone else, that's boring stuff.

It's a struggle for me to think in words. I think in images. So I have some affinities with a visual language, such as Sign Language.

I could think directly in ASL and French, my mother tongue... but English? I have to think in French and then translate in English.

So it means that at one time, I was juggling with THREE languages.

ASL: HELLO! NICE MEET-YOU. ME NAME J-A-C-Q-U-E-S. ME HEARING. I LEARN-LEARN A-S-L. CAN SIGN A LITTLE. WELCOME B-L-O-G MINE.

French: Bonjour, heureux de vous voir! Mon nom est Jacques. J'entends et j'étudie présentment l'ASL. Bienvenue à mon blogue!

English: Hello! Nice to meet you! My name is Jacques. I'm hearing and I'm learning ASL. I can sign a little. Welcome to my blog!

So going in my mind 3 languages at the same time. After a few words, I was overwhelmed!

Hehehe...

When I'll figure how to add closed captioning, I'll shoot a silent version with me just signing and upload it here.

If you see a guy in kilt doing weird things with his hands, now you know. :)

Cheers,

-E

Mobile internet... a tiny step closer...

In the meantime, we still do not have the iPhone nor the Sidekick...

I change my cellphone recently and I kept the old one as a backup. The beauty of GSM phones (which are also the lot of the iPhone and Sidekick), you just remove the SIM card from one phone, put in the other, and voilà!

The new phone was for the trip in France last January, so it would work there (and it did, and it was a lifesaver at Roissy / Charles-de-Gaulle airport. :) ).

The frustrating part is that nearly all new cellphones... are internet ready. Mine does that. It has some applications (web browser, Yahoo/MSN Messenger, mail, etc) and the phone itself can work as a modem to a laptop.

Sadly, our cellphone providers haven't beefed up their network, so they charge insane amount of money even for light use of the internet. This is why Apple didn't launch their iPhone in Canada, and this is why the Sidekick is being phased out. The use of a "Crackberry" in Canada can be costly. What an irony, considering that RIM, the makers of the Blackberry is... Canadian.

Frustrating.

Today, I was playing with my still quite brand new cell phone, and somehow I accidentally activated its internal web browser. I know too well what would happen next. A warning page that anything I would do past that point will cost me an arm and a leg.

It's the feeling of being at a candy store... empty pocket. :) All the candies you want are there... you have no money to buy just even one candy. :)

Lo and behold, this time the text has changed. I'm invited to sign up for their "unlimited internet" plan. Cost? $7 per month. (If you can read French, click on the photo).

What? No monthly 3-figure amount of money? Unlimited internet that is truly... unlimited? For just $7 a month? There must be a gotcha, somewhere, right? :)

Well, I checked. Indeed unlimited internet for $7 per month... with only the applications that are stored on the cellphone... and as long as the phone doesn't act as a modem for a laptop. For those purposes, the "arm and a leg" plan still apply.

A bummer, but that's a start, so I sign up for their somewhat unlimited.. Mobile dirt road access to the internet. It's still better than nothing. :)

I have issues about human speech, and voice over a cellphone, is my absolute nightmare.

South of the border, when you see the things deaf persons do with their Sidekick, and how handy such devices have become in their day to day life... It is difficult to imagine that these devices are just a dream here in Canada, and have to live... without them.

And for me, dreaming to have a Sidekick. Sigh...

Also as a traveler, whether checking planes, weather, or last minute searches at the place I'm going, I can vouch that internet on the go is very useful.

An iPhone or a Sidekick is a tad... more compact than a laptop, nor they need to be close to a Wi-Fi access point to work. :)

One last digression: When I was in France last January, one of my cousins had a French iPhone.

Their data plan? Unlimited internet for the equivalent of $35 CDN. Restrictions? After the first 500Meg, the service provider (Orange) reserves the right to slow down the access to the internet. Wow.

By the way, they are currently testing high quality video live conversations.. They openly invite deaf people to try their service. Yup, having conversations... in Sign Language.

This is how spiffy cellphone services have become in France...

What a contrast with Canada.

Sigh...

-E

Being hugged by a stranger...

The doorbell chimed in yesterday evening.

The snowstorm had subsided a bit, but it was still snowing and it was quite windy. No one is outside unless one has to. A neighbour? My landlord? Mhhh...

So I opened the door. I saw a tall man in his 60s, lots of grey hair and wearing worn out clothes. Mhhh... in this snowstorm?

Overall, the guy seems shy, and it's obvious that a lot of doors have been slammed on him.

He didn't say a word, but he waved a card at me. So I looked at his card...

A card, with letters A to Z, with drawings of a hand for each letter.

Dang, I immediately recognize... fingerspelling.

Fingerspelling is the alphabet... in *Sign Language*. The guy in front of me is most likely deaf.

On the other side of the card, there's a short text telling me that he's selling these cards for a living and asking me for a donation. I also noticed that it was for Valentine's Day. It's a bit late.

I was genuinely surprise, and he saw my surprise.

So I *signed*... DEAF YOU ? (with the proper facial expression for a Yes/No question). Textbook ASL. :)

You should see his face lighting up. Really, he didn't expect that someone who could sign!

What I didn't expect... he came to me... and hugged me!

Mhhh.. there are things in life which... you accept, no matter what. Can you refuse a hug? Of course not!

Hugged by a stranger, right at home. Home delivered hugs. :) Got to say, there are far worse things that can happen when answering the door!

Gee whiz, he isn't dressed warmly. He didn't want to come in nor drink something hot.

So I learn that he's born deaf, and he's trilingual, French, LSQ (Quebec Sign Language) and ASL (American Sign Language). He found absolutely amazing that I'm a hearing person and learning ASL for the fun of it during my spare time.

The conversation didn't last long... He wanted to continue his run. In this crazy weather? Yup...

So I gave him a substantial amount of money. That's the very least I can do.

So we "Muaaaaaaaaaahh" each other and he left. I stayed on the front porch for a little while, observing him, walking in the snow toward the next home...

In the snowstorm... I felt bad for him.

What can I do?

Now, it was me who was getting cold.

So I closed the door.

Sigh...

-E

20 Chinese Deaf dancers perform...

This is why I like the DeafRead feed that you see on the right-hand size of my blog. Sometimes, you see some newslinks that are simply mind blowing.

Check this blog page: 20 Deaf Dancers Perform . There are two YouTube videos. It's eerie to see, and when you think that all these dancers are deaf, so they have to rely on timing, visual clues, and the feel of vibration of loud music.

Enjoy!

-E

PS: After you saw the videos, remember that we call deafness... a disability. It makes you wondering, n'est-ce pas? :)

Worst nightmare for a parent...

Since I have my own issues about hearing (and also the fact that I'm learning ASL), this is why from my blog, I subscribe to "DeafRead".

So, "automagically", everytime you read my blog, you'll also see the latest from DeafRead, with their selections of stories off the Internet. Interesting text readings. (To my non-signer friends, not all these links point to ASL video blogs. :) ).

So I saw this title, Every parent of deaf child's worst nightmare, from Berke's Outspoken blog.

Imagine, being in a school bus and you're deaf. The bus driver is a substitute, therefore doesn't know you nor understand sign language. The bus assistant who could communicate in sign language wasn't there either.

This is what happened to a 13-year old deaf girl, and she was dropped off 2-miles from home, in pouring rain. Everything that could turn bad, did. Thankfully, there's a happy ending, but it's been indeed a nightmare.

Maybe because of my own issues, I always carry a pen and a piece of paper everywhere I go. If in the unlikely event that I don't have these items with me and I don't understand something that seems very important, I often make the gestures of touching my ear and then writing on an imaginary piece of paper. That's something non-signers will understand right away.

Yes, I could have stated so verbally, but it seems the visual aspect while I stay *silent*... speaks for me louder than my own voice. :) Besides, with friends, it's the fun of being tangential. Being straightforward is too boring, but I'm digressing terribly here.

Anyway... what seems glaring in this story.. is the lack of attempts to communicate in *other* ways.

The schoolgirl is obviously under BIG stress and of course she could be forgiven for not readily thinking about it, but why the bus driver didn't come up with a pen and a piece of paper, so she could write down the address of her home? And for him, to write down other questions to her? Is she ok? Does she need help? Etc...

Conversely, if the bus driver didn't have a pen and paper (which is highly unlikely, as they seem to always have to fill out various reports while they are on the go), why he didn't make... the signs I've just mentioned? Such as the gesture of writing on an imaginary piece of paper.

Especially with someone who makes use of sign language, that person more than anyone else will catch the visual clue.

Deaf people aren't dumb, and deaf people do learn how to write, just like everyone else. Besides, going at school... don't we all have to carry pen and papers,... unless things have changed since my time? Very unlikely, but one can hope? :)

But I also remember my childhood years, and bus drivers too. Some were really super... and then there were those... which remind you that bus companies hire anyone, and they _really_ mean anyone.

So disasters are bound to happen...

Ay ay ay...

-E

Voicemail to SMS text message...

I'm awfully behind in checking my mails.

A friend of mine has sent me this link. Rogers (who also owns the Fido brand name) is one of the three cellphone service providers in Canada. They announce a brand new service for cellphone users: Voicemail to SMS text messages.

(Of course, knowing Rogers, they'll charge top dollars for that service :) ).

They have implemented voice recognition software on their voicemail service. It understands several languages (English, French, German, Spanish).

So you can receive as a text message, what people are leaving on your voice mailbox.

Ahh... the wonders of computers. :)

Since Canada is trailing terribly, compared to the States and Europe, I would bet that they all have that for a long time... but it's coming to Canada. At last.

In the article I mentioned earlier, there's something that ticks me off:

-------

“It’ll appeal to a broad customer base … people who are in meetings quite regularly and can’t take a phone call; it’s very useful in those settings,” commented Alltel’s senior vice president of product management, Wade McGill. “It was one of those services that once you get it, you don’t want to give it up,” he added, describing the reaction of a product test group.

-------

Ooookay. What about people who are functionally hard of hearing (my case). What about deaf people? I'd bet they'd be delighted

It's often the problem with new technology. What their inventors think of the real audience of their new technology... and how it really turns out in reality...

Anyway, that's probably old news to everyone else, but I figure that's news still worthy enough for mention here.

Now, time to pack my luggage... or I'll miss my plane!!!

Cheers,

-E

Deafness is hitting home...

No, not me. (Although I may appear to you as hard of hearing. I wrote a long blog entry, a few months ago).

No, it's about... my dad.

Since he has Alzheimer, getting to know with the disease, one of the things it does, it affects the mood. It isn't just all about memory recollections. Far from it, in fact.

So when we saw the first signs, we all thought, me first, that he was playing games on us. "Don't want to listen, don't want to talk, I'm in my bubble, and that's that." Okay dokay...

I had some suspicions. But I had to battle. "Oh, you know, your dad isn't young, it's kind of normal to be a bit deaf". I've heard that many times.

Mhhhh... I had a hunch there has to be something else. My mom too it isn't buying that argument.

Well, today the results are in. Left ear: Completely deaf, and there's serious hearing loss for his right ear.

Sigh...

When you see someone slowly fading away... and that someone is 50% of you... There's _that_ shock.

Then... it comes quickly obvious that there's a very something that becomes paramount as times go by: Communication. When he's with us...

To the point you look forward, for *those* times that he's with us.

Tonight, it seems that I've been robbed.

A wall of silence is getting established between us.

Sure, a lot can be conveyed with touch. We're warm blood creatures, with feelings... touches and feelings...

Visually too. From body language to sign language, yeah I know all that...

So, there are ways to side-step silence.

But nonetheless...

Sigh...

-E

XO laptop: Give One, Get One, extended...

This is one of those projects that deserves your support.

You may have heard of Zero-cost computing, or the $100 laptop, well... this is those computers.

Actually, they cost $200 per laptop. This is Negroponte's project to enpower children in Africa. Food... for the mind. Education needs in Africa, do I need to elaborate?

It goes without saying, these machines are built for the rough terrain.

Volume would keep cost down. This is why for a limited time, these laptops are offered in North America, and that offer is extended through December 31st.

Give One, Get One. Your money helps to give a laptop computer, and you will get one for you.

For $200 per laptop, there's a lot of features for that money. I've blogged about that, recently.

I've donated money. A few days ago, I got a thank you note, confirming that all is ok for me. If I were paying taxes to the US, I got also a charity receipt. Oh well. :)

Cheers,

-E

People who mumble in Sign Language. :)

I can't come up with a better phrase!

You know people who mumble. With their voice.

The same thing can happen... with signs.

Especially fingerspelling. Fingerspelling is the act of S-P-E-L-L-I-N-G a word using signs for each letter.

In ASL, this is happening on average once every 10-15 signs.

Whether the sign doesn't exist for a certain concept (or is unknown to the signer), or the sign does exist, but you want to I-N-S-I-S-T on something, therefore... you spell it!

(Usually, your facial expression will give additional clues. You rarely keep a poker face when you use Sign Language! ).

As the name suggests, contrary to other signs which the entire hand, and sometimes both hands have to move and therefore taking a certain time, fingerspelling means that *only* fingers are moving. Your "main" hand doesn't move. Only the fingers are dancing, with grace and at amazing speed.

As someone who is learning ASL, this stretch my receptive skills to the max. The mind has to rev up at insane speed to identify on the fly each fingerspelled letter. Visually, I see "in my mind" letters lining up one letter at a time on a buffer til a complete word appears.

If you are fluent in ASL, proper etiquette requires that you shouldn't even stare at the hand of the signer. You should continue to maintain eye contact with the signer, and use your peripheral vision to decode hand signs.

Try that!

Now... this would be all fine, if... IF...

The person takes the time to sign well formed letters.

Since it takes a lot of time to spell every letter of a word, signers would just whiz at letters without taking the time to do well formed letters.

For instance, letters A, S and T are extremely similar. All fingers closed, except for the thumb, which would be standing up next to the index for letter "A", or standing over the index and major for letter "S" or squarely standing between the index and major for the letter "T".

Letter "U" and "V" are extremely similar. The index and major are up. If they are close next to the other, it's the letter "U", if they are open, sometimes the sign we hearing people use for "Victory", as during WW2, the letter "V". Sometimes it's not that obvious.

Mumbling. :)

Thankfully, since I watch vlogs (video blogs), I can play the video as much as I want. I can slow down, play one image frame at the time. Even there, I'm not always sure which letter is being signed. Sometimes it's a sign done half-way for 3-4 different letters.

(However in person, there's a limit to ask a person to repeat again and again!!!)

So in my mind, I have to *visualize* letters that have been signed and to reconstruct the word by filling up the blanks.

And you have just a fraction of a second to figure out the fingerspelled word, because more ASL signs are on their way. Wheeeeee!!!

At Deaf Read, I've been reading some deaf blogs about fingerspellings. It's kind of reassuring to know that even deaf people who are learning ASL... are also struggling with their fingerspellings.

Somehow, I fear that being a hearing person could have been a big handicap! :)

Ooookay...

My turn! If you have some rusty notions of fingerspelling, here's the link to ASLPro's fingerspelling quizz. Try only 5 words at a time, and at slow speed.

GOOD LUCK!

So far I'm doing almost a perfect score at medium speed. (For the fun of it, give it a try! You'll see the difference with slow speed). You'll see where I am. Try to beat me! :)

And then see the fast speed. This is where I should be. Insane, isn't it? :)

Also, keep in mind that these signs are well formed and in "staccato". In other words (signs? :) ), this is fingerspellng done in an *ideal* environment. In reality, people never fingerspell that way. :)

There are transitions from one letter to the other, so fingers have to move to their final position for signing a letter and then moving again for the next letter, which isn't always easy to decode.

Also you have to clue the reader, whether there are consecutive letters, and sometimes you just have no idea whether clues have been sent at all.

That being said, I'm enjoying immensely learning ASL. This is not a chore, and often I'm giggling. Whether at a new sign that seems very creative... or squarely laughing at my own mistakes. :)

Cheers!

-E

Winter Storm Warning ?!?

<--- Environment Canada said so! That's what my weather radio has picked up when I arrived home tonight. (In case one is wondering, we're now using in Canada the same technology that is in used in the US for many years. If you happen to hear a S.A,M.E. alert when it is transmitted, you'll hear a "databurst" similar to a modem for a short period of time. This allow to display the type of alert (Advisory, Watch, Warning), a short description of the alert here, Winter Storm Warning, and for which region (FIPS code) is intended. I've set this weather gizmo to display weather alerts strictly for Montréal Island.

For my deaf friends, all tabletop models are required to have an external port, so you can plug in a flashing warning light, vibrer, etc. Not bad. :) (I wish a longer text message would be displayed on the LCD screen, but that's a step in the right direction!).

----

Winter, oh winter...

It's mid-November, winter is on time... except we aren't.

Spoiled by a nice weather, used to late winter arrivals...

Now we're back to ahem... normal?

Where's my winter boots?

Scarf? Gloves? Hat?

Where oh where?

I can't remember where I've put them last spring!

Ah, I know what it means!

Time for me to hibernate,

Time for me to say: "See you next Spring!"

(Well, I wish I could say so. ;) )

Cheers!

-E
PS: Where's my shovel? I'm just a clever Eskimo!

Great news about Gallaudet: They're safe!!!

This morning, I saw this news passing by: Nation's top school for the deaf taken off probation .

This is the continuing fallout of the BIG student protest that happened a year ago at Gallaudet. Things are taking a good turn. Finally!

Gallaudet University, the only university for the deaf was on the verge of losing its accreditation. The student protest last year has triggered a review by its accreditor... and the university was sent an ultimatum, err... put on probation: Bluntly, they have a year to straighten things up... or they'll lose their accreditation.

Accreditation is paramount for Gallaudet. Without it, no federal money. Since a whopping 80% of its budget is funded by federal money, it isn't a stretch to say that the very *survival* of Gallaudet University is at stake.

(By the way, in term of fundings, this brings Gallaudet quite in line with Canadian universities).

Governance, low enrolments, poor grades have been plaguing Gallaudet University for years, and under the ultimatum, those are some of the sore points which immediate solutions have to be brought in. Within a year. Ootch.

Unfair? Maybe... but it's counterproductive to bite at the hand that feeds you. So you have to play by their rules, and not by the rules you want to play.

(It's also the drama of being a minority drown in a majority, and the majority deciding what's good for you. If you understand that, you have also understood why so many conflicts around the world happen, but I digress terribly here!)

From the student protest...
Out was Fernandes,
In is Davila... at the helm of the university.

You know the hallmarks of a great leader?
-To take unpopular decisions... and still have the support of the community,
- To be able to turn around almost literally on a dime a big institution like an university.

He took several controversial decisions (such as making bilingualism official, English/ASL, raising admission standards, etc...)

And now this news...

So, I think that Davila is a great leader. :)

Cheers,

-E

----

Related links:
Gallaudet University: FAQ about accreditation and MSCHE
Washington Post, May 2007: Accreditation concerns remain for Gallaudet
Op-ed, Washington Post, July 2007: Gally's Choice

Overlooking the obvious?

Sometimes, I wonder.

I spotted this story from AP: Devices help deaf, hearing communicate. It's about the staff of an auto repair shop who told the owner that they have deaf clients... and it would be nice if there's anything to ease the language barrier.

*For months*, they looked for *electronic gizmos*. You'll read the rest of the story. :)

Somehow... it's a classic example of being "railroaded". Something that we, -as computer programmers-, are sometimes guilty.

When resolving a problem, you have to be open-minded. You have to figure out from which angle to view a problem, in order to visualize a solution. From there, you write a computer program that will solve the said problem.

To some extents, we're always railroaded in our thinking. The solution must be a computer solution. You're a computer programmer, right? Right.

The problem is... not all problems can be solved efficiently with a computer program.

I think this is a similar case. They wanted electronic gizmos, so they looked for... electronic gizmos, and nothing else.

Oh don't get me wrong! As a guy who is paid to play with technology, heh... gadgets will continue to fascinate me, and I will report them here (ie: IBM develops virtual deaf interpreter)

Somehow... if you have time and money to invest, like this auto repair shop...

How about... ASL classes for the staff?

I'm also thinking... of the humble piece of paper and a pen, and having those in ample supply. It certainly beats costly, fragile and intimidating electronic gizmos... for face-to-face communications, don't you think?

Don't worry, deaf people are used to the language barrier. It's part of their daily life, trust me! We live in a hearing world and there are so many frustrating reminders of that fact, therefore they are fully aware of the kind of world we all live in! ;)

So, they'll be the first to offer you a pen and paper... to break the language barrier!

They'll immensely appreciate if you have made the effort of learning Sign Language. It's not harder (and I might say, it may be even easier) than learning another "verbal" language, such as Spanish, the de-facto second language in the US.

Sometimes, technology isn't a solution.

Not yet. :)

Cheers!

-E