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Perl for the Disabled
joukev writes "Perl.com is running an article on pVoice. pVoice is an Open Source communication system for severely disabled children written in Perl. I started this for my daughter in 2001. She's still using it and hopefully the medical world will see that there are Open Source alternatives for these kinds of applications. More information on pVoice can be found on the pVoice website (general information) or on the pVoice Developers website."
I think you'll find the proper name is "PHP".
Forgive my incorrectness. The reason for my mistake can easily be that English is not my native tongue...
Why this is somewhat amusing is that it's the other kind of "free" (as in speech) as well, but people who usually use the beer analogy typically mean that it's not the other.
I'm also really glad to see people sponsoring him and donating licenses to software for development of it. Another cool example about how this community helps support itself.
Isn't that like referring to "murders" as "people with murderous tendencies"?
Really is that big difference between "disabled people" and "people with disabilities?" If it said "handicapped", "disqualified" or "restricted" people i would understand, but what is so negative about the word "disability"?
And did you never thought that all this ranting about the "correct" way to use language is MORE offendig to people with disabilities, as if they should be protected and they were unable to face these colloquial, conversational terms?
Singularity: a belief in the "God" idea with the "demiurge" relation inverted.
Having tried to find Assistive Technology products in the past for people, to meet specific needs, this really gets my hopes up in two seperate ways:
1. Someone saw a specific need and developed an application around it. As he said in the text, the closest application available would not suffice.
2. Too many Assistive Technology products are horrendously expensive. JAWS, the de facto screen reader for Windows, can be $1500 for an individual user for one computer only. There are discounts, grants, and loans available out there for Assistive Technology, but they can be hard to get.
The only other fully featured screen reader that I've been able to find is emacspeak, but there's little out there in full screen navigation screen readers for Windows, Macintosh, etc. (in terms of Free).
This is a great story about a father doing something for his daughter and the community. I'm encouraged by the story.
> Isn't that like referring to "murders" as "people with murderous tendencies"?
No, because I have murderous tendencies, but I am not a murderer. Not yet, at least.
Forgive my use of the colloquialism, given the fact that it was so apparent from the context of what I was saying that I was really inferring the fact that they could, indeed, care less.
You clearly don't know anyone living with a disability. It's an extremely contentious issue and is at the heart of how our legislators and society handle people with disabilities. We perceive, as a society -- and as you did above --, that all people with disabilities have disabilities that greatly impair their self-sufficiency. This is not true. People with significantly impairing disabilities are in the minority, however, we all get lumped together in this big "they-are-not-self-sufficient-therefore-they-are-i ncapable-of-making-decisions-to-govern-their-own-l ives" pot..
It's this kind of bullsh*t that gets us needlessly put in to workshops making less than $3.00/hour in the name of "mercy". The system is set up to keep us from getting real jobs -- a prejudice expectation is there that no one will hire us because we may need a special piece of equipment to do our jobs. Most people fall in to the state's Vocational Rehabilitation system and never get out.
Notice that "disabled people" wasn't used in the headline, though. Language is powerful and as someone that works in the disabilities field. In order of most offensive to most respectful: "the disabled," "disabled people," "people with disabilites." Language has a powerful influence on how we perceive things.
NO! For starters your analogy should be:
Isn't that like referring to "murders" as "people who were convicted of murder"
This would definately be a more respectful way to refer to murderers, of course I do not think 'murderers' deserve any extra respect since they have chosen to be a 'murderer' (otherwise it would be manslaughter or similar)
On the other hand persons with disabilities did not choose to be disabled and IMNSHO deserve as much respect as any other person (sans murderers).
Thoughts on tech, Software Engineering, and stuff
You clearly don't know anyone living with a disability.
I'll give you an opportunity to take your foot out of your mouth. That was an incredibly not-thought-out statement.
Yes, of COURSE I've known people who live with disabilities. I grew up with them in school, worked with them directly, and have them in my family.
And you know what? I've never once met a disabled person who feels sorry for him- or herself to a point where they would make a big deal about HOW they were referred to. Most disabled persons would be glad enough that legislators even take the time out of their day to deal with them in the first place.
Calling them "disabled people" instead of "people with disabilities" is just more politically correct bullshit that doesn't do anything to change the real opinions of people. Saying "people with disabilities" no more makes people think of them in a different way than saying "person with homosexual preferences" instead of "gay person" would make somebody think differently of them.
I prefer to call a spade a spade and TREAT them as people rather than just pay them lip service that way.
Most "people with disabilities" could care less what you called them.
Why is is "could care less" - that implies they care about it slightly. "Couldn't care less" means you dont care at all, what I've alwayys said. ("What do you want for dinner//couldn't care less").
That is ridiculous. You are cooking up offense where none is meant. As long as you are looking for something to offend you, you will find it.
My own language is exactly that... my own. I don't appreciate others telling me what I should say, or how I should say it. I assume you would react similarly if I provided you with a new set of rules for your speech.
A new PC term has a lifespan of 10 years anyway, because after that time, someone will start saying that term is offensive. And a new term will be accepted. That is an endless process that leads nowhere.
My advice is to be offended only by people who are utterly offensive, and don't nitpick everyone else.
Slashdot Syndrome: the sudden, extreme urge to correct someone in order to validate one's self.
Christ, man, if you're going to correct someone at least use proper spelling and grammar yourself. That just makes you look bad.
...pVoice is an Open Source communication system for severely disabled children written in Perl.
Personally all of the severely disabled children I've come across have been coded in Lisp.
(i'm going to hell)
I wasnt trying to correct him, I was just generally interested if he deliberatly chose "could care" instead of "couldnt care". I've seen tons of people doing it, and was wondering who was wrong
The Artistic License may or may not be free (as in RMS). Here's what the FSF says about it:
"Section 508 requires that Federal agencies' electronic and information technology is accessible to people with disabilities.
from section508.gov
After this the Federal Government created the Accessibility Forum to bring industry and government into some agreement and cooperation on standards, as well as highlight existing technology and its weaknesses.
I spoke with the original Accessibility Forum director and my first question was,"What about open source?"
He said that the major distributions of Linux would not have anything to do with it. It was a commerical field dominated by proprietary business-models. I explained to him that if the government took an initiative for open source software in this area, not just openly approved standards, the results could have global impact for the disabled community. If he really wanted to do something that would help people, I insisted, he should focus on making the technology open and free to use.
Interesting, he also said that the lady representing Microsoft was "a bitch."
I know this is a niche market, certainly much smaller in the open source world, but this is an area where open source software can really help humanity. Want good publicity for the cause? Want to get people to notice OSS and its decidely non-commerical interests? Want people who have never heard of Linux to try a live-linux distribution? Software such as pVoice is one way.
Computers are starting to affect everyone
0) Are you trolling? If so, nicely done. It got me going, but I'm in a peculiar mood today, so what the hell. Here's some food. 1) You can say bullshit. There's no need to euphemize here. If you want to say bullshit, say bullshit. If you don't, say horsepuckey or poppycock. Don't be half-assed with your swearing, it's a style thang. 2) Your post, with all the "we"s and "us"s and "most people"s and "You clearly don't know..." is incredibly general and assumptive. All generalities are false, including this one. 3) You sound awefully sorry for yourself. It is this chest-beating and wailing over your fate that really pisses people off. Ever heard of a self-fulfilling prophecy? My guess is, if you went in to interview for a job, and you are the most qualified candidate, you'll get it. We've got a couple people with physical issues in our office, but they're damn good scientists. 4) I couldn't insult the people that I hang out with by calling them names if I wanted to. Wetback, Stumpy, Jewboy, Lardass, you name it we've called each other it. Quit looking for offense where none is intended. 5) I read a short sci-fi story a while back (sorry, can't remember who wrote or what it was called). Basically, the story was about a group of teachers sitting around and planning their curricula. They sat with a list of groups protesting said curricula. The Christians were offended by the ghost in Hamlet and Ophelia was offensive to women's groups, so they couldn't teach Hamlet. Anything that might be remotely offensive to anyone couldn't be taught in school, and so the entire educational system fell apart. Does that scare you? It's what you're heading towards. 6) I'm done now, I'm going to stop before I get offensive. Although I do feel much better now, thanks.
Fantastic work. You are an inspiration!
TRoy
For what it's worth, I've always heard "could care less" but have always thought it's wrong. I say "couldn't care less" because it makes sense.
A similar one is "For Christ sakes," which is meaningless. What they mean is "for Christ's sake," but everyone always throws that extra s on there. Weird.
The source
Overrated / Underrated : Moderation
"Could care less" is American; "couldn't care less" is British. The American one isn't strictly logical, but that doesn't mean it's wrong because idiomatic expressions often aren't strictly logical (double negatives for instance). Personally, I'm not bothered which version people use because I understand what they mean.
As someone who is helping two disabled roommates and who's brother is disabled, I can say that the four of us are more offended by people who spend hours arguing over what to call a disabled person rather than addressing the ways to help them.
While yes, many litigious (sp?) society there are lawsuits galore over those words, I would rather hear from someone who dedicates over 50% of their time to helping people. Making changes in that Vocational Rehabilitation system. (Voc Rehab is a disagreeable name in itself, why are they being 'rehabilitated'?)
I myself would be part of that system if I chose to spend my time complaining that I would prefer to be called a 'person with a disability' instead of finding what I AM able to do and getting my butt out there and doing it. I do not rely on any state, social, or other support, and have spent much of my life learning how to improve my able qualities so that I do not need that support.
My biggest pet peeve is not being called one thing or another, but when I let myself fall short of my abilities. I know I am intelligent, and that there are jobs out there that intelligent people can do. I know some can't hear, but there are jobs at which deaf people would have an advantage (Jet Engine Mechanic, other jobs with high noise levels.) The key is to turn the disability into an asset, and use the OTHER abilities you have. Not waste time telling everyone how you cannot do things. Show them what you can do.
You can have it fast, accurate, or pretty. Pick any 2.
In On Writing Steve King has a section on grammar, saying that American English isn't as sturdy as British English, and that "a British advertising exec with a good education can make an ad for ribbed condoms sound like the Magna gaddamn Carta." That always cracked me up.
The article is specifically discussing their disability. As such it IS appropriate to identify the people by the fact that they are disabled.
Refering to them in this context as "people with disabilities" is INSULTING, it implies that this article is not for people that have the disabilities, but instead for those that are tending to them.
When talking about the disabilites themselves, it is appropriate to talk about the disabled people, but when talking about the people that have them, it is appropriate to talk about people with disabilities.
excitingthingstodo.blogspot.com
That's has got to be one of the stupidest things I've ever read on Slashdot.
It's NOT a disability at all, you insensitive clod!
Show me on the doll where his noodly appendage touched you.
Whoa, you touched on two things I don't like:
1) It might not bother you to call them something, even if you mean no offense, but it might bother them. Think about it this way: if you were a houskeeper or a butler, would you prefer to be called "the help," or would you rather be referred to by a more dignified job title? In general, people don't like to be considered secondary to one of their traits.
2) The Indian thing has to stop. It necessitates making annoying clarifications like "feather Indian, not dot Indian." *You* may not care, but be assured that Indians (both kinds!) do.
A deep unwavering belief is a sure sign you're missing something...
This may not be case for every condition labeled a "disability"; just speaking up for my own circumstances :-)
The concept of Politically correct has been high-jacked by the morons that want to discredit it.
excitingthingstodo.blogspot.com
I am a disabled person. Yes, not a "person with a disability", a disabled person. You can't miss it. I use a wheelchair, there is no hiding it. Myself, and most others I know don't care for political correctness because it candy coats the real issues. It actually diverts the focus from things like accessibility or access programs to "let's make sure everyone feels good about being a person". Whatever - get on with life, start something creative and fresh, then people will not only recognize you as a person, they will recognize you as a success, disabled or not.