Fintan Ramblings

BuddyPing is one of those services which you look at and think “that’s useful”
So what does it do? It tells you where your friends are by locating their mobile phones.
It tells them where I am. See the BuddyPing widget map over on the bottom right of my blog? Click on dot on the map and it tells you I’m at work. Click on it later and it’ll tell you where I’m spending my evening in a pub somewhere

In their own words:
If you’re out on the town and want to find your friends, use buddyPing and your mobile phone (or the internet) to broadcast your whereabouts and to receive notification of your friends in the same area.
Just log into buddyPing (either via text message or using the “Your Location” feature once you have logged in via the web site) and we will scan your designated local area for friends and notify you of their location. We’ll also notify them of your location so all your friends can find out what you’re up to and where they can join you. This all happens in real time, and will continue until you logout of buddyPing

The number of times I’ve been a few feet away from close friends and only found out about it later are ridiculous – the number of times it must have happened unbeknown to any of us I can’t imagine.

So those that know me sign up and add me Fgaughan

Had forgot to say that BuddyPing only works at the UK thanks for remind me Tony

I read about Twitter when it first came out but didn’t get the point of twitter.
Website does not explain very well.
Then I saw Alisons blog and still didn’t see the point of it so in my mind is exactly the same as Tonys see his post here.

I commented on his blog that I still don’t get it and his reply was
Sign up for an account, add me, Alison, Jo or Rob as a friend, make sure you have your mobile details in your profile.
Once you done, let us know and we will do a message!
And make sure you select, SEND NOTIFICATIONS TO PHONE button.

Having added Tony,Alison to start with.. It wasn’t until I entered my mobile details, and tested the service with Tony and Alison that it hit me.
“Of course. I get it now!”

I had a right laugh reading some of the messages Tony sending a text while sitting on toilet Alison replied to my text as I said I couldn’t sleep and Rob trying to figure out what’s been said and JGJones is keeping us up to date on his adventure in USA.

I cant think of what this charity has done for us ,
Never knew of them till year 2000 so where have they been in all 30 years my life?
On website it reads
Changing the world for deaf and hard of hearing people. RNID (The Royal National Institute for Deaf and Hard of Hearing People) is the largest charity representing the 9 million deaf and hard of hearing people in the UK

So they represent 9 million deaf and hard of hearing well I find that hard to believe.
Before anyone mentioned minicom I have yet to meet any of my deaf friends using them. They came way to late.
I used it 5 times was to call the deaf centre as they are only ones answer to minicom.
Treid calling banks as they advertise that they use minicom they never answer or pick up the phone to speak and find it makes a lot of noise (like a fax) and put phone down. but seem to be more of a problem now due to data protection act they wont speak to third party. Don’t get me wrong the device is usefull for some people but what has the RNID done since then can we use Minicom on VOIP? I guess not .

Looking at a RNID website to what they are campaigning next .

Reduce hearing aid waiting times, MPs say – 18 May 2007
A group of MPs have said they want the Department of Health to tackle long waiting times for hearing aid services. The Health Select Committee says that half a million people are waiting for NHS audiology services, and some are waiting for more than two years.

A little misleading as they are talking about switching from analogue to Digital hearing aids.
Now I am the lucky few that have digital hearing aids but it took a little getting used to but sadly the build quality is rubbish. Depends on where you live moisture gets into it easily and I had to send back broken ones. They wont give me spare one so I go DEAF for a few weeks till its replaced.

Saw another campaign

Campaign for more subtitles on ITV digital channels
Subtitling levels on ITV digital channels are really low. ITV3 and ITV4 only subtitled 13.8 percent of their programmes in 2006 even though most of their programmes are repeats that were subtitled when first shown.

Support our campaign if you think deaf and hard of hearing people should be able to enjoy repeats of programmes such as Inspector Morse, Midsomer Murders, A Touch of Frost, Prime Suspect and Foyle’s War.

Take action! Send an email to Michael Grade (external link, opens new browser window), Executive Chairman of ITV, saying how important subtitles are to you….
Section: How you can help
Date published: 08 May 2007

Now bear in mind that

ITV2 launched on 7 December 1998

ITV3 launched on 1 November 2004

Why is RNID campaigning now? Whats taking so long for a charity that has £50,000,000 in the bank?

On a hot summer day years ago I was with a good group of friends about 13 of us and we had planned to go out drinking all day visit as many pubs as we can.
We had made sure we were well dressed as you know after 7pm wearing trainers football shirts in city centre you wont be able to get in pubs and nightclubs.

Well a friend of a friend joined us but I had assumed he was only out for the evening because he was wearing a football top, shorts and trainers
I said aren’t we moving on as the day wore on but got a reply of “with lets stay here because he won’t be able to get in such and such a pub”.

I was annoyed as we all planned this also he was drunk falling all over the place and offending other people and yet some of his friend decided we all should stay in this one pub.
We said we will get you a taxi but of course he wanted to stay and get even more drunk.
So anyway as the evening wore on he sat on chair and fell asleep one of my mate said we could leave him there and we move on but of course we didn’t.

I bought a flake from the newsagent next door came back
And shoved it down the back of his shorts while he was still sleeping
Well you know hot summer warm arse the chocolate melts waited for a bit and then woke him up telling him get the beers in.
Looking at his face and the realisation of a wet bottom he was thinking I better not move other wise we could see he shat his pants.

He never moved from the chair and when its his round he got his mate to get the beers in.
As the evening wore on he needed the toilet but afraid to move so he said, “ you move on enjoy your selves lads I will stay here “
I refused to move and told him we didn’t want to leave him there on his own.

Seeing him struggling and trying to take his mind off needing the toilet he was refusing drinks and here was I pouring drinks out of a bottle into a glass very slowly.
That was agony and he made a run for the toilet .
Seeing brown through the back of his shorts we all burst out laughing.
We told him in the end it was chocolate and the only way to hide the evidence was to take his shirt off and tie it around the waist.

He decided their and then to go home as he knew he wouldn’t be allowed to wear no top on in a pub and unfortunately it took him 1 half hour to walk home as taxi driver refused to take him home saying “I don’t want no dirty bastard shitting in my taxi”

Haven’t had time to post much lately.

I was flicking through channels on sky and I came across wrestling channel and they showed World of Sport all the old British wresting .
Alan Kilby was ready to wrestle with some guy and the commentary said “Alan has taken his Deaf aids out “

When they say Deaf aids it makes me cringe

Saw in a blog somewhere about speech therapist (I have lost the link) reminded me when I was about 11 during school time I had to go down the road to a clinic to have speech therapy.
Although my mum had letters etc but never seen speech therapists only the doctors, she was puzzled on why I developed a lisp. ( I did over do it as I hated going there)
Mum visited the clinic and found that my speech therapist has a lisp not surprisingly she complained and stopped me from going there.

All my children been tested for deafness as soon as they are born.
Its amazing how they find out these days when they are few days old, although I have never seen it done because my wife knows how uneasy I feel  but she told me how its done.
Then they get tested at a later stage even though I know my children are all hearing hell the doctors will get an ear bashing from me if they ever suggested implants or what ever to “make them normal”

Born on 12th May 3:24pm weighing 7lb 3oz,we have named him Caleb.

I went shopping with my wife and in the supermarket I can be found veering toward the beer section and then onto DVD.
I picked up the Royale Family DVD and like I always do check if it carry subtitles not surprisingly it doesn’t.
The Royale family first shown on BBC and I like the BBC as most programmes and films are shown with subtitles and best of all no adverts.

Same goes for Peter Kay’s phoenix night on a different channel
Why is it most British tv programmes show subtitles on tv and when they advertise at the end of show you can buy it on DVD but don’t contain subtitles.

I came across dotSUB.com and Project Readon from reading this blog so here are my thoughts as a viewer
Project readon is good and the subtitles are readable and the captions shows on each side of the screen so you know which person is speaking
The down side is the subtitles are held at different server so when viewing YouTube and the video is buffering the subtitles tend to be ahead of the film itself.
DotSUB is brilliant the subtitles are embedded to the film only down side is that it does take up a lot of space but then again if it was any smaller its would be harder to read.

dotSUB is my preference but if Project Readon becomes more popular then I cant complain as beggers cant be choosers!