Micah Brown's post, My Civic Duty, is a little different from my experience when I was called up some months ago for jury duty. Then again, it varies from locality to locality and state to state.
When I got the summons, I checked to see if it was a legal requirement, and it was. A little under two weeks before I was to show up, I called them to say I would need an interpreter. Unfortunately, they weren't able to get one in time, so they gave me an extension. Then they called me and said I had two interpreters.
I arrive on time that day at 7:45am as requested. I made the mistake of not calling the hotline the night before to see if my group was to show up. As it turns out, my group wasn't needed that day, but the front desk people told me I had to be there since I had interpreters and they were on the way.
I sat down with laptop and connected to the wireless access point. Not long afterwards, both interpreters arrived. Then about 8:30am, one of the people start a video telling about the jury selection process.
Within the time of 3 hours, they called two groups. A little later, a bailiff comes out to thank us for coming and that we are excused from jury duty for 3 years.
One of the interpreters mentions that they don't want to pay twice, that is, for me to come in, then return the next day, as it's so expensive. As it turns out, I was to be there for two mornings, but they excused us.
Has anyone had this kind of experience?
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
I Have Selective Hearing?
The post by The Rebuttal, Bullying and the Deaf, reminds me of a lot of this stuff that happened to me long ago, especially around middle school up til mid high school. I posted about teasing and mistreatment here on the blog back in October 2007, Growing Up Deaf, parts 18 to 21.
I'd nearly forgotten about a few quotes until it was mentioned in the article. More specifically, halfway down, "you can hear well when you want to," "you have selective hearing," and "you're not deaf, you can hear" would sometimes be directed my way if I had a hard time understanding someone. Just because I heard someone say something or talk doesn't mean I understood them.
Jeez, accuse a deaf guy of having a hearing loss and attempting to communicate, willya?! Hey, hearie, can I accuse you of having such an insensitive attitude?
I'd nearly forgotten about a few quotes until it was mentioned in the article. More specifically, halfway down, "you can hear well when you want to," "you have selective hearing," and "you're not deaf, you can hear" would sometimes be directed my way if I had a hard time understanding someone. Just because I heard someone say something or talk doesn't mean I understood them.
Jeez, accuse a deaf guy of having a hearing loss and attempting to communicate, willya?! Hey, hearie, can I accuse you of having such an insensitive attitude?
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Gally Homecoming game rout
Saturday the 18th I was with Jamie at the Gallaudet Homecoming game against Southern Virginia. Sherlock Steve was there as well. Within the first quarter, the score was 0-20.
But whoa... Is it me or are the student groups improving their food offerings? Though they may be a little overpriced, there's still some gastronomic delights being served, including the ice cream table. Sorenson was there, as well as NVAD and a few other groups. Jamie was pulled aside by someone who mentioned the new Gallaudet Museum.
As the game progressed, more people started to leave the game, either to talk for awhile or just to leave campus. The bookstore is always a great place to go within the student center. The street area between the SLCC and stadium were loaded with people all through the game, and you can count on that for future games.
Gallaudet Loses Homecoming Game to Southern Virginia 44-9
In the fourth quarter, Gally managed to redeem themselves by way of a safety and a touchdown. Then the final buzzer had the score at 44-9. Tough team, that Southern Virginia, but I think we can do better next time.
But whoa... Is it me or are the student groups improving their food offerings? Though they may be a little overpriced, there's still some gastronomic delights being served, including the ice cream table. Sorenson was there, as well as NVAD and a few other groups. Jamie was pulled aside by someone who mentioned the new Gallaudet Museum.
As the game progressed, more people started to leave the game, either to talk for awhile or just to leave campus. The bookstore is always a great place to go within the student center. The street area between the SLCC and stadium were loaded with people all through the game, and you can count on that for future games.
Gallaudet Loses Homecoming Game to Southern Virginia 44-9
In the fourth quarter, Gally managed to redeem themselves by way of a safety and a touchdown. Then the final buzzer had the score at 44-9. Tough team, that Southern Virginia, but I think we can do better next time.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Long Drives To See Subtitled Movies
When Sherlock Steve posted "Anything Screws Up Day", it reminded me of something similar that happened to me sometime around 1997.
When the subtitled movie Titanic was being shown in Cincinnati, Ohio, and I was living in Louisville, Kentucky, I made plans to go. My main mistake was not calling the theatre for when it was showing.
So, I drove two hours, arriving about 15 minutes before noon. I go in and right before I buy my ticket when I mentioned the captioned movie, the ticket lady tells me it'll be at 6pm.
Now what do I do for the next 6 hours?
So, I purchased a ticket for that 6pm showtime and did a little touring of the area, not going too far lest I get lost. An hour before showtime, I drive back into the parking lot with a sandwich and read the local newspaper. Then about 30 minutes before showtime, it started getting a bit crowded, and I went in.
It was nearly a full house with a bus from a local deaf school being there as well as a number of other deaf arriving from various locations in and around Cincinnati. After the movie 3 hours later, a lot of us started talking on the way out to our vehicles.
I didn't get home til a bit after midnight. It was worth it what with the long drive, wait, and movie time.
About a year later, I left home at 4am to drive to Detroit, MI, to be with someone to watch a captioned showing of Schindler's List.
Today, we just wait for the captioned show to come to the theatre near us, though some people from small towns may have to drive some distance.
When the subtitled movie Titanic was being shown in Cincinnati, Ohio, and I was living in Louisville, Kentucky, I made plans to go. My main mistake was not calling the theatre for when it was showing.
So, I drove two hours, arriving about 15 minutes before noon. I go in and right before I buy my ticket when I mentioned the captioned movie, the ticket lady tells me it'll be at 6pm.
Now what do I do for the next 6 hours?
So, I purchased a ticket for that 6pm showtime and did a little touring of the area, not going too far lest I get lost. An hour before showtime, I drive back into the parking lot with a sandwich and read the local newspaper. Then about 30 minutes before showtime, it started getting a bit crowded, and I went in.
It was nearly a full house with a bus from a local deaf school being there as well as a number of other deaf arriving from various locations in and around Cincinnati. After the movie 3 hours later, a lot of us started talking on the way out to our vehicles.
I didn't get home til a bit after midnight. It was worth it what with the long drive, wait, and movie time.
About a year later, I left home at 4am to drive to Detroit, MI, to be with someone to watch a captioned showing of Schindler's List.
Today, we just wait for the captioned show to come to the theatre near us, though some people from small towns may have to drive some distance.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
NEVER Give Out Your Password! (Part two)
A month ago, I posted this article, Give Out Your Password? NOT! NEVER! It's even more urgent and very important that you do not even give your password out to anyone, not even someone who claims to be your friend. Here's why;
Internet scammers target deaf community
The scam works exactly the same way in every time. They say you've won money or something like that. In reality, you haven't. The account of someone you know is compromised somehow and this person impersonates them. They'll IM everyone on the buddy list. Then this same person on a second account talks to you, and tells you to talk to your friend or your friend will talk to you.
This is your classic confidence or similar scheme.
How do you defend yourself? A good password not found in the dictionary that's at least 6 characters. That plus never giving out your password to anyone. Even better is to actually pay attention to how your "friend" is typing including use of capitals and lower case and English. There's a way to know if it's your friend or not;
- certain things only you and your friend know, change the details of them.
- Ask them about how their husband/wife is, but this time, use a completely different name.
- Ask if they're going to this imaginary event/movie next month with you.
- If the actual owner of the account has an illness, give a different name than what the illness is and ask them about it. For example, if they need surgery on their arm, ask about their broken leg.
If the person doesn't even make corrections to your 'mistakes'...
BUSTED! COVER BLOWN!
It works every time without failure.
Internet scammers target deaf community
The scam works exactly the same way in every time. They say you've won money or something like that. In reality, you haven't. The account of someone you know is compromised somehow and this person impersonates them. They'll IM everyone on the buddy list. Then this same person on a second account talks to you, and tells you to talk to your friend or your friend will talk to you.
This is your classic confidence or similar scheme.
How do you defend yourself? A good password not found in the dictionary that's at least 6 characters. That plus never giving out your password to anyone. Even better is to actually pay attention to how your "friend" is typing including use of capitals and lower case and English. There's a way to know if it's your friend or not;
- certain things only you and your friend know, change the details of them.
- Ask them about how their husband/wife is, but this time, use a completely different name.
- Ask if they're going to this imaginary event/movie next month with you.
- If the actual owner of the account has an illness, give a different name than what the illness is and ask them about it. For example, if they need surgery on their arm, ask about their broken leg.
If the person doesn't even make corrections to your 'mistakes'...
BUSTED! COVER BLOWN!
It works every time without failure.
Friday, September 12, 2008
9/11 Reflections
We, as a nation, including the world, will be remembering the 9/11 attacks. The question still pops up at times;
"Where were you that fateful day?"
I was still asleep, having spent part of the night doing some stuff on the computer. Vibrations from a neighbor's pounding on the front door woke me to let me know what was going on. It finally happened...
I turned on the TV... The Twin Towers fell after two planes were flown into it. The Pentagon had a plane flown into it. A fourth plane nosedived into a field in Shanksville, PA, after the passengers revolted against the hijackers.
I went into the IRC (Internet Relay Chat) and checked in with friends on there and in email. I didn't logoff til late that night. They were all safe, those I knew in NYC and two who worked at the Pentagon, despite some getting home very late if at all or stayed somewhere. The local metro still ran, but the Pentagon station was closed. Traffic out of DC was gridlock. The area's Kiss & Rides in Metro stations were madhouses of foot and vehicle traffic. Air traffic was grounded for nearly a week.
One year later, on personal business, I went to NYC. I made a side trip to the former WTC site. Limited traffic around the area was allowed, and media cameras didn't quite show everything. Some of the buildings still had some frontal damage.
http://www.chameleon.net/~boogi/wtc/
Just yesterday, the Pentagon unveiled their memorial. I plan on visiting it sometime in the future.
Can we prevent another 9/11? Unfortunately, there's no one answer to that. More security at airports? Maybe not. Add on security and then some at bus and train stations? Going totally paranoid isn't going to do it either. Everyone needs to do their part rather than trusting the government and law enforcement for protection.
"Where were you that fateful day?"
I was still asleep, having spent part of the night doing some stuff on the computer. Vibrations from a neighbor's pounding on the front door woke me to let me know what was going on. It finally happened...
I turned on the TV... The Twin Towers fell after two planes were flown into it. The Pentagon had a plane flown into it. A fourth plane nosedived into a field in Shanksville, PA, after the passengers revolted against the hijackers.
I went into the IRC (Internet Relay Chat) and checked in with friends on there and in email. I didn't logoff til late that night. They were all safe, those I knew in NYC and two who worked at the Pentagon, despite some getting home very late if at all or stayed somewhere. The local metro still ran, but the Pentagon station was closed. Traffic out of DC was gridlock. The area's Kiss & Rides in Metro stations were madhouses of foot and vehicle traffic. Air traffic was grounded for nearly a week.
One year later, on personal business, I went to NYC. I made a side trip to the former WTC site. Limited traffic around the area was allowed, and media cameras didn't quite show everything. Some of the buildings still had some frontal damage.
http://www.chameleon.net/~boogi/wtc/
Just yesterday, the Pentagon unveiled their memorial. I plan on visiting it sometime in the future.
Can we prevent another 9/11? Unfortunately, there's no one answer to that. More security at airports? Maybe not. Add on security and then some at bus and train stations? Going totally paranoid isn't going to do it either. Everyone needs to do their part rather than trusting the government and law enforcement for protection.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
NTID Laptop Thief Using Info?
Earlier today I got back from visiting the local Capital One bank. Yesterday, I had received an account opening statement from them which had the correct address, but wrong addressee. I took a look inside to find that it was an account that had been opened in someone else's name and SSN but the account opener used my address. It was dated a day or two after the theft.
After checking with some people, I found that the SSN and birth date did not belong to them. So, off to the Capital One location I went.
I talked with the bank people and they thanked me for bringing it to their attention. While I was there, the person talked with the fraud people and they said that there were over 100 accounts opened online recently. I gave him my name and SSN for them to place on a fraud alert watch so if the person tries to open an account with my info, it will not go through. I also put a fraud alert on my own bank account at another bank.
I don't think I'd have gotten this far had I used the relay. It was worth the gas and time to get there, a 35 mile round trip.
One thing of interest. It is a classic scheme to send things like this not to the person the information belongs to, but elsewhere in the same city, somewhere in the same state or another state. Then when nothing happens after a period of time, the person may then start using and abusing it.
So again, everyone, safeguard your personal information.
After checking with some people, I found that the SSN and birth date did not belong to them. So, off to the Capital One location I went.
I talked with the bank people and they thanked me for bringing it to their attention. While I was there, the person talked with the fraud people and they said that there were over 100 accounts opened online recently. I gave him my name and SSN for them to place on a fraud alert watch so if the person tries to open an account with my info, it will not go through. I also put a fraud alert on my own bank account at another bank.
I don't think I'd have gotten this far had I used the relay. It was worth the gas and time to get there, a 35 mile round trip.
One thing of interest. It is a classic scheme to send things like this not to the person the information belongs to, but elsewhere in the same city, somewhere in the same state or another state. Then when nothing happens after a period of time, the person may then start using and abusing it.
So again, everyone, safeguard your personal information.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Give Out Your Password? NOT! NEVER!
There's some AIM screen names, most notably "powerball4real8," that are being used to scam more deaf out there. Watch also for any with "emerson" in it, like "pacemerson247" that kept getting others. This time it's of someone who is trying to ask you for your password to "open the briefcase" to get the person their money.
First, this is another variation of the Nigerian scam.
Second, this is a gross violation of your account security. Plenty of damage they can do with your account.
Third, it's against the TOS of any service out there to give out your password.
So in short, do NOT give out your password, no matter what. I made this mistake some years ago back in college and had it locked down shortly afterwards. Apparently, someone combined a bunch of files into one huge file and sent it to various people, including the system operators and, unbelievably, the head of operations! Needless to say, I had to do some explaining. I've even broken into a few accounts myself due to weak passwords and my knowing the person well.
Worse stuff can be done with more sensitive accounts. Again, do not give out your passwords. A password like cat-0cargo3 is quite difficult to brute-force crack. The longer your password, the longer it takes.
First, this is another variation of the Nigerian scam.
Second, this is a gross violation of your account security. Plenty of damage they can do with your account.
Third, it's against the TOS of any service out there to give out your password.
So in short, do NOT give out your password, no matter what. I made this mistake some years ago back in college and had it locked down shortly afterwards. Apparently, someone combined a bunch of files into one huge file and sent it to various people, including the system operators and, unbelievably, the head of operations! Needless to say, I had to do some explaining. I've even broken into a few accounts myself due to weak passwords and my knowing the person well.
Worse stuff can be done with more sensitive accounts. Again, do not give out your passwords. A password like cat-0cargo3 is quite difficult to brute-force crack. The longer your password, the longer it takes.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Textwalking, Textdriving, textwhatever...
Sherlock Steve has had some pretty good points when talking about texting while driving. The recent Washington Post article, Textwalkers: Do They Need A Heads-Up? talks about things like this including textwalking. There's even mention of laws being passed related to texting.
Folks, put down your pagers and just walk normally. You do not want to be in NYC or other city when you fall down the steps to a subway station while deep in a text convo... Same with driving, just pull over for a bit. It's not worth it being flattened by a speeding bus, truck, or train. I've seen the pics and they ain't pretty.
Folks, put down your pagers and just walk normally. You do not want to be in NYC or other city when you fall down the steps to a subway station while deep in a text convo... Same with driving, just pull over for a bit. It's not worth it being flattened by a speeding bus, truck, or train. I've seen the pics and they ain't pretty.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
NTID Reunion Recap
What a time at the reunion. I didn't want to leave, but I had to. Whoever plans them, keep doing so. They keep getting better every year. I'm hoping future gas prices will stabilize or at least be lower than how they were at the time, hovering around $4.15 a gallon. Where the artwork was, they had a slideshow of previous SVP events, with me being in one of them with my face covered with the result of a pie eating contest.
What tempered the reunion a bit was going without two old friends, James Sharer and Harold Tritt, both who died within 6 months of each other. That plus finding another old friend I couldn't find, had died also, Barbara Fallon. Steve Baier, James and Janet Byrne, Jamie Berke, and I attended Harold's funeral and burial. The art room also had a listing of those alumni who passed away.
The stage shows were pretty good. Our final time in the Panara theatre had a few surprises, with Robert Panara showing up as well as the staff tossing two cases of disposable film cameras out to the audience and Dr. Robert Davila briefly talking. We had CJ Jones and John Maucere bringing down the house. I had seen The Wrong Game for the second time, and they also showed a preview of the Dummy Hoy movie, "Signs of the Time" with the production staff answering questions.
The food was good, with the best time being Friday under the tent with a rather yummy ribs dinner with some other things. The weather pretty much cooperated, with it being sunny, and it did rain some.
Right before Jamie and I were to head to the airport, we found she had gotten a message on her SK saying Delta had cancelled our flight from Rochester to JFK airport. After a quick call, I managed to get our flight rescheduled from Rochester to Cincinnati, then to National Airport and still had a bit of time to kill at LBJ with someone.
Like I said, in all, it was a good time out there. I had to use my wheelchair what with all the standing around everyone was doing, though I parked and folded it in the wheelchair area in the theatre and moved to my seat. Sometimes it's better to join the audience...
What tempered the reunion a bit was going without two old friends, James Sharer and Harold Tritt, both who died within 6 months of each other. That plus finding another old friend I couldn't find, had died also, Barbara Fallon. Steve Baier, James and Janet Byrne, Jamie Berke, and I attended Harold's funeral and burial. The art room also had a listing of those alumni who passed away.
The stage shows were pretty good. Our final time in the Panara theatre had a few surprises, with Robert Panara showing up as well as the staff tossing two cases of disposable film cameras out to the audience and Dr. Robert Davila briefly talking. We had CJ Jones and John Maucere bringing down the house. I had seen The Wrong Game for the second time, and they also showed a preview of the Dummy Hoy movie, "Signs of the Time" with the production staff answering questions.
The food was good, with the best time being Friday under the tent with a rather yummy ribs dinner with some other things. The weather pretty much cooperated, with it being sunny, and it did rain some.
Right before Jamie and I were to head to the airport, we found she had gotten a message on her SK saying Delta had cancelled our flight from Rochester to JFK airport. After a quick call, I managed to get our flight rescheduled from Rochester to Cincinnati, then to National Airport and still had a bit of time to kill at LBJ with someone.
Like I said, in all, it was a good time out there. I had to use my wheelchair what with all the standing around everyone was doing, though I parked and folded it in the wheelchair area in the theatre and moved to my seat. Sometimes it's better to join the audience...
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