Hello World.

• Gigantic Productions is going to begin producing a show called "True Life: I’m deaf" on MTV. They are looking for a variety of deaf individuals ages 14-28. This is the casting call notice from HearingExchange along with the contact information

Do you have severe or total deafness? Are you a deaf student, about to graduate and go out into the world on your own for the very first time? Or are you currently attending a school for the deaf but about to transition to a mainstream school? Perhaps you’re trying to find a job but experiencing difficulty because you are deaf? Are you hoping to get a cochlear implant or be fitted for a hearing aid to significantly improve your ability to hear? Are you a [deaf] member of an advocacy group, fighting to gain more rights or assistance for deaf people?

If you fit any of these descriptions, MTV and Gigantic! Productions want to hear your story at casting@gigantic.tv or call 212.343.2674.

• Project readOn is a completely free online video captioning service. You can go there and search through video that have captioning or submit one that you want it! Sounds like a bargain to me!

• This is a petition to the FCC to push the issue of making it mandatory to caption online or downloadable video. Popular broadcasting networks such as NBC, ABC, CBS AND FOX all have rich video content on their websites, but they do not provide captioning. However, CNET TV has announced that all their videos have the capability of captioning with a click of a CC button.

• Paula Rosenthal over at HearingExchange has made an online site for kids! HearingExchange Kids is geared specifically towards elementary and middle school kids with a hearing loss. I feel that this site would be good for educating a hearing child about hearing loss as well.
  

• HLAA (Hearing Loss Association of America) is holding their convention in Reno, Nevada this year on June 12 to the 15th. The only problem with this is that I have to fly *gulp* but I'm going! I was considering driving but I did the math, $640 in gas alone changed my mind quickly.

• When I was listening to Josh Swiller, he mentioned a company called Godisa Technologies located in Botswana that provides low-cost digital BTE hearing aids and did I mention it is solar powered to people that otherwise would have been unable to afford them. The battery, the aid, the charger is all charged by a solar panel. From the clean technology to the vision of the company is genius!

• I just ordered this book off of Amazon, its called Rally Caps and the author is a loyal reader, an amazing and HIGHLY entertaining blogger and a wonderful devoted mother to her son Jordan who has a cochlear implant, meet Jodi Cutler Del Dottore
  

Now for some Cochlear Implant Surgeries and Activations

• A loyal reader and fellow blogger Deafcone had his first cochlear implant surgery this past Monday and I would appreciate if you would pop over there and give him some love! His recovery process sounds so similar to mine, poor guy.
  

• Sam Spritzer is going bilateral on January 15th and getting turned on.. February 15th which so happens to be yours truly birthday! Sam used to suffer from the eye twitches like me UNTIL he printed out a copy of the post that rectified mine and took it with him to a mapping. Read about how it fixed him up! I am SOOO happy that it was able to help him!
  

• Another blogger SkullChick is having her first cochlear implant surgery on January 15th and her activation is February 12th!!

• Michael Chorost is activating his second implant on January 24th!
  

I can't keep up with them all!!!