Having always lived near the ocean, I know that things flow and ebb and flow. And so it goes with writing and the Deaf community. It’s interesting, this relationship that Deaf people have with writing, with journalism. Protracted love affairs with the written word are, for us, more like fits of fancy. Newsletters, magazines, the…
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Stuff Deaf People Like #1: Feeling Up Car Door Handles
This new series attempts to address an age-old mystery: Listing stuff deaf people like. A mix of science, art, and foolhardiness. Idea taken from Stuff White People Like, which is hilarious and far funnier than I could ever hope to be. Next time you go for a drive in the neighboorhood with a deaf person, observe him…
FaceTime is the Future
I believe that the platform known as FaceTime, introduced with the iPhone 4, is the future platform of choice for all video telephony in the deaf community. I don’t say this because I’m a Mac fan, or for any technological evangelism purposes. I say this because it just makes sense. First, a little bit of…
Hulu Now Has Closed-Captioning Search Filter
It’s been a long slog, but our usual deaf barriers for watching internet video are crumbling. Hulu.com today added a filter to its search engine to return only closed-captioned videos. I’ve been catching up on new episodes of The Simpsons for weeks now, and their captioning is wonderful. If you have not been using Hulu, you are missing out,…
Hurry: Submit YouTube Videos To Be Captioned!
A few days ago, YouTube added captioning/subtitle support to its videos. Users can upload their own SubViewer (.sub) or SubRip (.srt) files to videos. Viewers can turn on captioning (if enabled) by clicking on the bottom-right button on the player. Right now, however, YouTube doesn’t seem to offer a feature to search for captioned videos only. Got…
Apple Adds Closed Captioning Support for AppleTV, But Content Falls Short
I went to MacWorld last week! As a Mac user and a newly-minted resident of San Francisco, it was my holy and solemn duty to go. I made especially sure to go the day after Steve Jobs’ keynote so I could see new Apple machines on display. While my hopes for a MacBook Pro update…
Relay-Interruptus (Or, I Just Want a Damn Pizza!)
Ok. I am sufficiently fed up enough with relay services to write Yet Another Deaf Rant About the Relay. Let me paint a picture for you. MacWorld, San Francisco (a conference I’m currently attending). Hunger. Dinner time. The buzzing city all around me. Ah! Round Table Pizza (The Last Honest Pizza)– a delectable treat for…
Who’s On First?
Five years ago and half a world away, I was part of the cast of “Rustle of a Star,” an original play at NTID’s Panara Theatre. I was pleased to, along with my colleague, to re-enact the timeless Abbott and Costello routine, “Who’s On First?” A heavily condensed version follows: A: Who’s on first?C: That’s…
New York City Subway
Date:11/27/2005Location:4/5 toward Grand Central Station. Yes, you read that right. Today, my topic is not about Washington DC’s beloved (or not so beloved) Metro system. Instead, I will be writing about it’s wrinkled older brother—the New York City Subway. The folks in New York City opened their subway system in 1904. Back then, it was…