humanity
End of Catch-All
Well, it’s done. I’ve deleted the catch-all address I’ve used for years at my domain. I’m actually pretty scared of what’s going to happen…I don’t know if it’s an aversion to all change or if there’s legitimate reason to be scared of losing mail at this point. I visited 233 websites and changed my registered … Continue reading
Expressing Seasonal Sentiments
I said this on a mailing list on Lambda: I actually like it when cashiers and other strangers wish me a Merry Xmas. I am always happy to reply with “actually I’m Jewish, but Happy Hanukkah!” I would probably do this even if I weren’t Jewish, just because it’s fun. And msmellow responded: I like … Continue reading
Surviving Without Ignoring
A bit of musing even though it’s 1:00 in the morning…and then I shall go to bed. Most venues for online interaction have a way of keeping a user’s input from reaching your screen. Many forums have an Ignore List feature, LambdaMOO has @gagging, instant messaging services offer block lists, LiveJournal has comment banning, and … Continue reading
Speech Accent Archive
The Speech Accent Archive is an absolutely fascinating collection from George Mason University. They have gathered 440 audio samples of persons from around the world reading a passage in English. Here is the passage: Please call Stella. Ask her to bring these things with her from the store: Six spoons of fresh snow peas, five … Continue reading
Death: A Simple Process
As I am writing this, the Vatican says the Pope has not yet died. It is strange to follow the contradictory reports – to watch an old man thousands of miles away go through the process of dying. His experience is quite similar to any elderly person dying “of old age” in that his body … Continue reading
The Secret Service Reads LiveJournal
Gilmore’s infraction was making graphic animations of various politicians’ heads exploding. Continue reading
Coexistence Art
Several images were displayed on the National Mall, but the online exhibition includes many more. They’d make good greeting cards, too! Continue reading
Last Meals in Texas
It’s surprising how many of them wanted double meat cheeseburgers, and a large number of them wanted what would be considered “down-home American cooking” – perhaps not unusual given that this is Texas. Continue reading
Leave Me Alone
Why do people keep e-mailing me and asking for LiveJournal codes? Continue reading
Capitalizing Culture
In the Deaf community, the words deaf and Deaf have two different meanings. The word deaf is used to mean someone who has a significant hearing loss, someone whose audiogram indicates they cannot hear. The word Deaf, in contrast, means someone who is an active member of the Deaf community and supporter of Deaf culture. … Continue reading