Bionic Ear Blog

The FCC rules [pdf file] that all relay providers must offer 10-digit phone numbers to their customers. “What the Commission proposes is a complex but doable plan that, at its center, requires participants to build a big central database of people who use TRS accessibility applications. That database will allow participants to enjoy the “functional equivalence” of a ten-digit ID,” writes ARS Technica.

But I’ve had my own 10-digit phone number for a long time. You call that number and it’ll go through a relay service. The relay service contacts me through AOL instant messenger. However, I suspect as the article points out — my phone number only works with one vendor using one method. This ruling allows us to have an universally recognizable phone number.

How does this affect long distance phone calls?

How does this affect how we receive our calls? Home phone? Mobile phone? Computer?

It’s a milestone, but a confusing one. Who wants to read a 79 paged government-created order?

Posted by at 5:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Viven who tweaked this blog’s design explains the whole redesign process. David Airey left a comment saying the logo needs fixing because the title reads as “Bionic ar Blog” — something I never noticed as a problem until he mentioned it. I’ll have to see what I can do… like I have time!

Posted by at 9:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I remember when the original American Gladiators aired how excited I was to see Shelley Beattie was known as Siren, a Gladiator who was deaf. Unfortunately, she passed away earlier this year.

I caught a few of the new American Gladiators, but missed the one with a deaf competitor who won! I read about it in Karen’s blog.

Posted by at 7:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

This won’t surprise you. We love technology, but technology also brings more problems. The internet makes it possible for us to chat online like everyone else, send e-mail, and so on. Online technology has encouraged many to create videos that we can’t follow. The Washington Post revisits laws that made our lives easier and the need for new ones.

Also, a Gallaudet student expresses frustration with the Metro, Washington D.C.’s wonderful subway. I lived in D.C. for six years and it’s the best one I’ve seen. I didn’t experience these problems, but good to know about them.

Posted by at 4:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yet another online service doesn’t provide captions or subtitles for videos. So what else is new? It would be a huge job for anyone to try to fight all the sites that don’t caption their videos, but the i711 article discusses the situation and what you can do.

Posted by at 5:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My friend Karen Putz is the person behind the story! Captioned and ASL video. And of course, her blog entries on the topic.

Posted by at 8:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)