codeman38

codeman38 https://www.dailykos.com/user/codeman38/rss/index.xml News Community Action Copyright 2005 - Steal what you want Mon, 27 Jan 2020 11:27:53 +0000 Mon, 27 Jan 2020 11:27:53 +0000 Daily Kos rss@dailykos.com (Daily Kos) Daily Kos rss@dailykos.com (Daily Kos) I'd Love To Volunteer, But... https://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/11/2/916118/-I-d-Love-To-Volunteer-But 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. rss@dailykos.com (codeman38) Disability OrganizingforAmerica Privilege Volunteering _916118 Tue, 02 Nov 2010 16:20:16 +0000 Action Alert: Research on Healthcare and Disabilities https://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/1/12/824544/-Action-Alert-Research-on-Healthcare-and-Disabilities 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 <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/5/19/336513/-An-Autistic-Speaks-About-Autism-Speaks">Autism</a> <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/9/23/785559/-Autism-Speaks-Hits-A-New-Low">Speaks</a>, 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... rss@dailykos.com (codeman38) Autism Disabilities HealthCare _824544 Wed, 13 Jan 2010 04:24:49 +0000 Captioning is not a bonus feature: or, 'Up' to no good https://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/11/15/804804/-Captioning-is-not-a-bonus-feature-or-Up-to-no-good (This is adapted from a LiveJournal post which was featured by <a href="http://consumerist.com/5405145/disney-removes-closed-captioning-from-up-rental-release">Consumerist</a>. 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. rss@dailykos.com (codeman38) BoycottDisney captioning Deaf Disney DVD hardofhearing subtitles _804804 Mon, 16 Nov 2009 02:29:57 +0000 Macon, GA's ABC Affiliate Wipes Out https://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/10/30/798928/-Macon-GA-s-ABC-Affiliate-Wipes-Out 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, <a href="http://www.macon.com/local/story/898170.html">this Macon Telegraph article about a change in the local TV landscape</a> caught my attention: <blockquote> "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. </blockquote> rss@dailykos.com (codeman38) ABC Fox GLBT Television TV _798928 Fri, 30 Oct 2009 22:13:50 +0000 Autism Speaks Hits A New Low https://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/9/23/785559/-Autism-Speaks-Hits-A-New-Low (cross-posted, with slight modifications, from <a href="http://aut.zone38.net/2009/09/23/autism-speaks-hits-a-new-low/">my personal blog</a>) 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 <a href="http://aut.zone38.net/category/controversies/autism-speaks/">my past posts on the subject</a> 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... rss@dailykos.com (codeman38) Autism autismspeaks Disability _785559 Wed, 23 Sep 2009 19:04:05 +0000 Obama's education speech and accessibility https://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/9/3/776661/-Obama-s-education-speech-and-accessibility 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. rss@dailykos.com (codeman38) accessibility captioning Deaf _776661 Fri, 04 Sep 2009 03:51:43 +0000 More English-Only Absurdity https://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/3/18/710152/-More-English-Only-Absurdity 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. rss@dailykos.com (codeman38) bilingual English English-only Language _710152 Wed, 18 Mar 2009 18:13:04 +0000 When Transit Systems Don't Consider Their Users https://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/1/18/685723/-When-Transit-Systems-Don-t-Consider-Their-Users 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. rss@dailykos.com (codeman38) Transit Transportation _685723 Mon, 19 Jan 2009 00:15:55 +0000 Giving Thanks for Accessibility https://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/11/29/667561/-Giving-Thanks-for-Accessibility 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: <object width="425" height="344"><param value="http://www.youtube.com/v/XblF3z-ST0Y&hl=en&fs=1" name="movie"></param><param value="true" name="allowFullScreen"></param><param value="always" name="allowscriptaccess"></param><embed width="425" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/XblF3z-ST0Y&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" height="344"></embed></object> 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? rss@dailykos.com (codeman38) accessibility captioning change.gov _667561 Sat, 29 Nov 2008 19:19:08 +0000 Slackers Deserve Subtitles, Too https://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/23/607363/-Slackers-Deserve-Subtitles-Too 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. rss@dailykos.com (codeman38) captioning MichaelMoore slackeruprising Transcripts _607363 Tue, 23 Sep 2008 15:38:28 +0000 An autistic says 'mea culpa' https://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/6/27/543198/-An-autistic-says-mea-culpa 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 <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/6/22/16952/4019/740/540306">my previous diary</a> 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. rss@dailykos.com (codeman38) Autism autismspeaks Copyright Fair Use FairUse Parody Trademark _543198 Sat, 28 Jun 2008 03:56:05 +0000 Autism Speaks Against Autistic Free Speech and Fair-Use Parody https://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/6/22/540306/-Autism-Speaks-Against-Autistic-Free-Speech-and-Fair-Use-Parody 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 href="http://codeman38.dailykos.com/story/2007/5/19/223159/715/116/336513">a diary criticizing some of the tactics of the autism charity Autism Speaks</a>. 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, <a href="http://aut.zone38.net/2007/06/03/an-autistic-speaks-about-autism-speaks/">at which I also posted it</a>— because of alleged intellectual property infringement. As utterly absurd as that may sound, it is precisely what they've done to <del>not one but two autistic bloggers</del> an autistic parodist who <del>have</del> has dared to criticize that organization. rss@dailykos.com (codeman38) Autism autismspeaks Copyright Fair Use FairUse Parody Trademark _540306 Sun, 22 Jun 2008 20:16:57 +0000 An Autistic Speaks About Autism Speaks https://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/5/19/336513/-An-Autistic-Speaks-About-Autism-Speaks Imagine, if you will, that an organization existed by the name of "Womanhood Speaks," which, on the surface, appeared to be in support of women's rights. Now imagine that the governing body of this organization only included members of the male gender, with not one female represented in its ranks.  Imagine that its actual aim was to create a registry of all females and force them to become more masculine, completely disregarding the fact that a majority of females were perfectly content with their womanhood and even found it to be advantageous. Imagine that members of its leadership appeared on popular TV programs talking about the epidemic of womanhood and how it needed to be eradicated. Doesn't sound too appealing, does it? rss@dailykos.com (codeman38) Autism Disability _336513 Sun, 20 May 2007 02:36:55 +0000