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NPR Labs is Working on Emergency Alerts for the Deaf (Video)

Posted by Roblimo on from the extending-emergency-broadcasts-to-people-who-can't-hear-them dept.

When we think about NPR (National Public Radio) most of us think of A Prairie Home Companion or another favorite radio show. But NPR also has a research component, NPR Labs, that they say "is the nation's only not-for-profit broadcast technology research and development center." The video (below) is an interview with NPR person Maryfran Tyler about their pilot program designed "to demonstrate the delivery of emergency alerts to people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing in the Gulf Coast states through local public radio stations and the Public Radio Satellite System (PRSS®)." NPR also says, "This is the first effort to deliver real-time accessibility-targeted emergency messages, such as weather alerts, via radio broadcast texts."

89 comments

  1. seizures by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Does it cause seizures? It should cause seizures.

  2. Prairie home companion. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Maybe it's meant for the over-70 set, but I just don't get it. In fact I hate NPR weekend programming.

    And I don't hate NPR - I love their general weekday programming, science friday, market talk, Dianne Rehm, Tell me more (though that show seems...odd now), etc.. It's just that I don't understand how anyone under 70 can listen to PHC and not want to drive into oncoming traffic.

    1. Re:Prairie home companion. by jandrese · · Score: 2

      I can understand how you might not like Garrison Keillor, he has a very Midwestern sensibility that doesn't try to appeal to everybody. It's harder for me to understand how you can hate Wait Wait Don't Tell Me though. That show is a gem.

      --

      I read the internet for the articles.
    2. Re:Prairie home companion. by wile_e_wonka · · Score: 1

      Wait Wait Don't Tell me is absolutely in the same terrible category as Prairie Home Companion. But This American Life, Radiolab, CarTalk, Planet Money, Marketplace, SciFri, The Moth, Backstory, etc... are excellent. They've got a ton of excellent stuff on NPR.

    3. Re:Prairie home companion. by geekoid · · Score: 1

      PHC always makes me thing of this quote:
      "You've got to remember that these are just simple farmers. These are people of the land. The common clay of the new West. You know... morons." Jim - Blazing Saddles

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    4. Re:Prairie home companion. by hey! · · Score: 1

      Speaking of which, I went to a concert by a Grammy award winning concert pianist playing works Beethoven, Schubert, Griffes and Chopin. The average age was, no exaggeration, well north of 70. I think I was the only person there under 60, except for one ten year-old boy there with his grandma.

      This suggests an explanation for why us old folks think Prairie Home Companion is a hoot, but *you* don't get it. We're smarter than you.

      Don't feel bad, though; think of growing sophistication as something you can look forward to.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    5. Re:Prairie home companion. by fiannaFailMan · · Score: 1

      Car Talk? Are you f***ing kidding me?! Two assholes with abrasive Boston accents sit there laughing like hyenas at everything the other one says? How anyone listens to that garbage I do not know. Every time it's about to come on I have to dive for the radio and switch it off because I can't even stand the sound of "Suppoht foh cah tawk ..." intro, to say nothing of the fingernails-on-a-blackboard country music that follows.

      Click: "You know what?"

      Clack: "What?"

      Click: "I got up early this mohning! Hwahwahwaaaa!"

      Clack: "Hwahwahwa! Really?!"

      Click: "Yeah! Hwa hwa hwa!!!"

      Click and Clack in unison: "Hwa hwa hwa!"

      Makes me want to punt the radio into next week.

      RadioLab's okay, but the annoying editing is just...uh oh, here it comes ... annoying, like when you're tuning into what someone's saying and his voice starts fading out yadda yadda yadda ... narrator cuts in across the front of him to comment on who he is or what he's talking about. It'd be much easier to listen to without the gimmicky editing.

      This American Life is okay, but I find Ira Glass' creaky voice a little hard to listen to sometimes. Sounds like he's constantly nervous.

      As for the local announcers here on KQED, some are better than others. There's one guy who shall remain nameless who I have yet to hear complete a sentence without stumbling over himself, and there's a female announcer who's not much better. People like that wouldn't last long on the BBC. Maybe they're dyslexic or something and have a hard time reading what's in front of them, and I have nothing but sympathy, but they shouldn't be on the air.

      But in general I find the quality of NPR's production values a lot higher than PBS. I guess it's a lot easier to do a good job on radio than on TV, so you don't need the BBC's massive budget to nail it.

      --
      Drill baby drill - on Mars
    6. Re:Prairie home companion. by geekoid · · Score: 2, Informative

      Many people like Car Talk, about 1.4% of the US listen to them.
      Would it kill you not to be an ass? I mean, it's fine you don't like them, but man you sound like an asshole. Frankly, the Internet has enough of those already.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    7. Re:Prairie home companion. by TWX · · Score: 0

      Car Talk? Are you f***ing kidding me?! Two assholes with abrasive Boston accents sit there laughing like hyenas at everything the other one says? How anyone listens to that garbage I do not know. Every time it's about to come on I have to dive for the radio and switch it off because I can't even stand the sound of "Suppoht foh cah tawk ..." intro, to say nothing of the fingernails-on-a-blackboard country music that follows.

      Click: "You know what?"

      Clack: "What?"

      Click: "I got up early this mohning! Hwahwahwaaaa!"

      Clack: "Hwahwahwa! Really?!"

      Click: "Yeah! Hwa hwa hwa!!!"

      Click and Clack in unison: "Hwa hwa hwa!"

      Makes me want to punt the radio into next week.

      RadioLab's okay, but the annoying editing is just...uh oh, here it comes ... annoying, like when you're tuning into what someone's saying and his voice starts fading out yadda yadda yadda ... narrator cuts in across the front of him to comment on who he is or what he's talking about. It'd be much easier to listen to without the gimmicky editing.

      This American Life is okay, but I find Ira Glass' creaky voice a little hard to listen to sometimes. Sounds like he's constantly nervous.

      As for the local announcers here on KQED, some are better than others. There's one guy who shall remain nameless who I have yet to hear complete a sentence without stumbling over himself, and there's a female announcer who's not much better. People like that wouldn't last long on the BBC. Maybe they're dyslexic or something and have a hard time reading what's in front of them, and I have nothing but sympathy, but they shouldn't be on the air.

      But in general I find the quality of NPR's production values a lot higher than PBS. I guess it's a lot easier to do a good job on radio than on TV, so you don't need the BBC's massive budget to nail it.

      Garrison Keillor, get to the f'ing point! This ain't Lake Woebegon!

      --
      Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
    8. Re:Prairie home companion. by betterprimate · · Score: 1

      I enjoy Beethoven and Chopin (not Schubert and Griffes), but I cringe when I listen to Prairie Home Companion. Prairie Home Companion relies heavily upon a broad nostalgia in its storytelling. Younger generations won't have the same appreciation for it.

    9. Re:Prairie home companion. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This suggests an explanation for why us old folks think Prairie Home Companion is a hoot, but *you* don't get it. We're smarter than you.

      Prarie Home Companion has a "schtick" which is extremely repetitive and while it was amusing
      for a while, it is just the same old thing over and over and that gets old. If you think that your enjoyment of
      the same old shit over and over means you are somehow superior, you have an interesting
      method of determining superiority which is unlikely to meet with acceptance by any member of the
      academic community.

      So why don't you just cut the bullshit and say you are a smug holier than thou prick. At least you could get points
      for honesty saying that.

    10. Re:Prairie home companion. by hondo77 · · Score: 1

      Speaking of which, I went to a concert by a Grammy award winning concert pianist... We're smarter than you.

      I also has been at concerts by Grammy Award-winning artists so I must be teh smarterer, too.

      --
      I live ze unknown. I love ze unknown. I am ze unknown.
    11. Re:Prairie home companion. by Cornwallis · · Score: 1

      Prairie Home Companion comes from American Public Media, not NPR.

    12. Re:Prairie home companion. by Ksevio · · Score: 3, Funny

      It's just that I don't understand how anyone under 70 can listen to PHC and not want to drive into oncoming traffic.

      It sounds like you aren't getting enough Catchup. Catchup contains natural mellowing agents that keep you from making irrational driving decisions and enjoy the small things in life.

    13. Re:Prairie home companion. by Jah-Wren+Ryel · · Score: 1

      > because often assholes will have something interesting to offer to a conversation

      Yes, his complaints about the voices of the various hosts was fascinating and illuminating. Really opened my eyes to the situation.

      --
      When information is power, privacy is freedom.
    14. Re:Prairie home companion. by fiannaFailMan · · Score: 0

      Many people like Car Talk, about 1.4% of the US listen to them.
      Would it kill you not to be an ass? I mean, it's fine you don't like them, but man you sound like an asshole. Frankly, the Internet has enough of those already.

      Thank you for that little pearl of wisdom. Nothing like a bit of blatant ad hominem, with no attempt whatsoever to deal with the point, to break up the day.

      Anything else you'd like to say about the completely irrelevant topic of your perception of my personality, you amusingly stupid mucksavage?

      --
      Drill baby drill - on Mars
    15. Re:Prairie home companion. by Roblimo · · Score: 2

      My first wife was a Minnesota farmgirl who said, "Prairie Home Companion? If I wanted to hear people like that I would have stayed on the farm instead of leaving."

    16. Re:Prairie home companion. by slick7 · · Score: 1

      Wait Wait Don't Tell me is absolutely in the same terrible category as Prairie Home Companion. But This American Life, Radiolab, CarTalk, Planet Money, Marketplace, SciFri, The Moth, Backstory, etc... are excellent. They've got a ton of excellent stuff on NPR.

      Please stop, I'm bored.

      --
      The mind conceives, the body achieves, the spirit manifests.
    17. Re:Prairie home companion. by billstewart · · Score: 1

      I'm under 60, and I've been listening to PHC for almost 30 years. And yeah, it's not for everybody, and it takes some attention span and some familiarity with the culture that it's coming from. I'm originally an Easterner, and my family was from the Midwest rather than the North Central area, and none of them were still farmers by the time I was around.

      The church I went to in Berkeley in the 70s was about half grad students and about half old-time Swedish immigrant families; Pastor Anderson was from Minnesota, and his accent was about like a typical Lake Wobegone resident, and the potluck dinners would have lots of baked goods and casseroles and the occasional lutefisk. They weren't Lutherans, but you could recognize a lot of Keillor's memes, though of course these were the folks who, after moving South from Sweden to Minnesota, decided that that was enough of that moved somewhere warm.

      --

      Bill Stewart
      New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
    18. Re:Prairie home companion. by necro81 · · Score: 1

      This American Life ... is okay, but ... I find Ira Glass' creaky voice ... a little hard to listen to sometimes. Sounds like ... he's constantly nervous.

      Fixed that for you. I believe they call it the Woody Allen school of acting.

    19. Re:Prairie home companion. by jellomizer · · Score: 1

      There is a good subset of NPR listeners who seem to dislike anything that is suppose to be entertaining. They are often political junkies, who are under the impression that politics is very important, and their political opponents must be absolutely evil, or stupid. They complain when ever NPR brings up anything slightly entertaining or presented in a funny way. With perhaps Harry Shearer as the exception because his humor is about pointing out the flaws of his political opponents who he portraits as absolutely evil or stupid.

      I personally don't like Harry Shearer because other then the random music which is clever, his stuff is monotonous.
      Nuclear Power - Bad
      Olympics - Bad
      Catholics - Bad
      News Corp - Bad
      The Army Core of Engineers - Really Really Really BAD!
      Lets poke some fun of bad grammar from some people adhoc interviews.
      And if someone of influence gets in trouble lets get their apology, and make it seem insincere.

      However I am under the notion that information can be educational and entertaining at the same time. Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, is fairly good at that. It can poke fun at stuff without being all negative and mean about it. Prairie Home Companion, is mostly just for entertainment, and doesn't mean to hurt people.

      The Political Junkies, think in order to be intelligent you need to be negative about it. So shows that don't do that, they get angry at and claim that it is too soft for them.
         

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    20. Re:Prairie home companion. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      mucksavage

      What the fuck is a mucksavage?

  3. Panic Sign by sycodon · · Score: 1

    Does it look like this?

    --
    When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
  4. Re:Eh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Let me get my translator for the hearing impaired, Garret Morris:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=butZyxI-PRs

  5. And then it gets defunded by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Sweet! Now the Republicans have another thing about NPR at they can point and derp on about how much precious, taxpayer-funded taxpayer money from job creators is being "wasted"! Sounds like another week worth of material for the Daily Show and another eight or so years of talking points for slack-jawed yokels to parrot!

    1. Re:And then it gets defunded by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sweet, now you assholes have something to act like a bigoted bitch about. Now you won't have to think and see people as people instead of political parties.

    2. Re:And then it gets defunded by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      Actually, I'm not sure how successful this kind of thing really is.

      How about an Obama Phone and using TXT messaging for the deaf? Or a Smart Phone. Or, we could develop a TXT only device for EBS.

      There are a dozen other ways, off the top of my head, that they could accomplish the goals without spending a dime of tax payer money to solve the problem. ALL cheaper than whatever they are spending on re-inventing the wheel.

      Only Democrats look at a problem and think it is a problem that Tax dollars need to solve, when there are already very good, or even marginal alternatives available. Because that is the first AND ONLY thought a stupid liberal has "Government needs to fund this, because otherwise it won't happen, and it makes us feel all warm and fuzzy inside when we spend other peoples money on things only we see as problems."

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    3. Re:And then it gets defunded by icebike · · Score: 1

      precious, taxpayer-funded taxpayer money from job creators is being "wasted"!

      Radio research for the Deaf is pretty much the poster child of wasted money. Sort of like braille highway signs for blind drivers.

      Nearly all deaf people carry smartphones. The ones that don't, certainly don't carry radios, or any other device capable of receiving radio texts.

      There are scads of Apps in the Google market for the deaf. Most free. Deaf people can negotiate plans with zero minutes from almost all the carriers.

      NPR is looking at every problem as if it were a nail, because the only tool they have is a hammer.
      So, yeah. Pretty much a waste of money.

      --
      Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
    4. Re:And then it gets defunded by Culture20 · · Score: 1

      Because SMS texts and email don't have guarantees for delivery time. We get used to fast network speeds, but I've still occasionally gotten texts and emails a day or more after they were sent.

    5. Re:And then it gets defunded by ScottCooperDotNet · · Score: 1

      If NPR sounded less like MSNBC, I doubt the Republicans would bother with their pittance of the federal budget. NPR is so left wing that commercial talk radio is almost exclusively right wing.

      In any case, this program doesn't sound as likely to produce future advances as the space program could.

    6. Re:And then it gets defunded by sjames · · Score: 2

      Probably because the cell networks fall over the instant an emergency comes up so they want something a bit more professionally maintained with better range like a radio station to relay the signal.

      It's probably fairly cheap compared to getting the telcos to cooperate.

    7. Re:And then it gets defunded by Goody · · Score: 1

      The only reason it often sounds left wing to non-listeners is because conservative media won't spend 20 minutes exhaustively covering a subject like a frog species in South America or the history of the AK-47 (and not once mention school shootings or gun control). To compare it to MSNBC is laughable. MSNBC is just an inept left wing copy of Fox News. You clearly haven't listened to NPR to any extent if you think it sounds like MSNBC.

      --
      Tired of being "punished" by the Slashdot $rtbl since 2002. I'm now over at http://soylentnews.org/ .
    8. Re:And then it gets defunded by Phroggy · · Score: 1

      If NPR sounded less like MSNBC, I doubt the Republicans would bother with their pittance of the federal budget. NPR is so left wing that commercial talk radio is almost exclusively right wing.

      I'm not sure if you never listen to NPR, or never watch MSNBC...

      --
      $x='S24;r)>63/* h@<5+oZ)32"5cz';$me='phroggy'x$];
      $x=~y+ -xz+\0-Tx+;print$_^chop$me for split'',$x;
    9. Re:And then it gets defunded by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Especially in Gulf states, where a hurricane can knock over all of the telecom's pretty little infrastructure while everyone's sheltered in place and no one can run out to fix it, but the radio towers stay up.

  6. High Frequency Sound and Receiver Which Vibrates? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Might work, but how would you know if you can't hear it - needs a visual "proof of on".

  7. NPR association fail by damn_registrars · · Score: 1

    As the wikipedia link in the summary points out, Prairie Home Companion is not an NPR production. While it is mostly broadcast on NPR stations (at least, in the US) it is not actually done by NPR.

    --
    Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
    1. Re:NPR association fail by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The summary doesn't say it's made by NPR, it says most people think of shows like that when they think of NPR. If you're going to try to get modded up by being pedantic, at least have the decency to do it well.

    2. Re:NPR association fail by alexander_686 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      This is a very fine distinction.

      Public radio are a bunch of independent radio stations. They order programing from a variety of sources. The big one is NPR. Minnesota Public Radio set up American Public Radio as an alternative source of programming the public stations could buy. One could argue it was to get a bigger cut of the fees for PHC.

      But the point is that you have 2 different corporations producing content for public radio. They are not that different.

    3. Re:NPR association fail by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yea, I more quickly associate NPR with bleeding heart liberals, whining hippies, and left-wing-granola-crunching nutters, than anything else. Though there is the occasional gem.

      It's not a favorable association, let's say that.

  8. Television by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There is this thing called television. The deaf can readily get emergency information from it today.

    1. Re:Television by Velox_SwiftFox · · Score: 1

      Yep, what was wrong with the crawling message at the bottom of the screen telling the deaf that if this had been a real emergency, they would have been instructed to tune their AM radio to 640 or 1240KHz for the details?

  9. My first thought was... by roc97007 · · Score: 2

    ...Garrett Morris repeating the alert, only louder.

    But this generation wouldn't get it.

    --
    Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
    1. Re:My first thought was... by geekoid · · Score: 0

      WTF is 'this generation'? Why would it apply to /.?
      you don't think the only person from that generation on /. is you, do you?

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  10. Try a little harder next time. by westlake · · Score: 3, Insightful

    There is this thing called television. The deaf can readily get emergency information from it today.

    Works only when your TV set is on.

    Weather radios have a stand-by mode and battery back-up power.

    1. Re:Try a little harder next time. by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 1

      Or TXT messages.

      And radio only works if the radio tower wasn't hit by the hurricane or tornado.

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    2. Re:Try a little harder next time. by AK+Marc · · Score: 2

      So we need weather TVs that work on battery power or have those cool cranks.

      --
      Learn to love Alaska
    3. Re:Try a little harder next time. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I used to work for an NPR station, and as wonderful as the NPR network is, this is a 20 year old idea, trying to be current.

      Are you seriously telling me that asking deaf people to buy a special radio with limited market (read: therefore expensive) is going to be all that successful.

      I think it would be cheaper to use the cell phone network (text system) and have a special app that would listen for the "alert" message. I am sure you could give away smart phones (to the deaf) for cheaper than NPR distributing it via their Satellite system, and each of their member stations upgrading their system to transmit the message, and of course the final end single purpose receive at the deaf person's location.

      They got to start thinking out of the box.

    4. Re:Try a little harder next time. by PPH · · Score: 1

      But this is National Public Radio. Radio. So you'd expect them to formulate some solution that keeps them, or radio in general, in the loop.

      So its an FM receiver with an EAS decoder and it uses an Android device as a display. Why not just send EAS text out via SMS/Twitter broadcasts?* Because this isn't National Public Interwebs, that's why.

      *Actually, this is done already. But the radio folks were feeling a bit left out.

      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
    5. Re:Try a little harder next time. by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 1

      I made that exact point in another post on this same article. The comment was in response to some AC troll trying to be funny and making a joke about Republicans and how they hate "deaf people" or some such thing. Because only Liberals think the Government should fix a problem that isn't really a problem.

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    6. Re:Try a little harder next time. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They got to start thinking out of the box.]

      Or inside another, slightly different box. (Albeit a box that includes a subsystem almost perfect for this exact use.)

    7. Re:Try a little harder next time. by sjames · · Score: 1

      When is the last time you saw a cellphone with a bed shaker?

      Cellphones also only work if the tower isn't hit by a tornado or hurricane

  11. um no by Charliemopps · · Score: 2, Insightful

    First off, "A Prairie Home Companion" isn't anyones favorite show... it's a leftist talk show with skits featuring horrible acting, which I wouldn't mind as I do like SNL but I give SNL a pass because it's funny, where as, Prairie Home Companion is about as un-funny as anything I've ever heard. Sadly, most of the shows surrounding it on Sundays are awesome and some of my favorite radio... so I have to spend part of the day enjoying the radio, then screech in horror as I race to turn it off as soon as I hear Garrison Keillors voice, then wait for the show to go off before I switch back.

    Secondly, Deaf people don't listen to the radio you morons. I've had several deaf friends over the years and none of them owned a radio that I knew of. They watch TV with subtitles and TV solved the whole "Deaf people alerts" problem long ago by putting the alerts in TEXT on the TV. I believe they even have a little flashy light thing that you can hook up via SAP to alert them should they be in another room.

    1. Re:um no by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      First off, "A Prairie Home Companion" isn't anyones favorite show... it's a leftist talk show with skits featuring horrible acting, ...

      What's it like being brainwashed?

      I have listened to NPR and PBS and well, as an educated skeptical person, I listen and check the facts the best I can. That is something that should be done with ALL media outlets - whether it's on purpose or not, ALL media outlets have a bias and we should be skeptical and on guard.

      Regardless, NPR has been shown to be the most neutral outlet in the US. We, the US, have gone so far to the right, that when we hear something in the center, it sounds leftist to us - it's pretty sad when you think of it.

      One last thing, you need some Rhubarb Pie!

    2. Re:um no by geekoid · · Score: 0

      ".. it's a leftist talk show with skits featuring horrible acting,.."
      are you.. feverish? stupid? just don't know what leftist means? I don't like it, but to call it a leftist talk show is pretty ignorant, at best.

      "Deaf people don't listen to the radio.."
      So that mean they won't be interested in reading the shows?
      http://www.sense.org.uk/conten...

      Well what do you know, it's about taking radio shows and translating them to text.

      It appears sir, YOU are the moron in this conversation.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    3. Re:um no by afidel · · Score: 1

      Meh, the problem is also solved via the EWS warnings going out via cellular towers, most folks today carry a cellphone and all new ones have to have EWS alerts available. (though I do have a problem with the EWS targeting, they know which tower and concentrator you are talking to, why do they give tornado warnings for the other side of the state?). In an emergency it's a lot more likely your cellphone will work than your tv (and solar chargers that will power your cellphone are small and inexpensive, though the fuel for the tower probably becomes a problem first).

      --
      There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
    4. Re:um no by CanHasDIY · · Score: 1

      Deaf people don't listen to the radio you morons.

      Well, I wouldn't call it "listening," but I have a cousin who likes to crank the bass and 'feel' what's on the radio.

      He's also a pretty damn phenomenal guitarist, considering he has no idea what it sounds like.

      So, you know... generalizations and all...

      --
      An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
    5. Re:um no by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We, the US, have gone so far to the right, that when we hear something in the center, it sounds leftist to us - it's pretty sad when you think of it.

      What "center"? Compared to the left and right halves of the Communist party in China? Perhaps compared to the politics of Zimbabwe? Ah, you mean compared to Europe.

      As an American living in Europe, I've heard this line so many times -- but I don't think that it's really so true. Is the left in the US not as far left as the left in Europe? Probably. But the right is not really as far right as Europe either. The crackpots of the far right in the US could be actual head of a party here. That said, it would be a minor third or fourth party, but still.

      So if you really believe this, okay, but on what issues are you talking about?

    6. Re:um no by radarskiy · · Score: 0

      "Deaf people don't listen to the radio you morons"

      No one listens to the radio, since it is comprised of electromagnetic radiation.

    7. Re:um no by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

      ...as an educated skeptical person...

      NPR has been shown to be the most neutral outlet in the US.

      I don't listen to NPR or have a dog in this fight at all. But how on earth can you call yourself an "educated skeptical person" and write drivel like "shown to be the most neutral"? Who compiled the metric? Is this on the same Left--Right axis as the one you agree with? For that matter, how can you rank a series of sentences as "Left" or "Right" in any kind of objective fashion at all? I can assure you that for any sentence and any position on a leftist-rightist ranking you choose, I can find somebody who disagrees with the ranking.

    8. Re:um no by neminem · · Score: 1

      Actually, I'd say they're mostly comprised of plastic and metal, if you want to really get nitpicky.

    9. Re:um no by Roblimo · · Score: 2

      A lot of people don't seem to have picked up on the fact that the NPR Labs emergency device picks up both radio broadcasts and satellite transmissions. That means it will work even when the power is out and the cellular towers stop working.

      After Hurricane Charlie in Florida my wife and I drove from Orlando to Bradenton via side roads, and there was no cellular service and half the radio stations were off the air. And even if the cell towers work, the systems get overloaded during emergencies because everybody's Aunt Mabel calls to check on Barnaby, Suzanne, and Little Emil, so you're better off with an emergency radio than a cell phone.

      Old Sailor's Motto: "Prepare for the worst days and the good days will take care of themselves."
             

    10. Re:um no by afidel · · Score: 1

      I'm not seeing anything about the alerts being via satellite other than the fact that CAP alerts go out to the stations via PRSS, the end devices only receive the alert from the digital subchannel from the participating stations. As to the cell network being overloaded, EWS messages go out as broadcast SMS messages which means if your cellphone is on it will receive the message, data and voice channels being overloaded won't stop your phone from receiving SMS.

      --
      There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
  12. Maybe it's meant for the over-70 set by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The people that still remember when APHC had Chet Atkins and Peter Ostroushko on and it was edgy and funny instead of just ironic.

  13. Next time, submit this in ALL CAPS by sandbagger · · Score: 2

    You guys are slipping.

    Seriously, the work on broadcasting done by some of the national broadcasters has been amazing. If you are ever bored, go dig through the R&D archives of the Radiophonic workshop of the BBC. Fascinating stuff. In particular, the British Sound with lots of PRAT.

    --
    ---- The above post was generated by the Turing Institute. Maybe.
  14. Maybe something more obvious by tuppe666 · · Score: 2

    Like something small, personal, visual, that can provide vibrations and video that is always on....Like a Smartphone.

    1. Re:Maybe something more obvious by Livius · · Score: 1

      It sounds like they are doing a rather minor variation of exactly that.

      Still, I applaud any effort to leverage new technology to constructively engage the disabled. Most "accommodation" I've seen is stuff which goes out of its way to humiliate the disabled, inconvenience the able-bodied, and provide no value to its target demographic.

      For example, my city has pedestrian walk signals that put out an extremely obnoxious continual beeping. The noise is perfectly constant and provides no information to the visually impaired or anyone else, it's just offensive noise pollution that lets politicians pretend they are doing something.

  15. Re:Eh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    goddamnit, a video without a transcript link?!!
    What about those of us where it's higher bandwith to read a story rather that watch some damn idiot blather on about it?
    And why are DEAF people listening(?) to National Public RADIO ?!!!

  16. Radio broadcast texts? by Lanforod · · Score: 1

    I don't know anyone who even has one of these emergency radios. Being HOH myself, I'd never get one, rarely ever even try to listen to standard FM/AM radio broadcasts, and would never try to listen to an emergency broadcast. Be prepared for weather. Know what is expected before the normal comm channels go down. If something is unexpected, most people aren't going to find out via emergency radios, but by word of mouth.

    1. Re:Radio broadcast texts? by CanHasDIY · · Score: 2

      I don't know anyone who even has one of these emergency radios.

      I presume you don't live in Tornado Alley.

      They practically hand those things out at birth around here.

      --
      An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
  17. Re:Eh? by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 1

    I'll see your SNL and raise you a NTNOCN.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

    --
    I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
  18. You know what would've been nice... by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Just as a one-off, you might have subtitled the video.

    Just sayin'.

    --
    systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
    1. Re:You know what would've been nice... by Ksevio · · Score: 1

      Well there is the transcript below it...

    2. Re:You know what would've been nice... by Roblimo · · Score: 1

      Our transcriptionist was running late today, but the transcription is now posted. Thanks for noticing.

  19. "Radio Broadcast Data System" anyone? by davidwr · · Score: 1

    Oh wait, I just read the freaking article, and that's exactly what they are using.

    The only question I have is "Why is the industry just now getting around to this? With respect to broadcast-FM non-satellite radio, wasn't this technology available in 1997 when the Emergency Alert System replaced the Emergency Broadcast System?"

    --
    Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
  20. Not hard to do, they already exist... by Lumpy · · Score: 4, Interesting

    My grandmother had a Weather radio that when it went off it would flash a red strobe so that she could see that there was an alert. she then could call the operator with her TTD and ask them what the alert was. Newer ones should be able to decode the data stream burst that has the same voice alert as text and display it on a scrolling screen.

    Everything is already in place for it, The problem is no manufacturers care at all about the Deaf so they dont make an EAS radio for them.

    --
    Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    1. Re:Not hard to do, they already exist... by antdude · · Score: 1

      TTD is so old school. I wished there was a way to do it over the Internet. It didn't work over dial-up modems when I tried to figure how to do it. I don't want to use the hardware devices.

      --
      Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
  21. Wait, wait! Don't tell me by jfdavis668 · · Score: 1

    that NPR has labs?

    1. Re: Wait, wait! Don't tell me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That! I didn't know there was a lab either. As far as bashing the NPR shows, I can jump on that bandwagon with Human Kind, From Scratch (most times), and On Being (I think that was finally sac'd)... But, WWDTM, APHC (PRI), Car Talk, Diane Rhem, Forum (listening now on Sat feed from KQED), Market Place (APM), Fresh Air, TAL, Splendid Table. et.al inform and sometimes entertain commercial free (underwritting and begging for $$s sure, but that's not as annoying as BUY, BUY, BUY sales ads).

  22. You will soon recieve a stern letter by jfdavis668 · · Score: 1

    from the law offices of Dewey, Cheatem & Howe.

  23. NPR is Establishment Media, not left-wing at all by billstewart · · Score: 1

    If I want to listen to left-wing media, I'll turn to KPFA (here in the San Francisco area, or other Pacifica stations elsewhere, like WBAI in NYC or KPFK in LA), for a mixture of news, culture, interesting music, etc.

    NPR isn't left-wing at all. It's Establishment Media, putting out the government's news as well as cultural programming. Think about any time they've talked about the war - how long was it before you heard anybody on public radio use the term "torture", except for Terry Gross interviewing book authors who use the word? For me it was about 10 years of hearing them say "Enhanced interrogation" or "Harsh interrogation techniques", because that was the language the government wants used. For that matter, how much analysis was there about whether the war was a good idea, as opposed to government-friendly discussions about whether it's going well or not.

    Yes, most of the journalists on public radio are probably Democrats, but even so, it's still typically one pro-government talking head vs. another slightly different pro-government talking head.

    Now, there were politicians who really hated NPR, and they tended to be Republicans, but it was as much because of NPR's elitist positions on the arts as anything else; Jesse Helms was more a "black velvet paintings of Elvis" kind of guy than a "controversial cutting-edge art" NPR fan.

    --

    Bill Stewart
    New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
  24. Conservative Media Coverage by billstewart · · Score: 2

    Oh, Right-WIng Media will happily spend 20 minutes of in-depth coverage on the Left's War On Christmas, or how clean Clean Coal is.

    I did once fill out a survey on "where do you get your news" - I checked the "Conservative talk radio" box, and filled in the "Station" box with KQED, which is my local public radio station. It's Establishment Media, which is conservative, as opposed to crazy right-wing media.

    --

    Bill Stewart
    New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
  25. I did some work on this a while back. by gfm · · Score: 2

    A couple years ago when I was working at chumby I worked with Rich Rarey at NPR Labs and wrote the code to get the braille device talking to the display device you see at 6:35 (which is an Insignia Infocast, Best Buy's OEM version of the Chumby 8) and also wrote an ActionScript extension module in C++ to allow them to write to the braille printing device and get input from it (via a custom USB protocol) within a Flash/ActionScript3 app, which is what their closed caption software was written in.

    Pretty cool project -- glad to see they are still working on this and extending it.

  26. What are the Job Qualificatiions? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What are the job qualifications to be an NPR person?

    1. Re:What are the Job Qualificatiions? by jellomizer · · Score: 1

      Being able to talk clearly and directly, without the need to shout or use the special effects button all the time.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
  27. Why? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What did the Deaf ever do to them?

    It's bad enough the hearing have to put up with this irrelevant crap.