Houston Deaf Forum
By Bradley Porche | Posted in Blogs | Jul.21, 2009 | 11 CommentsI would like to inform the public that there will be a Houston Deaf Forum. It will take place on August 15th from 12 to 4pm. The location is at St. Dominic Center for the Deaf 2403 Holcombe Blvd, Houston, TX 77578.
Here is the execrpt from the deafhouston.org
“Welcome to the Houston Deaf Forum!!!
What is the Houston Deaf Forum? It is a forum where we the deaf and hard of hearing Houston citizens are now gathering to work toward to one common goal. To establish an organization that will become a better voice, unity, and advocacy for the deaf/hard of hearing citizens of Houston and surrounding areas.
So we will be hosting our FIRST Town Hall meeting on August 15th, 2009 at St. Dominic Center for the Deaf. The address is 2403 Holcombe Blvd. Houston, TX 77021 from 12 to 4pm. We will soon be creating a mailing list – to make sure you are INFORMED when something is going on. Remember “WE, THE DEAF COMMUNITY” can’t succeed without your participation!”
As a dphhh.com article contributor, I would strongly encourage you to inform others who might not be reading the dphhh.com article and let them know about the Houston Deaf Forum. It will be a great opportunity for you to express your thoughts, ideas, and opinions. Help spread the word and like Billy said, “Together we stand, divide we fall.”
You can follow the Houston Deaf Forum in different ways, they have a website up at deafhouston.org , a Facebook Fan page at Deaf Houston Forum Fan Page, and you can participate on Twitter at @HouDeafForum .
Comments/Concerns are welcomed!
IP-Relay Scam
By Bradley Porche | Posted in Blogs | Jul.20, 2009 | 10 CommentsAs you may have seen on ABC 13, there has been a discussion about the scammers using i711.com. Since there has been a heightened awareness of the ip-relay scam or also known as www.i711.com scam. Please note, i711.com itself is not a scam, it is the scammer that is using the i711.com service.
I want to address a few concerns by those in the deaf and hard of hearing community. While we condemned the abuse by the scammers using the ip-relay. We want the community at large to understand that while we conduct business or personal calls through TTY (Telephone Typewriter) ip-relay (internet), Video Phone, or VRI (Video Relay Interpreter). There will be a concern among those in the community at large on whether a relay call would be legitimate or a scam.
This scam reflects poorly on the deaf and hard of hearing community and we strive to fight against the abuse of our services. The purpose of using an relay service provides us the independence in order to function within the hearing community. In fact, there are two devices that provides us the giant leap when we socialize with those in the community at large. First is a relay service which a deaf person has access to and currently the three most common “phones” are: TTY, ip-relay (internet), and Video Phone. Second is the use of pager/cell phone with a QWERTY key (virtual or physical) in order to communicate with other people.
Let’s put some of the technology we use in a nutshell.
continue »
Update Information on Deaf Protest
By Bradley Porche | Posted in Blogs | Jun.10, 2009 | 3 CommentsHere is the Department of Justice settlement between the United States of America, Rashad Gordon and Michael Edward against the City of Houston, TX. Again, this is only a settlement and does not emphasize a case law. Settlement Agreement
There will be another meeting taking place on June 15th at 6:30pm (location will be updated), you can find out more information on the Communication Access Now blog and there is an outline of explanations from the 5 co-founders.
Hope you find this informative and I would strongly encourage you to attend the meeting. I plan on having a real time streaming and archived video of the meeting posted so that more Deaf/HOH people will be aware of what is going on and eventually feel like they are “participating” . It will be from this account, UStream.tv broadcast and let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Thanks!
Pre-Deaf Protest Meeting – Tuesday 9th
By Bradley Porche | Posted in Blogs, Politics | Jun.10, 2009 | 14 CommentsTonight I had the opportunity to attend the pre-protest meeting at Memorial City Mall. The meeting finally started after a few minutes delay due to waiting for more Deaf/Hard of Hearing individuals to show up. There were approximately around 15 Deaf/Hard of Hearing individuals.
There were diverse individuals from different background, some were Deaf and Hard of Hearing, some had a strong conviction to protest and some were not sure of what was going on. Neverthless, Brian Determan, one of the co-founders of the Deaf Right Protest (the title of the protest has not been clarified) took the floor and explained the issue of why we should need to protest.
Several issues were brought up. Some stated that it was a long struggle for the Deaf/Hard of Hearing individuals to gain access to interpreters and the city did not fullfill the needs of Deaf individuals. He said that he met with the city and the city coordinator said that there was not much Deaf awareness and did not know how to provide the support for the Deaf community.
continue »
Deaf Protest Meeting – Tuesday 9th
By Bradley Porche | Posted in News, Politics | Jun.09, 2009 | 4 CommentsI have volunteered to be a writer for the Deaf Protest/March Rally and there will be a pre-march meeting taking place today (June 9th) at Memorial City Mall (Food Court) at 7 o clock pm.
As a contributing member of the Deaf/Hard of Hearing community, I would strongly encourage you to attend and participate. Like Billy Koch previously said, “It takes a community.” A community is one of the most valuable thing a Deaf/Hard of Hearing individual can have because not only the support is there but knowing what is going on is important as well. I plan on attending, write (blog), and participate about the meeting and I ask of you to do the same to blog and participate. Therefore, the message will be heard through the blogosphere, Facebook, etc. One person cannot do it all but many of you have the will power to make a difference.
continue »
Twitter – A New New Thing
By Bradley Porche | Posted in Blogs | Apr.07, 2009 | 6 CommentsWhat is up with Twitter being the new new thing? Actually, it is not new. It has been around since its development in 2006. What makes Twitter stand out from the rest is its’ pure simplicity. All you have to do is pick up your cell phone for a SMS text, go to a website, or use a third party API to twitter away. From the time you text (up to 140 character is allowed) and send, all of your friends know where you are or what you are up to. How awesome is that? Simple and practical for our everyday busy lives.
continue »