Bionic Ear

Hear and Now
Bionic Ear Wow, it's been over a year since I mentioned Irene Taylor Brodsky and her film appearing at Sundance. Hear and Now has reached cable TV for those of us who don't get to go to Sundance. Hear and Now premiered...
Media Art and Storytelling Tech Culture Mon, May 12 2008 · hide this blog

Links: 01 May 2008
Bionic Ear Captioning Flash-based streaming video [pdf file] [Link, y3] Sign Language Interpreters at High Ergonomic Risk DEAF411, Inc. researches what makes a city deaf-friendly AT&T finally offers data-only plan for deaf iPhone users: the plan is also good for other...
Media Culture Thu, May 01 2008 · hide this blog

More on DWTS and Sweet Nothing
Bionic Ear Remember the 100th Episode celebration show on “Dancing With The Stars” is on Tuesday May 6. Marlee Matlin and other contestants are on “Dancing With The Stars” will appear on that show. Reader Tokumbo writes, “Go to Amy Efron Cohen's...
Media Art and Storytelling Tech Culture Wed, Apr 30 2008 · hide this blog

New Invisible Hearing Aid
Bionic Ear The New York Times reports on a new hearing aid — new meaning completely different. Not behind the ear, not requiring surgery, not requiring typical batteries, not requiring full ear molds. The Lyric looks like an ideal hearing aid for...
Mon, Apr 28 2008 · hide this blog

Marlee Matlin out of DWTS
Bionic Ear Aww... Marlee Matlin was ousted on this week's Dancing with the Stars. I hated to see her go, but the last two weeks didn't go well for her and Fabian. After all, this is a dancing contest, not a popularity...
Media Language Art and Storytelling Tech Culture Wed, Apr 23 2008 · hide this blog

Sweet Nothing in My Ear TV Movie: After the Viewing
Bionic Ear As expected, lots of conversations are happening surrounding last night's TV movie debut. The New York Daily News Amazing Sounds Deaf Mom Robert Mason Freep.com CI Online Banjo's World Countdown to the Revolution Deafness at About.com All the Young Dudes...
Media Language Art and Storytelling Education Tech Culture Tue, Apr 22 2008 · hide this blog

Sweet Nothing in My Ear TV Movie
Bionic Ear Marlee Matlin stays busy. On top of Dancing with the Stars, she has a TV movie coming out on CBS. Sweet Nothing in My Ear debuts on Sunday, April 20 telling the story of a couple (one deaf and one...
Media Audism Tech Culture Wed, Apr 16 2008 · hide this blog

Report on SprintCaptel Experience
Bionic Ear I just completed my first phone call through Sprint Web Captel's service and it was wonderful. I used to make voice carry over (VCO) calls, but the problem is that they took me away from my computer and I couldn't...
Tech Fri, Apr 11 2008 · hide this blog

Sunglasses and Hearing Devices
Bionic Ear My biggest annoyance with hearing devices has gotten worse lately thanks to the heat, which makes it easier for my cochlear implant to slip off. Hearing aids don't slip off as easily because of the ear molds. Still, the back...
Tech Wed, Apr 09 2008 · hide this blog

Comedy Film for the Deaf and Hearing-Impaired
Bionic Ear From inrich.com “A hilarious sitcom about a dysfunctional deaf family.” Those are words guaranteed to stop traffic. But they're not pulled from a skit on “Saturday Night Live,” nor are they meant to be offensive. What they describe is a...
Art and Storytelling Culture Mon, Apr 07 2008 · hide this blog

Captioning Sucks
Bionic Ear Admit it. It does! This is no April Fool's joke. Many things happen on the first day of the month... well, why wait until May? My biggest frustration with captions are... Too many videos out there and not enough have...
Media Tech Tue, Apr 01 2008 · hide this blog

A Deaf Character and a Missing Mummy
Bionic Ear Here is a nice interview with the Christine Harris, author of Mask of the Jackal. She explains the motivation of including a deaf character named Jordy into the story. The book isn't about deafness, but rather just happens to includes...
Art and Storytelling Thu, Mar 27 2008 · hide this blog

Embed Captions Videos
Bionic Ear In celebration of its one year anniversary, Project readOn unveils a new feature — Embedded videos. Users can grab the code from Project readOn to add captioned videos to their own sites, blogs, and social network pages. The player on...
Media Language Art and Storytelling Tech Mon, Mar 24 2008 · hide this blog

Deaf People Wanted for Reality Shows
Bionic Ear Rita suggests deaf people with families to apply to be on a reality show as few have shown deaf families. She lists three shows. Extreme Makeover Home Edition had deaf parents (Vardons) on the show and the Llanes who have...
Media Language Culture Tue, Mar 18 2008 · hide this blog

Internet Relay with VCO
Bionic Ear I have a Captel phone, but hardly ever use it mainly because my family takes care of phone calls or I use the Internet relay service without voice carry over (VCO). I prefer using my computer for calls since I...
Tech Mon, Mar 17 2008 · hide this blog

UK IVF Couple Wants Deaf Child
Bionic Ear The Human Future points to a fascinating story of a deaf couple in the UK that has a deaf daughter. Now they want another child. The mother is in her 40s, so the coupled needs to do intro-vitro fertilization (IVF)....
Media Tech Legal Culture Fri, Mar 14 2008 · hide this blog

Smell Alarm
Bionic Ear Ew. I'm sorry but the smell alarm just doesn't appeal as shown in this Make article. I'll stick with the vibrating alarm. Contrary to what the post says, deaf people don't wear alarms. Yes, they have to be activated —...
Tech Culture Tue, Mar 11 2008 · hide this blog

UK IVF Couple Wants Deaf Child
Bionic Ear The Human Future points to a fascinating story of a deaf couple in the UK that has a deaf daughter. Now they want another child. The mother is in her 40s, so the coupled needs to do intro-vitro fertilization (IVF)....
Mon, Mar 10 2008 · hide this blog

More on Convert Voice Mail to Text
Bionic Ear I opened the floodgates when I posted about a voice mail to text service. I learned about another and another and another. Here are the companies that provide voice mail to text services: GotVoice Phonetic Simulscribe SpinVox Pricing is generally...
Wed, Feb 27 2008 · hide this blog

Hollywood and Deaf Actors
Bionic Ear Chris of DeafDC Blog opens an interesting discussion about Hollywood's actions indicating a preference to deaf actors and actresses who speak. My vote — do a mix. Some roles can be deaf actors who don't speak and some do. This...
Media Language Audism Art and Storytelling Tue, Feb 26 2008 · hide this blog

Baby Sign Game
Bionic Ear Baby Sign Game is adorable! This game provides a word and players pick one of four pictures that correctly represents the word in sign language. I only missed one word and that was dog (easy), which didn't use the fingersnapping....
Language Education Tech Mon, Feb 25 2008 · hide this blog

Matlin Joins Dancing with the Stars
Bionic Ear Exciting news! Marlee Matlin joins the next round of Dancing with the Stars. I never thought deaf people couldn't learn to dance the fancy stuff (tango, ballroom, etc.), ballet, or tap. I took ballet and tap when I was five...
Art and Storytelling Fri, Feb 22 2008 · hide this blog

Convert Voice Mail to Text
Bionic Ear OMG! I saw this in Guy Kawasaki's e-mail signature (he surprisingly respond to an e-mail I sent to Alltop). SpinVox (UK residents go to the main SpinVox) can convert voice mails to text. This just might be worth the money....
Tech Fri, Feb 22 2008 · hide this blog

Convert Voice Mail to Text
Bionic Ear OMG! I saw this in Guy Kawasaki's e-mail signature (he surprisingly respond to an e-mail I sent to Alltop). SpinVox (UK residents go to the main SpinVox) can convert voice mails to text. This just might be worth the money....
Thu, Feb 21 2008 · hide this blog

Matlin Joins Dancing with the Stars
Bionic Ear Exciting news! Marlee Matlin joins the next round of Dancing with the Stars. I never thought deaf people couldn't learn to dance the fancy stuff (tango, ballroom, etc.), ballet, or tap. I took ballet and tap when I was five...
Media Tue, Feb 19 2008 · hide this blog

More on the AGBell Letter to Pepsi
Bionic Ear Just learned National Association of the Deaf (NAD) wrote a letter [pdf file] [Letter and video in NAD blog] to Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing regarding AGBell's letter to Pepsi. Here's the backstory, if...
Media Language Tech Culture Tue, Feb 12 2008 · hide this blog

Captioning Online Videos January 2008 Update
Bionic Ear Nothing new has happened with regarding to captioning online or downloadable videos. I researched iPod captioning again to see if something had changed since the iTunes v7.4 comes with show captioning option as shown in iLounge. However, I came across...
Tech Sat, Feb 09 2008 · hide this blog

Deaf Advantages of Travel
Bionic Ear Here's a great story from the Guardian about how being deaf can help when traveling especially to other countries. When I flew alone on Southwest Airlines, I went to the check in desk and let the staff know that I...
Mon, Feb 04 2008 · hide this blog

The Deaf Super Bowl Commercial
Bionic Ear The commercial we all wanted to see during the Super Bowl didn't air during the game. Instead, it aired 30 minutes BEFORE the game. Yeah, how many people view the pre-game program AND watch the commercials? Most people assume the...
Mon, Feb 04 2008 · hide this blog

Deaf Advantages of Travel
Bionic Ear Here's a great story from the Guardian about how being deaf can help when traveling especially to other countries. When I flew alone on Southwest Airlines, I went to the check in desk and let the staff know that I...
Language Thu, Jan 31 2008 · hide this blog

Captioning Online Videos January 2008 Update
Bionic Ear Nothing new has happened with regarding to captioning online or downloadable videos. I researched iPod captioning again to see if something had changed since the iTunes v7.4 comes with show captioning option as shown in iLounge. However, I came across...
Wed, Jan 30 2008 · hide this blog

Pepsi's silent Super Bowl ad was Plano man's idea
Bionic Ear Hey, this is exciting news... considering I live in Plano. Just watched the — of course, captioned — video and laughed out loud. Well, congrats... Pepsi is getting more promotion out of it with blogs like this posting about it....
Fri, Jan 25 2008 · hide this blog

Links: 2008-01-22
Bionic Ear Great links to interesting articles and sites. Sharon reports Deaf actor in There Will Be Blood Sharon also has a great list of over 170 adolescent books containing deaf characters. Kathleen says her speech was better after learning ASL fluenty....
Art and Storytelling Wed, Jan 23 2008 · hide this blog

Links: 2008-01-22
Bionic Ear Great links to interesting articles and sites. Sharon reports Deaf actor in There Will Be Blood Sharon also has a great list of over 170 adolescent books containing deaf characters. Kathleen says her speech was better after learning ASL fluenty....
Culture Tue, Jan 22 2008 · hide this blog

Rally Caps
Bionic Ear Just read about Rally Caps at Hearing Exchange. It sounds like a nice story. Stories surrounding a disability or difference don't always make a good read. I was looking for a children's book with a deaf character to read to...
Language Art and Storytelling Tech Wed, Jan 16 2008 · hide this blog

Rally Caps
Bionic Ear Just read about Rally Caps at Hearing Exchange. It sounds like a nice story. Stories surrounding a disability or difference don't always make a good read. I was looking for a children's book with a deaf character to read to...
Art and Storytelling Tech Tue, Jan 15 2008 · hide this blog

Closed-Captioned HD Radio by NPR
Bionic Ear Radio was never a top priority for captioning mainly because I don't sit in the passenger's seat very often. I'm not about to read radio and drive. What I do want is the ability to see the song and group...
Tech Mon, Jan 14 2008 · hide this blog

Deaf Bunny
Bionic Ear Ahem. This Wired article is a fascinating read, but read it in a safe place not at work or some place where someone seeing “Sex Drive” on your screen would embarrass. Sex sells. No matter how you do it....
Media Mon, Jan 14 2008 · hide this blog

Waiting for the World to Change
Bionic Ear Found this great video on Blogs with a Face. I may not know much ASL, but the video gets its message across loud and clear. Within an hour of writing this, I saw this song with captions on TV. It's...
Art and Storytelling Culture Wed, Jan 09 2008 · hide this blog

Ref for the Deaf
Bionic Ear Can't tell you how many times I've been embarrassed while playing sports. Just last weekend, I was running to the far side of the tennis court when I see classmates waving at me and pointing to the other side. Obviously,...
Tech Tue, Jan 08 2008 · hide this blog

Closed-Captioned HD Radio by NPR
Bionic Ear Radio was never a top priority for captioning mainly because I don't sit in the passenger's seat very often. I'm not about to read radio and drive. What I do want is the ability to see the song and group...
Tech Mon, Jan 07 2008 · hide this blog

Internet Video and the Deaf Problem Noticed
Bionic Ear Hacking Netflix posts an entry regarding Netflix's customer support didn't provide TTY support fast enough when the company moved to phone support. Furthermore, it doesn't caption its online video (big surprise). I love that one of the comments says that...
Tech Tue, Dec 18 2007 · hide this blog

Help Honor Baseball Player Dummy Hoy
Bionic Ear Fookem and Bug ask we print letters and mail them to filmmaker David Risotto. He is working with avid Cincinnati Reds Baseball fan, Steve Sandy, to create a documentary on the life and achievements of William Ellsworth ???Dummy??? Hoy, the...
Culture Tue, Dec 18 2007 · hide this blog

For Web Designers: Persona of Deaf Person
Bionic Ear Shawn Henry's book, Just Ask: Integrating Accessibility Throughout Design, is available online. Yes, the entire thing. Henry provides two persona examples of people with disabilities. Personas help Web designers visualize a Web site's target market and design for that market....
Tech Tue, Dec 18 2007 · hide this blog

For Web Designers: Persona of Deaf Person
Bionic Ear Shawn Henry's book, Just Ask: Integrating Accessibility Throughout Design, is available online. Yes, the entire thing. Henry provides two persona examples of people with disabilities. Personas help Web designers visualize a Web site's target market and design for that market....
Tech Mon, Dec 17 2007 · hide this blog

Help Honor Baseball Player Dummy Hoy
Bionic Ear Fookem and Bug ask we print letters and mail them to filmmaker David Risotto. He is working with avid Cincinnati Reds Baseball fan, Steve Sandy, to create a documentary on the life and achievements of William Ellsworth Dummy Hoy, the...
Culture Thu, Dec 13 2007 · hide this blog

The Nightmares of HDTV and Captions
Bionic Ear It looks like technology for the deaf and digital don't get along. I remember back in the '90s when my company's phone lines went digital. Well, the TTY didn't work with digital and the company had to install an analog...
Media Language Tech Tue, Dec 11 2007 · hide this blog

Closed Captioning of Web Video Receive Senate Support
Bionic Ear I remember when Senator Tom Harkin made news back in the '90s. From the Alamanac of American Politics 2000: “His interest in deafness prompted him and Senator Jennings Randolph to bring the first closed-caption TV to the Carter White House;...
Tech Legal Tue, Dec 11 2007 · hide this blog

The Nightmares of HDTV and Captions
Bionic Ear It looks like technology for the deaf and digital don't get along. I remember back in the '90s when my company's phone lines went digital. Well, the TTY didn't work with digital and the company had to install an analog...
Tech Thu, Dec 06 2007 · hide this blog

AT&T Causes uproar with Deaf Customers
Bionic Ear Deafmac writes, “...we complained about their offering to the hearing people to have Voice-Only plan on their iPhones. As we all know, it spoke of discrimination and they removed it. Now we both, hearing and deaf, are back to square...
Tech Sat, Dec 01 2007 · hide this blog