Other posts related to disabilities
Social Networking May Cause Dementia, Diseases, and an Irrational Fear of Kittens
Lincoln Adams | March 3, 2009 @ 10:15 amI recently caught this article on the BBC:
People’s health could be harmed by social networking sites because they reduce levels of face-to-face contact, an expert claims.
A lack of “real” social networking, involving personal interaction, may have biological effects, he suggests.
He also says that evidence suggests that a lack of face-to-face networking could alter the way genes work, upset immune responses, hormone levels, the function of arteries, and influence mental performance.
This, he claims, could increase the risk of health problems as serious as cancer, strokes, heart disease, and dementia.
“One of the most pronounced changes in the daily habits of British citizens is a reduction in the number of minutes per day that they interact with another human being,” he said.
“In less than two decades, the number of people saying there is no-one with whom they discuss important matters nearly tripled.”
Could be sensationalism sparked by psychologists looking for a little time in the spotlight, but in a way I agree with some of the opinions beng expressed here.
As much as I enjoy using the Internet, I find it to be a highly unsatisfying substitute for real life relationships, and if I had a choice, I would much rather meet people in person and forge relationships that way. Yet the reason I hang out on here all the time (instead of “out there”) is because I basically have no choice.
If you’ve read the comments after the BBC article, notice how many people with disabilities defended their use of social networking, and for good reason. The Internet takes away the bias and the barriers those of us with disabilities have to confront and deal with in real life. In my case it’s being hard of hearing, the kind that puts me right in the gray area between those who hear normally and those who are completely deaf. The deaf have their own culture and community, one that I can never fit into because I can still hear with the help of aids, and yet I can’t hear well enough to fit in within a society that hears normally either. I’m caught somewhere in the middle, without a true community of my own. As if that weren’t enough by itself, I’ve also lived the kind of unorthodox life that absolutely nobody could possibly relate to. It’s one of the major reasons why I remain single too.
So, I go to the Internet. Because on here, I don’t have to worry about embarrassing myself because I missed bits and pieces of a conversation. I don’t have to worry about people forming misconceptions about me because of my disability or my background, or assuming because I can’t hear it must also mean I’m brain damaged as well. On the Internet, none of those things matter.
But I also see where it falls depressingly short too. Those who use the Internet to supplement their already active social lives have no time for me. I’m unable to bond with them and others in any meaningful way. I can be reached via email, instant messaging, social networks and even through my blog here, and yet most of the time I find myself twiddling my thumbs, waiting for somebody, ANYBODY, to talk to me. The hours are long and lonely in between.
And as much as I try to project the full spectrum of my personality into my writings, the Internet can only present certain bits of pieces of who I am, but never the whole. People who know me through the Internet don’t really know me as I truly am. Here’s a hint too: if you find me to be a truly likable person, then you really haven’t gotten to know me at all. 
Truth be told, I find the only people I can truly relate to to via this medium are those who are forced to use it as a subsitute for real life relationships themselves. Whether it’s because of a disability, or from living in a remote area, or from leading a solitary life that stunted their ability to network and bond with others, being online has become our only recourse to connect with other human beings. And yet it amazes me how few there are of us, as opposed to those extroverted types who project their already successful social lives onto the Internet (and then feel the compelling need to rub it in our faces too.) Dweebs.
And now, after having been online for so many years, I’m beginning to accept the sad conclusion that I will never find anyone I can truly bond with, a best friend who would always have time for me and vice versa, or a wonderful girl who would understand me through and through and where I’ve been. People who totally get me. I’m of the introverted sort who only needs one best friend and one special girl to be truly content, or perhaps those two rolled into one. I don’t need to have eons of acquaintances or casual friends to feel connected and feel like I belong. But the fact that I can’t even find ONE saddens me to no end. And I wouldn’t be surprised if all this really did adversely affect my health too just as the article claims. Oh well.
Oh and if you’re wondering about what might cause the irrational fear of kittens, look no further than LOLcats. I swear that mindless, idiotic internet fad is going to bring about the demise of civilization, mark my words. I can never look at a kitten the same way again.
Tags: community, deaf, disabilities, disability, friend, friends, health, health problems, hearing, internet, life, lonely, network, online, people, personality, psychologists, relationship, single, social, social networking, social networking sites, social networks
Categories: Romance and Relationships
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Lincoln Adams | February 2, 2008 @ 5:02 pmUpdate: How about them GIANTS, eh Patriots fans? 
Even though it already seems to be something of an American tradition, I’ve always been one to root for the underdog, which is partly why I’ll be rooting for the New York Giants to win the Super Bowl this Sunday, so they can finally wipe the smug expressions off the faces of those arrogant Patsie snotballs. 
It’s always gratifying to see a team or a person accomplish something that nobody on this planet expected them to achieve, because if they can do it, it makes you believe you can to.
My own life has been the life of an underdog as well. Because I had an idiot for a father, and because I had several disabilities holding me back, it was expected that I wouldn’t amount to much when I grew up. Teachers were already recommending that I be put in Special Resources, (which to put it uncharitably, is where they dump all the retards.)
I quickly exceeded expectations though, and when it became obvious I wasn’t being challenged enough, I kept moving up the tracks until I found myself taking honors-level classes. When high school came around, I even took advanced classes that helped me earn college credits before I graduated. By the time I finished my academic career, I had already earned two college degrees. In addition, during the time I spent contemplating a career as an attorney, I had scored above average on the LSAT and had been accepted to several law schools.
Not bad for a retard, eh?
Yet even now, I’m still treated like an underdog. I’m never taken seriously, and whenever I come across people looking for aid, help or advice, they take one good look at me and decide I’m not worth their time.
And then when something happens that completely defies their biased perception of me, they’re left in a state of complete and utter shock.
Eh, whatever. I sort of like being the underdog now. Being the guy who continuously proves everyone wrong. Being the guy who can succeed in the face of a world who had already declared him a hopeless failure.
Despite my unexpected accomplishments, if they still think I won’t ever amount to much, then I have only one thing to say to them:
GO GIANTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tags: american tradition, disabilities, disabled, education, law school, new york giants, perception, retards, school, super bowl, underdog
Categories: Lincoln's Personal Log
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Banking on Xerobank
Lincoln Adams | May 31, 2007 @ 1:02 amI’ve been using the Torrify Browser at my job for a few weeks now, and man did I fall completely in love with it. 
Ever since I got into it with my boss over his refusal to accommodate my disabilities (among other things), and watching him piss all over my efforts to go back to school, I no longer felt safe using my work PC to surf the net and blog when things at work got slow, at least not with him lurking around. So I started exploring my options. When I somehow stumbled onto Torrify, I found something that not only enabled me to keep my browsing contents off the servers, it also enabled me to install the StumbleUpon and ScribeFire plugins as well (something I couldn’t do on my work PC). I now had a completely portable browser on my USB thumbdrive with all the goodies I needed for secure blogging (and *ahem* a little bit of stumbling too). It even bypassed the server filters so I could once again access Pandora and other streaming radio sites, something I USED to enjoy until the party crashing snotballs in ISD (Information Systems Department) decided to block it all.
Only problem was Torrify’s ability to access the Tor network (for anonymous web surfing). Initially it was slow (which was to be expected), but then it suddenly stopped working altogether. I’m not sure why, but I wasn’t too concerned about it since I rarely used it anyway. My main concern was keeping my content, cookies and whatnot off ISD’s servers, and Torrify was able to accomplish that for me quite nicely.
Now it looks like Torrify has become XeroBank, which will eventually offer anonymous email and a completely portable virtual machine (??????). It also offers hi-speed access for anonymous Internet surfing (the cheapest package being ten dollars a month), and I had to admit its touted features looked impressive. Offering a true broadband solution for secure and anonymous surfing had been an elusive quest for many privacy minded users, so if XeroBank is able to deliver here, this could be the start of something big.
I, of course, already signed up for a 3 day demo. 
Sign up for your own XeroBank Account
Important Update and Review:
After receiving email instructions on how to download Xerobank, I went to the site to choose the 3 day demo, but then it it forwarded me to a signup page for an account even though I had one already. Oh well, a minor hiccup that didn’t affect my account status, since I was able to download the browser from my Profile page without any further issues.
When I went to extract the files into my thumbdrive though, my antivirus software AVG suddenly started to throw a FIT, insisting that one of the XeroBank files was a trojan (Generic4.XXX). The name of the offending file was called KillProc.dll, and after a quick Google search I learned some antivirus products like to make a false hit on this particular file, even though it did have legitimate uses (which is to kill processes, duh). Still, this is probably gonna freak some people out if their AV also starts going bat crazy because of this particular file. AVG was still trying to grab and quarantine the file in my case, so I couldn’t get it to extract properly when I ran Xerobank the first few times, and sure it enough when I closed the browser, the processes were still running in Task Manager. I finally disabled the AVG shield and extracted it successfully, but then had to flush and recopy the files on to the thumbdrive a few times because the Firefox add-ons seemed to lock up on me for some reason.
When I finally got it running smoothly, I noticed the start page gave some some IPSpy statistics on the network I was currently using to surf anonymously. I was being rerouted through a server in Germany, but there was definitely a clear difference in speed compared to the Tor network. Wheeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!! At long last, anonymous BROADBAND!!
From what I could tell, I wasn’t actually using the Tor network anymore (even though oddly enough, the add-on to access the network still came pre-installed as it did in Torpark). My guess is that it’s being relegated as a backup option now, while your real connection is granted via an assigned static IP address as regulated by XeroBank. I’m assuming if I signed up for a Plus account that I would probably still be maintaining the same static IP, though this could really just be a unique characteristic of the demo version.
The important thing was that my connection was now effectively proxied, AND it was operating at broadband level speeds. If XeroBank can maintain this level of service, then man it’s definitely worth the 10 dollars a month it costs to use the Plus version at least. I can finally entertain my delusions of grandeur of being the faceless superhero who hacks his way through the Internet in an endless pursuit of truth and justice.
Update 2:
After being contacted by one of the administrators of XeroBank, I learned that if you wish to downgrade to the free “Torpark” version of the browser after installation, simply delete the two files in Data/XeroBank and you’re good to go. It was also confirmed the the static IP I was initially assigned would eventually be followed up with a broader range of IP addresses as they continue to expand their network and work out the remaining kinks.
Tags: anonymous internet, anonymous surfing, anonymous web, antivirus, boss, broadband, browser, disabilities, firefox, goodies, hi speed, job, little bit, mobile, pandora, portable, scribefire, streaming radio, stumbleupon, thumbdrive, tor, tor network, torrify, trojan, usb drive, virtual machine, whatnot, xerobank
Categories: Blog Fog
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