Oh dear. The naked signing newsreaders have had their funding pulled... perhaps that'll teach them not to use SL as a way to make money!?
On another note, however, I disagree with pornography in any form... BUT if people want to make Deaf-accessible porn, shouldn't they be allowed to? And if so, is it fair of the Japanese Government to exclude porn from their access funding criteria? Does anyone care?
Discuss!
Jen
... not. I don't think even the RNId can afford this hearing aid. For a start, it's made from solid 24-carat gold and is studded with 220 diamonds. It has a remote control. It is expected to sell for over £25,000.
Jeesh. And yes, it's real! It was designed by a bloke called Barry Moule for a company called Widex:
"Creating this aid required the services of Barry Moule a highly specialised London-based jeweller with a unique set of skills. “Though I have produced exotic items such as jewel encrusted mobile phones in the past this is the most unusual project in my career,” commented Moule."
... So it looks like lots of rich hearing aid wearers are going to have to fight over it. Too bad if you want a matching one for your other ear(!)
Jen
See also:
Coming soon: will you be forced to get your hearing aids from the RNID?
Autonomy and Gurning
RNId = The New Google?
These Glow in the Dark Gloves produced by Novaglow (a company based in New Zealand) is said to be "originally designed for signing at night". Unfortunately its recharge life only lasts for two hours, not a lot of good for Deafies who like to sign all night, and secondly this company doesn't exactly get it facial expressions are important. However, I can see the fun in a sea of illuminated hands, for some late night gathering, political or otherwise.
For people based in the UK, you can purchase these gloves here.
Got this from Deafweekly:
"JAPAN OFFERS NUDE NEWS IN SIGN LANGUAGEA Japanese TV program that combines nudity and sign language made headlines this month when it was revealed that the program is subsidized by the government. Paradise Television Inc. was given about 150,000 yen ($1,231 US) to help pay for sign-language translations of “Hadaka no News Station” (Naked News Station), said The Mainichi Newspapers. The money funds a five-minute segment in which Miyabe Fujino gradually sheds her clothing while presenting the news in sign language. “I generally welcome sign-language translations for TV programs,” said Japanese Federation of the Deaf official Mitsuji Hisamatsu, “but it’s questionable to provide a subsidy for this particular program.”"
The question that must be asked is... why?
(I get the Deaf-hearing-equality-in-nudity argument, thanks... just.... why?!)
- jen
Deafies usually like products involving hands, but this hand soap looks bizarrely a bit too creepy for my taste.
Would you buy it?
Yes, I know I am guilty of not blogging or vlogging here on GOD for ages. Got a lot on at the mo, and anyway Alison is doing such a fab job so who needs me?!
However, I couldn't resist blogging about this vibrating ring/alarm clock thingy for couples and deaf-mutes..! Whatever next?
(If you scroll down to the little man, you will see the speech bubble saying "I am deaf. But I must go to work everyday at 8.30..." - why the "But"?! There is no but. We Deafies have jobs too! Sigh. I hope it was simply a translation glitch, i.e. the English wording in the advert looks as if it may have been translated from another language.)
Jen
While I have to be impressed by DeafEquipment's creativity, I wonder if anyone would actually wear these?! For some reason, they remind me of legwarmers... and who would wear legwarmers on their hearing aids?!
I wouldn't. I don't wear hearing aids, and if I did, I wouldn't put legwarmers or anything else on them. I wouldn't even wear legwarmers on my legs!
I'd much rather watch this brilliantly cool Flash art that apparently shows you what music looks like. It's got drums playing if you want to crank up your volume... I swear I could see the music playing!
Anyway, I liked it.
Translation for non BSL users:
Hi, I'm Jen, the invisible vlogger! I am guilty of not vlogging for ages because I've been so busy with various things, but anyway, here I am now. I'd also like to make it very clear that I'm not Alison(!)
Alison and I realised it's not obvious enough that two of us write this blog - well, she does most of the writing, probably because she's grumpier than me - so we're looking for a new theme where we can have small photos of ourselves on each post so you know who's posted what. Unfortunately, it's not technically possible at the moment, but this quite nice white theme will do for now until we can do something better!
And I promise to vlog more. It's important that more of us British Deafies get off our asses and vlog more regularly! It's easy!
"Wow", you might think; "three Grumpy blogs in one day!?" - yes, but the two good posts below were written by Alison, and not me (jen). We need a new skin, amongst other things.
Anyway, I've finally got round to blogging on GOD after tooooo long (again) because I am annoyed. (Again).
So what has annoyed me? This has. While I'm very happy to see how happy Deaf Americans are with their Deafreaderships, can we please not keep rewriting history? Am soooooo fed up seeing posts that seem to have forgotten that, although Mr Mayer says the Deafread idea come to him out of nowhere while walking around one fine day, actually, Deaf-blogs.com came first.
The weird thing was, Deaf-blogs.com was featured in SIGnews a year ago, probably in February/March, because it was launched in January 2006(!)
It doesn't really matter in the greater scheme of things. It would just be polite to acknowledge us Brits from time to time, for a change. Yes we come from a small island, but we do have good ideas sometimes.
So please don't pretend you didn't notice..!
The New Year's Honours List has been published. Deaf wise, these are the notable ones:
Order of the British Empire
Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Dr Evelyn Elizabeth Ann GLENNIE, OBE Percussionist.
For services to Music.
Knights Bachelor
Knighthoods
Herbert William MASSIE, CBE Chair, Disability Rights Commission.
For services to Disabled People.
(London, N17)
Order of the British Empire
Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
Ms Mabel DAVIS Headteacher, Heathlands Special School, Hertfordshire
For services to Special Needs Education.
(St Albans, Hertfordshire)
Order of the British Empire
Members of the Order of the British Empire
Helen, Mrs FOSTER Founder, Saturday Club for Deaf Children, Isle of Wight.
For services to Disabled Children.
OK so thus far, four of us have been banned from Deaf UK for various silly reasons: Tony explains it all very clearly here.
I still don't know why I was banned because I honestly did nothing - I was shouted at for forwarding emails and then did nothing at all! Suddenly last night I found out I was banned. I'm probably guilty "by association" because I'm friends with the other DUK Three. That's fine by me, I accept I have sinned by having friends.
Sigh. I simply can't believe I have even bothered to write this post. More to the point, I can't believe what used to be an important British Deaf resource has been reduced to a silly playground-style fighting place.
I'm glad to be out of it, in all honesty.
Just in case you didn't notice, two of us run this blog - j (Jen) and a (Alison). We are aware it isn't clear, and will sort it out soon! Cheers!
I see that the RNId website has been nominated for an award (dunno if they got it or not, and don't really care)... what made me laugh was the fact that the award "recognises websites that ... are accessible."
So where's the BSL, huh?!
I picked this up via a tech blog I read, not a desire to find a dating site. Prescription 4 Love is a specialist dating site, for people with chronic problems.
"It’s intended to be a safe space for people who risk serious embarrassment talking about their medical conditions with people who cannot relate."
Listed as one of the chronic problems is: DEAFNESS
"You can improve your interpersonal relationships and deafness situation with an online dating service. It is the perfect place to meet deaf people so they can comfortably share their circumstances."
I've no idea how much this actually costs, why pay for a commercial service run by hearies when you can go somewhere else for free TO TALK ABOUT YOUR CHRONIC PROBLEM?
(Note tongue sticking out of cheek very far).
These people seriously don't get it.
Sorry it's so blurry! Was asking why so few Deafies blog in BSL (vlog).
TIP: Press 'play' and then 'pause' straight away so that the video loads. When it's loaded press 'play' again.
Has the rnid branched out into Japan, or do we wait until this feature as part of their future business plan 5 year Strategic Plan in the UK?
Soon to be found at all tube stations near you, first stop Old Street.
TIP: Press "play" then "pause" straight away, and wait until the line has got to the other end. Then press "play" again and watch it without the stream stopping or jumping!
Summary: A rant about how no-one is really paying attention to BSL Day this year (except people in Preston, it seems)... and a question: should we really bother marking it anyway?