We Need Net Neutrality!

I came across this article while cleaning up my inbox post-surgery and came across this article titled Google Wants Its Own Fast Track on the Web.

There's good reason for having net neutrality. We don't want to be slowed down to a crawl. How fast this crawl would be could be dependent on the provider. We do not want landline modem speeds (14.4K to 56K) while major companies with deep pockets get the higher speeds.

For example, a T-1 line is 1.5 mbps, OC1 is 51.85mbps, and OC24 is 1.244gbps. One DSL line is about the speed of a T1 line. A normal NIC card can do upwards of 100mbps, while a gigabit card, essentially a fiber optic line, may be the equivalent of an OC24 line. I may be a bit off on these figures, though.

Putting this in perspective... A CD can hold 700 megs. Downloading this on a 56K line would take 2-3 days. On a normal cable line, it can be 20-30 minutes. On an OC line, about several minutes. All this depends on line conditions.

Obama said "Once providers start to give privilege to some Web sites and applications over others, then the smaller voices get squeezed out, and then we all lose." Check this...

Obama's Broadband Plan

A president that understands the internet! We need that. He's absolutely right. This essentially means that any small website may never get the chance to show itself off, especially when it starts selling items and/or add advertisements. This means that only the major companies will be the winners, possibly locking out the smaller users. This can also affect how well our VPs can be used. Too slow a speed, and you'll get the equivalent of a slideshow or unusable video.

We don't want that, do we?

More on the Knees and Surgery - Final

After much anticipation, I got home Saturday afternoon after I signed some paperwork and Jamie took me home. With some difficulty, I managed to get up the stairs. The steps will get easier in time.

The interpreters did a good job despite the somewhat crowded rehab room throughout my stay at the rehab facility. I did manage to meet a few of the residents. One resident in particular that stands out is one who appears to be a little younger than I am, and is working on her body strength. We talked about total knee replacements as well, which could help her some. Another resident had a combination hip and knee replacement.

One interesting thing was my transport from the hospital to rehab center. There was a transport team of two people, one who was deaf, that was assigned to me. While his partner drove the short distance to the facility, we managed to talk the entire way. They did a rather good job with communications and humor, particularly when I nearly managed to move myself. The deaf fellow said he had been on the job for 3 years, and it was only this year that he encountered two other deaf before me.

Other than that, I've got an appointment after this weekend with the surgeon and will be having a home therapist help out with things.

More on the Knees and Surgery - Part 6

Well, it's been a few days since I last posted, but things have been changing quite a bit here. I've still got the interpreters, and physical and occupational therapy have been working with me to get me to go home...

Not Tuesday... Not Thursday... But Saturday.

Seems it was due to insurance reasons. Don't ask me why.

That plus occupational therapy has been putting me through the motions of seeing what I can do at home. They watched me take a shower using a bath seat, make something in the kitchen, go up and down steps (I'm still doing it sideways due to my other knee needing a replacement), and some other things. I'll probably be taking a couple items home to help out with recovery. Seems I'm pretty much an independent guy.

I'm actually walking much further with the help of a walker. Not sure when I'll be able to graduate to a cane and when I'll be able to fully straighten out the knee. I'll be having that CPM machine and home therapy as well. A hearing blog, Booktoots's Weblog, has been my source of information about someone else who went through the same thing.

Sherlock says I'll be having some future posts about my experiences in his Deaf Anthology's post of the Deaf Sherlock post. He's right. I'll be posting some thoughts about what I went through. It's not all negative, rather, mostly positive. Give me a little time to do a writeup.

More on the Knees and Surgery - Part 5

So far, so good. I've been having interpreters for my rehab in the mornings. It's been working out pretty well so far and the rehab center has been doing good on their part.

I've been making some progress here and there. It was difficult and painful enough trying to sit at the edge of this elevated mat to get the knee to bend properly, but it did at nearly a 90 degree angle. Another one was walking from the rehab room to my own room, something I wasn't able to do last week. I use a slider to help me in one of the exercises in bending the knee a bit more. The back of the knee is a bit tight.

The staples came out. It wasn't that painful, just looked it. The incision area looks pretty good, despite the knee immobilizer velcro strap rubbing a bit too much on one area. I'm using gauze pads to protect it. Sometimes I'll walk without the immobilizer. Now to see when I graduate from walker to cane.

My next worry is the steps at home since I'm in a split level. But of course, I can always butt-climb them. That's a rather easy way out, I know. Best thing to do is to go up and down the steps normally a few times a day.

According to the doctor, I go home about Monday or Tuesday.

More on the Knees and Surgery - Part 4

The saga continues of getting interpreters. At last posting, I said I would be getting one on Monday. That was the rehab center's time to show that they were serious about getting interpreters for me.

Monday after rehab, no interpreter. I talked with the business office to see what was going on. They said Jamie was a good advocate. Then someone told me that the interpreters would be around on Tuesday from 10-12.

The next day, I had one. It helped out pretty nicely, as I was making progress here and there. At one point, I was to walk around this table. I wasn't sure if I could make it. Then I tried. Partway around, halfway around, back to the meeting spot.

Milestone!

I talked with my doctor and he said I'd be going home in a week or two. The staples will be coming out Monday rather than Friday or Saturday as I thought. He even joked about getting me to play for the Redskins.

Hmm... Play for the Redskins. Not quite.

To walk, perchance to bowl again.

It'll happen.

More on the Knees and Surgery - Part 3

Typing this real quick from a rehab facility computer, I'm doing pretty good. I had the bandages changed earlier and the nurse I measured things.

It was also during this time that we made some headway in the interpreter issue, having had none since I arrived. Apparently they didn't quite take us seriously or didn't believe us til Jamie showed them proof. Then the business office authorized payment. As it turns out, I'll get limited service starting about Monday when I have physical and occupational therapy and am talking with the doctor, one after another.

For some strange reason, I thought I had a 22 inch incision til later I checked with the nurse again. She thought it was pretty funny. "22 centimeters, not inches." We used a paper tape to check on things and I did a little measuring myself. 22 cm is about 8.5 inches. I've got *32* staples. I should have those removed about Friday.

Fortunately, the facility is near the local metro stop, just a few stops away from our home stop, also right off a major highway.

Rehab's going good, just recently I was doing some knee exercises and it looked together with the therapist that I had about a 5-10 degree range of movement. That could double when the staples come off. I'm currently using a knee immobilizer for a bit of time. The CPM (Continuous Passive Motion) machine will come later.

Someone mentioned that I'm giving myself a Christmas gift. Definitely sounds like it.

More on the Knees and Surgery - Part 2

I had the surgery Friday morning. From my meeting with the surgeon, he's told me that my knee was in pretty bad shape. Remember I said it didn't have cartilage? Lemme put it this way...

Surgery time was 4 hours. The attendants in the operating room was shocked at how bad it was. He asked how I got into his office, and I told him I used the cane. It seems I should not have been able to walk like this, since my muscles weren't keeping up with things, meaning they were going downhill some the worse my knee got. The way he says it, within maybe 3 years, due to the scar tissue from the cartilage breakdown, it would cause the entire knee to become frozen.

I'm moving to a rehab facility real soon, and am cleared by another doctor to go.

It took Jamie Berke's help together with a little MishkaZena's in dealing with some interpreter issues as well as some other things. I'll let them tell more.

Total time for recovery from this knee will all be dependent on me. Apparently I got a number of people behind me who will prod me along to make sure I'm doing good. This most likely puts my classes and other things in limbo for a bit, but I will return.

Somehow...

Sorenson Slammed by Congress

Sherlock Steve forwarded me an email related to Sorenson being slammed by Congress amid their refusal to be audited. The PDF file below is a long read.

Deception and Distrust (PDF file)

Some things hop out at me after a bit of reading the entire file.

"In addition to the issue of overcompensation, there are questions as to whether all of the minutes that TRS providers submit for compensation have actually been incurred by people with hearing or speech disabilities, and whether provider costs are accurate."

No kidding.

The Nigerian scams for one. Then there's the teens who abuse the system.

Didn't the operators just get the power or ability to cancel these kinds of calls without harm to their jobs? Just spend a day with a relay operator and they'll see the kind of calls they get, which are not always from those with "hearing or speech disabilities" as it puts it. Just talk with my interpreter coordinator friend at a local college who works on the side with Sorenson as operator. He's complained about teens who spend hours and hours just talking.

This report, if you can call it one, doesn't even begin to address these issues. But of course, it's just the beginning.

Then there's this memo on page 42, exhibit 3. There's this interesting part... Page 44, Part D(1) under 'Other issues that affect the size an integrity of the fund.' Read also D(2).

"Consumer advocates are strongly opposed to permitting the CAs to terminate suspected fraudulent calls because it would require them to step out of their role as an invisible conduit."

That's something here... Consumer advocates? Just who the hell are they kidding? Are they advocating their own pockets! Sometimes a CA has to step out of their role. In fact, I welcome that when the need arises.

But there may be some CAs who claim these illegitimate calls as legitimate. How is their pay system set up?

Exhibit 5, page 49. ooh... Classic frustration memo writing here. Check the final paragraph on page 53.

Exhibit 6, page 55. "Sorenson did not permit us access to their staff and the relevant systems to document and test the controls associated with accumulating and reporting the minutes." ouch... Next exhibit... Now how are they doing the billing?

Once they answer these basic questions, I'm sure they can find ways to improve the TRS services.

More on the Knees and Surgery

Those of you wondering about what went on after the snafu in my Doctors and the Relay posts back in June need not wonder any more of what's going on.

Friday December 12, 7:30am, I will be having total knee replacement on the left knee. I had a physical, CBC (blood cell count), BMP (Basic Metabolic Panel), EKG (heart rhythm test), and presurgery history. I had a class of sorts with a nurse and other patients who were going through knee or hip replacement to talk about what to expect.

Just tonight, I got the message that my surgery is a GO! Showtime!

I know it's going to be a bit of work on recovery from my research. I had an arthroscopy on both knees 15 years ago and only needed to use crutches. I have a walker someone gave me. I used a cheap plastic chair for showering back then, and found an adjustable height shower chair reduced price of $10! I can easily put one of our other plastic chairs downstairs in the shower stall.

I'll be in the hospital for 3-4 days. I'll post more. Interestingly enough, later in the day after surgery, I'll be able to stand on the new knee and walk around some. Then over the coming days, I'll be attempting to walk more and longer distances and have physical therapy.

For the steps, it seems I may climb them butt-wise, and then normal stepping up and down. Right now, I'm going down them backwards or sidestepping.

Let's see... I got a walker, wheelchair, crutches, two canes, and a shower chair... It's a rest home here, wouldn't you say?

ASL Expo, Funny Stuff

Earlier Saturday, I went with Jamie out to the ASL Expo at the Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro, MD. We arrived just before noon due to a previous engagement.

I thought it was interesting that it was in arena near a horse stable. Usually, most expos like this are crowded, but this one wasn't as crowded. It looked more like a demo and social sort of event, more social than sales/demo. I managed to pick out Deaf Sherlock out of a small group in the arena seating what with his shiny head and text him. It took him a minute or two to find us. Maybe he should have worn that Sherlock or PSU hat of his?

The vendor tables were fewer than before, with T-Mobile, Viable, Sorenson, and a few other well-known places as well as other smaller vendors selling various things. The place could easily have held at least twice the crowd we had for the stage shows. Interestingly enough, facing the stage was an area for kids entertainment, making stuff or just plain playing some.

For the $10 admission, things could probably have been better even though we left a bit early.

There's bound to be days when someone pops out a oneliner to a lecturer's serious question and causes the entire audience to fall over laughing. We've heard of the biology instructor who answers the question of why semen tastes salty in Snopes' Salt of the Mirth.

But in this case, Jeff Carlson posts something called Funny Thing Happened in College. Ah, total hilarity. Just something I did awhile ago that killed my entire class in my Bringing Down The House post.