I'd Love To Volunteer, But...

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Tuesday November 02, 2010 · 9:20 AM PDT

2010/11/02 · 09:20

I've just received the nth message in several days from the Organizing For America mailing list, urging me to call prospective voters using the DNC's virtual phone-bank tool.

I'd totally love to do that, I really would. But aside from my social phobia, I know I would probably just be hung up on anyway.

codeman38

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Tuesday January 12, 2010 · 8:24 PM PST

2010/01/12 · 20:24

If you're at all familiar with my previous entries, you'd know that I tend to focus on disability rights, and particularly the rights of individuals on the autistic spectrum. It's only natural; I'm an Asperger's autistic myself, so I tend to write about what's familiar to me.

You'd also know that I don't look too kindly at organizations like Autism Speaks, which tend to do a lot of talking about autistics without much listening to reciprocate.

But I come bearing some good news for a change this time: you-- yes, you, J. Random Kossack-- can help to improve the healthcare experiences of people with disabilities, and autistics in particular, by taking a survey from the comfort of your own home (or any other Internet-connected computer). And you can do this whether or not you're disabled, and whether you're neurotypical or on the autism spectrum, as long as you're 18 or older. You might even win a $25 Amazon gift certificate at the end.

Sound interesting? Read on...

codeman38

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Sunday November 15, 2009 · 6:29 PM PST

2009/11/15 · 18:29

(This is adapted from a LiveJournal post which was featured by Consumerist. I figured this needed to be spread as far and wide as possible, so I'm posting about it to DKos as well...)

I had put Pixar's latest movie, Up, in my Netflix queue earlier this week. In a fit of amazing luck, it came in the day it was released in stores. So I stick the disc into my DVD player...

No closed captions.

Hm. OK, that's strange; DVDs distributed by Disney, as Pixar's are, usually include closed captions. Maybe it's one of those DVDs where you have to turn subtitles on through the DVD player rather than the TV, like some other studios have done...

...nope. Hitting the subtitle button on my DVD remote just gives me a big 'no' sign.

Maybe I have to go through the menu?

...nope, that gives me a big 'no' sign as well.

codeman38

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Friday October 30, 2009 · 3:13 PM PDT

2009/10/30 · 15:13

I'm originally from the Macon, Georgia area; it's also where I attended college. So I tend to keep up on occasion with what's going on back in my hometown.

As I was browsing the news today, this Macon Telegraph article about a change in the local TV landscape caught my attention:

"FlashForward" two months, and the viewers of "Grey’s Anatomy" and "Desperate Housewives" may be "Lost" after the ABC television network shifts its affiliation to a new station in Macon.

codeman38

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Wednesday September 23, 2009 · 12:04 PM PDT

2009/09/23 · 12:04

(cross-posted, with slight modifications, from my personal blog)

If you've been reading my blog or my diaries here, you probably know my stance toward the organization Autism Speaks by now. It's an organization I've always had my share of issues with; see my past posts on the subject for some idea of why.

But this time, they've really outdone themselves.

But before I explain what they've done to make me say that, I have to provide a bit of background information...

codeman38

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Thursday September 03, 2009 · 8:51 PM PDT

2009/09/03 · 20:51

So we've all heard about it by now: President Obama is going to be giving a speech to schools across the nation (well, some schools, anyway) that will be simulcast via cable, satellite and the web.

But even in the schools that do air it, will every student actually be able to access the information given in the speech, regardless of whether or not they can hear it? Possibly... and possibly not.

codeman38

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Wednesday March 18, 2009 · 11:13 AM PDT

2009/03/18 · 11:13

OK, so I'm a week late with this, but it still deserves to have a diary about it even this late after the fact.

Here in Georgia, there was a bill recently passed by the state Senate which would require that the written part of the state driving test only be offered in English, getting rid of all the other languages in which the state currently offers the test.

Yet amazingly, that's not the most ridiculous part of this tale.

codeman38

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Sunday January 18, 2009 · 4:15 PM PST

2009/01/18 · 16:15

Well, it's going to be yet another boring weekend. At least I've got a good bit of entertainment available to me here in the apartment— which is a good thing, since I won't be venturing all that far from it.

You see, I don't have a car. I tried learning to drive... for about eight years, and never made much progress. It's as if my brain just isn't wired for spatial perception or visual discrimination rapid enough to be of use in driving— and my somewhat spacey, easily distracted nature doesn't help matters any.

So I have to make do with alternatives.

codeman38

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Saturday November 29, 2008 · 11:19 AM PST

2008/11/29 · 11:19

I'm surprised, to be honest, that nobody has commented on this as far as I can see on DailyKos.

Did anyone notice anything particularly interesting about the video of Obama's Thanksgiving address on YouTube? I'm not talking about the speech itself; I'm referring specifically to how the video was posted to YouTube.

Here's the clip again:

Notice anything different? Anything that hasn't been done previously by the campaign, but that is highly appreciated by, at the very least, a good 10% of the population?

codeman38

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Tuesday September 23, 2008 · 8:38 AM PDT

2008/09/23 · 08:38

Dear Michael Moore,

I appreciate the fact that you decided to release your latest documentary onto the Internet for free, in an open, un-DRM-encumbered format for anyone to download.

However, I'm a bit less pleased with one particular aspect of how this was distributed.

You see, I have auditory processing disorder. I'm not hearing-impaired in the typical sense, but nonetheless, I do often have trouble making out what people are saying, particularly when there's a lot of background noise, a lot of reverb, or poor recording quality. And it's only worse when I'm tired or stressed; in cases like that, I sometimes even miss what people in the same room are saying to me.

Thus, I was very pleasantly surprised by the DVD release of Sicko, on which every single feature— not just the feature film, but every single bit of bonus content on the DVD— had a subtitle track available. (And the Tony Benn interview was awesome.)

But apparently I may have to shell out for the DVD of Slacker Uprising, rather than using the free download, if I merely want to make out everything that was said in it. And to add insult to injury, it's not even made clear on the promotional site whether the DVD has subtitles either.

codeman38

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Friday June 27, 2008 · 8:56 PM PDT

2008/06/27 · 20:56

As it turns out, those skeptical of the latest Autism Speaks controversy may have actually been right.

First, some background: Recently a blogger designed a shirt with the slogan "Autism Speaks can go away", referring to the autism charity which is not held in high esteem amongst the autistic community, and posted it to the online T-shirt store Zazzle. The shirt was pulled from the catalog not long after, due to an alleged intellectual property complaint. I covered this all in my previous diary here on DKos.

But as it turns out, Autism Speaks did not specifically target that shirt with its trademark complaint; that was a mistake on Zazzle's part.

codeman38

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Sunday June 22, 2008 · 1:16 PM PDT

2008/06/22 · 13:16

NOTE: See correction under the fold; turns out Autism Speaks was not responsible for the most recent takedown.

You might recall that a while back, I posted a diary criticizing some of the tactics of the autism charity Autism Speaks.

Well, let's all be thankful that they haven't (yet) forced DKos to take that post down— or, worse yet, sent a cease-and-desist notice to the hosting provider for my personal blog, at which I also posted it— because of alleged intellectual property infringement. As utterly absurd as that may sound, it is precisely what they've done to ~~not one but two autistic bloggers~~ an autistic parodist who ~~have~~ has dared to criticize that organization.

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I'd Love To Volunteer, But...

Action Alert: Research on Healthcare and Disabilities

Captioning is not a bonus feature: or, 'Up' to no good

Macon, GA's ABC Affiliate Wipes Out

Autism Speaks Hits A New Low

Obama's education speech and accessibility

More English-Only Absurdity

When Transit Systems Don't Consider Their Users

Giving Thanks for Accessibility

Slackers Deserve Subtitles, Too

An autistic says 'mea culpa'

Autism Speaks Against Autistic Free Speech and Fair-Use Parody