UbiDuo Update and Greg Gunderson

The sComm website is slowly transforming to include more information about the UbiDuo and the people who experienced using it as beta testers. Just as well, sComm, Inc is getting more and more of the attention of the media with this highly anticipated communication device for deaf and hard of hearing people, and those with speech disability. The communication device wlll soon become available to the general public sometime late August or September after 5 years worth of development and testing. Check out the evolving sComm website that began today for more information about the highly anticipated UbiDuo communication device and the people who have used it. Be sure to come back and check out the website ongoing development.

Also, today, Greg Gunderson was featured in the Olathe News newspaper (no internet news, only paper) that described his desire to get on the Racin for a Livin reality show but his dream can only be done with the help of people voting for him as many times as they can to help him get on the reality show.

Deaf Race Car Driver – Reality Show
By Leonard Hall

A deaf race car driver, Greg Gunderson, is racing for a spot on the new "Racing for a Livin" television reality show. Greg was selected from thousands of race car drivers to be on the list of 50 drivers now striving to be one of the 20 drivers on the show.

On the show, the drivers will drive in seven races to prove their racing skills and a chance to win the big money prize and to race in the NASCAR Cup series.

Greg has been racing in Sprint car races for 10 years and has been racing since he was six years old. He won over 40 races out of the 400 races he has been in.
Greg's car racing skill runs in the family and was inspired by his grandfather’s racing days. He carried his lucky #39 from his grandfather’s race car. Greg hometown race track is Jackson Speedway in Jackson, Minnesota.

There is a good web page site about Greg at www.gundersonracing.com. A one-minute video clip shows Greg using ASL in his race car. Greg’s dream is to be the first deaf driver to win the Knoxville Nationals and possibly the Indy 500 or Daytona 500.

On the show, there are two ways to be selected as one of the 20 drivers. The first selection process is the wild card selection where 5 drivers will be selected. The other selection process is fan voting where the top 15 rookie drivers with the most votes will be on the show.

After being selected, the rookies will be trained by veteran NASCAR race drivers and crews. The drivers will compete against each other on and off the track. Driver elimination will be based on scoring comprised of the following: lap times, scoring by a judging panel of NASCAR veterans, and the drivers’ appearance and attitude dealing with the fans.

The veterans will narrow the field down to two drivers. During the final television program, the fans will vote for the top rookie driver. Under the voting selection and in order to be among the top 15 drivers to qualify for the show, Greg must get votes on the Internet through www.racinforalivin.com.

Deaf people across the country have been voting for Greg over the past several months. Greg is currently in 16th place and the voting will end on July 31st.

If selected, Greg will be using the latest technology, "UbiDuo" to communicate with other hearing people. The device is produced by a deaf-owned company called sComm, Inc. run by Jason Curry in the Kansas City area.

Greg has been using UbiDuo for both business and personal meetings with hearing people, so it will be interesting to see the use of new technology in the race car and on the television show.

It will be good to see a deaf person on one of the television reality shows.

(Leonard Hall writes a weekly column for the deaf community. He can be reached at Legalnetwk@aol.com)

Previous blogs on sComm, Inc and UbiDuo:

UbiDuo - Independent and Successful

Greater Independence for Deaf People with UbiDuo

US Government Approves UbiDuo!

The Ubi Duo

sComm to Debut a New Revolutionary Communication Device Today at DeafNation Expo

sComm, Inc Set to Debut Unique Communication Device for the Deaf at Expos Nationwide

sComm, Inc Received Their $1.3 Million NIH Award

sComm, Inc Wins $1.3 Million NIH Award


Previous blogs on Greg Gunderson in Kokonut Pundits

UbiDuo in the News

Read The Sedalia Democrat about the UbiDuo. Great read.

State Fair Community College has newspaper coverage on UbiDuo.

The Examiner

The SFCC

And Gwinnet Daily Post

Some discussion on the UbiDuo at alldeaf.com

Are you a Gallaudet Summer Student and a Fan of Greg Gunderson?

Attention Gally students!

If you are a currently a summer student at Gallaudet University and fan of Greg Gunderson, please email me. Urgent! My email address is located at the top of the blog page. Thank you.

Camp Sign

Here's a summer camp for deaf and hard of hearing boys and girls in California where it carries a sign that says, "Camp Sign". There's an ironic twist to that sign. What makes this summer camp filled with signing boys and girls is that nearly half of the 70 campers wear cochlear implant. A sign of things to come.

"We still sign; I don't want to turn the camps into hearing camps. But we use voice more now," said Faber, referring to the hand gesture-based language deaf people commonly use.

Faber, who lost much of her hearing during a childhood illness and is considering having a cochlear implant herself, says the goal of the camp -- as well as the other deaf-focused, district programs that focus on arts, sports, dancing and the teen club -- is to "build up their self-esteem so they feel like they can do anything in the hearing world."

"We're born into the hearing world and we have to survive there," said Faber, 39.

Faber must navigate a tightrope in the deaf community. Though more than 100,000 adults and children worldwide now have the implants, according to the National Institutes of Health, some deaf people feel medical advances may squash the teaching of American Sign Language and threaten "deaf identity."

The issue erupted this year when some students at Gallaudet University, a Washington, D.C.-based deaf institution, protested the appointment of Jane K. Fernandes as its new president. Though deaf, Fernandes grew up speaking and reading lips, attended mainstream schools and universities and only as an adult learned to sign. Fernandes told National Public Radio that the objections are part of "identity politics about who is deaf and who can speak to deaf people."

Jacob Hickey, 23, a Camp Sign counselor who wears hearing aids, speaks clearly and uses sign language, finds the issue tiresome.

What's most important is developing social skills because deafness can be isolating, he said. When Hickey was a child, the nearest deaf person lived two hours a way.

Camp Sign runs from June 28 through Aug. 8. Open to kids ages 6 to 10, it costs $210. For more information on park district programs, see www.chicagoparkdistrict.com or call (312) 742-PLAY

Matt Hamill - First Deaf UFC Fighter? Blog #21

I watched a part of Episode 11 on SpikeTV this past Thursday and didn't see the whole thing. Yesterday I was able to watch the repeat with Matt Hamill in it. In Episode 10, June 8, Matt was last seen being put into an ambulance. As I have said in my previous blog on Episode 10 Matt responded to his fighters, and Tito, that "I'll be back."

Indeed. He did come back in Episode 11 but he was never informed by anyone that he couldn't compete in the TUF3 finalist and that he was out of the competition on doctor's orders. Nice communication problem there. Reality sinks in for Matt and had to learn this on his own without an interpreter when he returned with his trademarked "Whoooooo!" at the door of the TUF3 gym. He appealed to Tito to let him keep fighting but he keeps telling Matt that it wasn't his decision but the doctor's. He's out of TUF3. Or is he?

Now, there is a cadre of a very few deaf people who actually hate Matt Hamill's gut for various reasons and because of a few myths that's been going around about him. That is what they are...myths. There's a much, much bigger crowd rooting for Matt's next TUF3 fight. Yes folks, it isn't over.

The TUF3 isn't over for Matt Hamill since he WILL be in the June 24th TUF3 finale but will not be going for the UFC contract based on the winner of the fight. Matt Hamill is planned to fight against Jesse Forbes according to MMA Weekly for the upcoming 3-hour long LIVE SpikeTV on June 24 at Las Vegas, Nevada although Matt Hamill has a very good chance to be on live TV given the caveat seen in red below:

The five non-televised undercard bouts will feature nine fighters from TUF 3, as well as one non-TUF fighter who is making his UFC debut. The five undercard bouts are:

-Matt Hamill vs. Jesse Forbes
-Kalib Starnes vs. Danny Abaddi
-Rory Singer vs. Ross Pointon
-Solomon Hutcherson vs. Luigi Fioravanti
-Mike Nickels vs. Wes Combs

As you may have noticed, at least the top three of those fights would certainly appear to have been booked with a likely winner in mind. The five undercard fights will only air on television if there is an abundance of extra time on the three-hour live broadcast on June 24th, or if the UFC chooses to include any of them on future episodes of UFC Unleashed, a show that is only contracted to have 13 new episodes per year

Remember Jesse Forbes' 2nd loss in Episode 12 against Josh Haynes with a standing guillotine chokes where Jesse taps out? Matt Hamill will be fighting Jesse Forbes, who is also a wrestler but not of Matt's caliber. Matt and Jesse will be the first in the undercard line-up to fight. I hope. Matt Hamill is the heavy favorite to win, of course, after seeing Matt Hamill beat up Mike Nickles with only one good arm. But Matt Hamill is not fighting for the UFC contract based on the winner of the fight but he will show the world that he is one tough hombre.

Now, since Matt will be fighting Jesse Forbes, I wonder who he has been training with during the last 4 months when the taping for TUF3 ended? All I can think of is.....Tito and his eclectic fighting group. I'm sure Tito Ortiz could use Matt's enthusiasm by training with him to help himself get ready for the Ken Shamrock fight this July.


Image from TitoOrtiz website. Note that Kendall is in the picture next to Tito as well as Solomon with tye yellow gloves. Join the Tito Ortiz website for more inside information. It's free to join!

SpikeTV is now accepting questions from viewers the chance to ask one of the TUF3 fighters. So far there are 3 questions posed to Matt hamill. Two of them already answered by Matt. Be sure to click on Matt Hamill's picture to see the questions or submit your own question.

Also, there are two video clips in the bios section with Matt Hamill called "Meet Matt" and "Matt's Audition Clip." You will have to scroll until you see a picture of Matt. Click on his picture to get to the video clips. Both tapes have him talking but in "Meet Matt" he signed at the end of the clip.


Photo by Dave Mandel for MMA Weekly on June 15th; pictured from left to right: Kendall Grove, Solomon Hutcherson, Matt Hamill, and Josh Burkman.


GOOD LUCK MATT HAMILL!

THE DEAF COMMUNITY IS ROOTING FOR YOUR SUCCESS!


Check out all of my up todate Matt Hamill bloggings.

An Easier Way to Vote for Greg Gunderson

An easier way? Just follow what Racin for a Livin tells you to do. And to make this voting happen, vote in large groups by helping to spread the word about Greg Gunderson!!


1. Go to Racin for a Livin website and select the vote link. Be sure to click on the "50" vote and not the wildcard vote.

2. Scroll down until you find Greg Gunderson. Select Greg Gunderson by clicking on the radio button.


3. While on the voting page, scroll down to the bottom of the voting page until you see the vote button.


4. Follow the instructions on Racin for a Livin on how to continue with your vote.

Easy!

Have fun. And give your support to Greg Gunderson by voting as many times as possible until July 31 when the voting ends.

Painting a Picture on "Unity"

Let's review three polls I conducted last month that may show some revealing insights on how some Deaf people may show signs of militancy. A caveat here. These polling results are by no means accurate but they do raise interesting questions.

Poll Question #1: "As a deaf or hard of hearing person were you ever accused by Deaf people who signed "hearing" to the forehead because you can or prefer to speak and/or can hear?"

Poll Results for question #1: 75% of them said "Yes" while 25% of them said "No" out of a total of 16 responses.


Poll Question #2: "If you are or were a student of Gallaudet University, do you support Gallaudet's Cochlear Implant Education Center?"

Poll results for question #2: 78% of them said "Yes" while 22% of them said "No" out of a total of 54 responses.


Poll Question #3: "Should deaf and hard of hearing students on Gallaudet campus be allowed to talk (as in voice) on their cell phones?"

Poll results for question #3: 78% of them said "Yes" while 22% of them said "No" out of a total of 37 responses.


Interesting results so far. Perhaps even revealing of those who say they support "unity" but their own attitudes betray them with their mask of hypocrisy exposed. I can't say I'm surprised given the history of some Deaf people's attitudes over the majority of those who actually walk the walk on this unity thing.

If you haven't voted, you still can.

Greg Gunderson Racing News

Well, Greg Gunderson's rank is currently sitting at #17 out of 50 drivers. It has slipped from #11 to #17 over the past two weeks. It's time to get on your computer or Sidekick internet connection and vote for Greg Gunderson to help get him on the Racin for a Livin reality show.

By the way, check out the latest news story on Greg Gunderson that came out on June 8.

Now, there are many ways to remind people to vote for Greg Gunderson. One is to use your Sidekick or Blackberry and text to your friends and ask them "Did you vote today?" When I say vote, it's not like 1 or 5 votes per day. A little effort would be like voting 20, 30 or 100 votes in a day. You can even vote 10 times per hour throughout the day and you can end up voting 100 times already.

Another way to help increase Greg's voting rank is to put together a voting marathon party over the weekend. One voting marathon, which has already been confirmed, is set for July 8 with 30 people attending the party while 10 computers are set up. Each person get to vote as many times in 15 minutes before giving up the computer over to another person. This will allow each person a 30 minutes rest per person during the 8 hour voting marathon.

Another way to encourage your deaf friends to vote is whenever you are on AIM, Yahoo, or MSN, put a little tag next to your name that says you are currently in a voting mood like "Currently Voting for #39 Greg Gunderson". That's a good reminder. Also, this a good way to set up a Yahoo or AIM voting marathon party when you see your friends with the "Currently Voting for #39 Greg Gunderson" and you know they are actually voting for Greg.

Another good reminder for your friends is to email them. Remind your friends reminded a few times a week whether they have voted today and let them know the current update on Greg Gunderson's current voting rank.

Right now, he is at #17. Let's try and stop this downward slide and get Greg into the top 10 or even the top 5. It is not impossible. It's a matter of showing your true support for Greg Gunderson.

We know that Greg Gunderson is in good hands if we all put our heads and hands together and vote for him. There are numerous websites and blogs on the internet that are showing their support for Greg Gunderson by getting the word out:

Signing Times

Deaf Network

AllDeaf

Northern Virginia Resource Center

Marvin's Laurent Blog - a very good friend of Greg

Gallaudet University Alumni Newsletter

So, keep on voting! Anyone can vote! You have until July 31 before the voting ends. Please support Greg Gunderson.

VOTE!!

Sherdog MMA Forum Discusses Closed Captioned Faux Pas

How funny. Welcome Sherdogs! Check out the comments made so far on the Sherdog Mixed Martial Arts forum. Kind of funny reading them.

BTW, don't forget today is Flag Day. Show your respect for those who died for the United States and the flag until July 4th.

UbiDuo - Independent and Successful

One of more than 200 beta testers for the UbiDuo communication device was a deaf lady named Tamara who help run an antique store called Antique Memories, Inc near Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri. UbiDuo is produced by a deaf-owned company called sComm, Inc.

Tamara has been in the antique business for 2 years helping the owner run the store. The biggest challenge has always been to communicate with potential hearing customers using the tried and true but very old method of pen and paper. But all of that changed one day when a good friend of Tamara's told her about the UbiDuo in her story to Kokonut Pundits by signing via the Sorenson Video Phone.



Tamara: My friend, Lynn, told me about UbiDuo and I thought about it thinking it sounded interesting. She recommended that I try it for my work because she thinks that using it would be easier to communicate with customers and people. I thought about it and I was willing to try it.

Kokonut Pundits: How did you feel about using the UbiDuo for the first time.
Tamara: The first time using UbiDuo I felt awkward and nervous. Felt afraid on how to use it. But afterwards I felt confident. It's great. I can communicate with people easily. It's easier than pen and paper which takes much too long. Using the UbiDuo is faster and cuts time.



Kokonut Pundits: Who do you interact mostly with? Did you ever have a deaf person come to your store?

Tamara: Most of my customers are hearing but I had one deaf person come and saw the UbiDuo and asked what's that for. I explained to him that's a UbiDuo. He never saw one before. I explained to him what it was. I recommended to him to consider the UbiDuo. I'll see what happens.



Kokonut Pundits: Who would you recommend the UbiDuo to?

Tamara: I would recommend this for both hearing and deaf people. Suppose you have a deaf customer shows up at your store and sees the UbiDuo, the deaf customer will appreciate it. Some hearing people wrote to me that they appreciated UbiDuo. I think it's great. Using the UbiDuo has helped increase business at the store by being successful in communicating with customers. Most of the customers are hearing and noticed the Ubi Duo. I ask them "May I help you?" on the Ubi Duo. Customers see the UbiDuo and recognize the keyboard. They become comfortable in using it. It's better. Most know how to type. Some don't or are nervous about the technology. Some request pen and paper. Or have a friend type the UbiDuo.One story happened to me with one customer who tried to talk to me. I couldn't hear and tried to type to the customer. I encouraged the customer to type on the UbiDuo. The customer liked it. I felt good. Happy for the communicaton and make him feel satisfied and not have him feel like I was ignoring him. I noticed more people are now more friendlier with me.

Kokonut Pundits: Any other good stories?

Tamara: I forgot to bring UbiDuo at work and realized that I can't live without it. I went to work without it one day. Then customers come and ask "Where's the UbiDuo?" I felt bad. I realize that I can't live without it. Using the UbiDuo cuts down on time instead of pen and paper. So I hurried back home to get the Ubi and brought it back to work. I really can't live without it....I notice that it is a lot better. It's worth it. People tell me their opinions that it's great. Easy to communicate. People say that it's worth it to use it.



Tamara:I get confident with potential customers using the UbiDuo. They see me using the UbiDuo and they get interested and fascinated. Get impresesed. They tell other people about the deaf antique saleswoman with the UbiDuo. I tell other people my stories about the UbiDuo. I tell them I think it is good for you to have that. I tell them not to be afraid to use it. I know some tend to be afraid of it. I tell them "Come on, you can do it! Don't say 'I can't. I can't' You can do it!".

Kokonut Pundits: What do people think of your UbiDuo?

Tamara: People come to my store and tell me their opinion. They are impressed with the UbiDuo. Think it is a good idea and helps increase business and communication` with hearing and deaf. Using the Ubi people prefer it over the pen and paper method. Saves time. I feel it's worth. I'm happy with the Ubi. It's great. I'm happy to see that it can help me communicate with both deaf and hearing people.

Sometimes I get customers who find no price tag on an antique item and come to me. I have to call the owner to get the price tag information using the Sidekick to contact the relay operator. On the Sidekick, it takes awhile thumbing and telling the customer to wait. Now, I thought about the UbiDuo. Perfect. I can use it for communication. For calling. All at the same time instead of using the Sidekick. Using the UbiDuo is much faster. I like to do things faster and don't have customers wait on me to get information over the Sidekick. I think the UbiDuo is worth it. I want to see it help hearing and deaf customers to be more satisfied rather than to wait. It's perfect.



Kokonut Pundits: Can you do business without using the UbiDuo?

Tamara: I can't live without it. I think it's worth it to use that. It really helps alot that deaf people use that.

Kokonut Pundits: Do you think the UbiDuo will be successful?

Tamara: I think it will become very successful. It will spread. I want to see deaf people succeed with UbiDuo. I look forward to the future with these successes.


Previous blogs on sComm, Inc and UbiDuo:

Greater Independence for Deaf People with UbiDuo

US Government Approves UbiDuo!

The Ubi Duo

sComm to Debut a New Revolutionary Communication Device Today at DeafNation Expo

sComm, Inc Set to Debut Unique Communication Device for the Deaf at Expos Nationwide

sComm, Inc Received Their $1.3 Million NIH Award

sComm, Inc Wins $1.3 Million NIH Award

Schadenfreude! Karl Rove Not Charged

TigerHawk blogs schadenfreude! Of course, the Leftists are gnashing their teeth howling with anger right along with Howard Dean who has Rove already convicted for America.

"He doesn't belong in the White House. If the president valued America more than he valued his connection to Karl Rove, Karl Rove would have been fired a long time ago," said Dean, the Democratic Party chairman, speaking Tuesday on NBC's "Today" show. "So I think this is probably good news for the White House, but it's not very good news for America."

Right, Dean. Sure. Sure. Do that Howie scream again, will you? Dean, you don't know what value is anymore.

Also, Washington Post has more on schadenfreude. Well, it is schadenfreude to me. Read and weap. Or chuckle if you're on the right side of things.

Sunrise Officers under investigation for Possible Abuse of Authority

I'm not surprised that these officers are being investigated ever since I blogged about this a few days ago. There is even a video about it on WSVN-TV news discussing the possible abuse of authority by Sunrise police officers who were mocking people who were signing petitions at a local Promise Keepers conference and threatened them with arrest if the petitioning didn't stop. The picture says it all. We'll see what the investigation says.

UPDATE: Sunrise, a suburb of Ft. Lauderdale (Broward County), has a history of corruption in both their city council and former police department according to one reader who sent me this.

The Miami Herald has more and what's more the ACLU explained their position:

Howard Simon, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, said he hadn't heard from both sides, but he believes the incident merits a police investigation.

'If the police officer feels so strongly, then I think they need to take off their uniform, leave and join a peaceful, counterdemonstration,'' Simon said.

Simon added, ``But when they are in uniform, they have an obligation to protect everybody's constitutional rights, including the rights of a group that is trying to amend the constitution to discriminate against a class of Florida citizens.''

Of course, the ACLU couldn't help but add "discriminate against a class of Florida citizens." Good thing there were photos available of those officers committing unlawful acts else the ACLU may have sung a different response.

And then we have more from the Sun-Sentinel:

"I felt like I was talking to a guy on the street who was just a hothead and disagreed with what we were doing," Stemberger said by phone Thursday. "He wanted to talk about theology ... I kept pressing him on our legal authority" to be there.

How ironic. Police officers doing their own Bible thumping while on duty.

UPDATE II: More info from Citizen Link.

Attorney Rick Nelson, president of the American Legal Institute, said workers for the Florida4Marriage campaign were attending a Promise Keepers event at the Bank Atlantic Center, in Sunrise, Fla., near Ft. Lauderdale.

"On Saturday, June 3rd, as they were distributing petitions related to this marriage amendment, City of Sunrise police officers approached the volunteers and demanded that they remove the petitions from public view," Nelson said, "meaning that they did not want to allow these volunteers to continue giving the public information about the Florida Marriage Amendment."

The volunteers complied at first, according to John Stemberger, president and general counsel of the Florida Family Policy Council.

Stemberger, state chairman of the Florida4Marriage campaign, said his group paid $800 to have a booth at the civic center with the understanding that they would circulate petitions and distribute literature.

"I couldn't believe it," he told CitizenLink. "I was stunned that police would do this." Stemberger said the officer in charge identified himself as Sunrise Police Sgt. Stephen Allen.

"I confronted the officer and asked if he had ordered the volunteers to put the petitions away, and he said he had," Stemberger said. "I then proceeded to ask him the legal authority for that. And that's when the amazing thing started."

The officer, he said, started haranguing him, not about any law or ordinance, but about theology and his personal views on gay marriage.

"He said that Jesus never mentioned homosexuality in the New Testament -- which is not exactly accurate," Stemberger said. "He went on and on talking about theology."

Sgt. Allen pretends to kiss another officer. Stemberger alleges the officer also made abusive and intimidating comments -- and even taunted volunteers by mock kissing another officer.

What he did not do, according to the Florida activist, was give any legal reason for why the group could not distribute petitions.

"He would not give me the basis for his authority," Stemberger said, "for telling me why we could not distribute petitions at this event that we paid to be there for."

An attorney, Stemberger said he tried several times to reason with the officer.

"After I pressed him, he said, 'Look, I'm the governing authority, and the Bible says you're to obey the governing authorities.' And I said, 'Sir, we're all under authority, and you're under the authority of the United States Constitution, which you are now violating.'

Ooh. One, two punch. Yes, the United States Constitution. Sgt. Allen violated the petitioners right to peacefully assemble.

Will the officers be fired? Placed on administrative leave? Fined? So far, the police department is still "investigating" the incident and none of the officers are on administrative leave.

Matt Hamill - First Deaf UFC Fighter? Blog #20

I asked Arnold "The Sushiboy" Lim of http://www.mmaringreport.com regarding the tv ratings in my previous blog on how influential Matt Hamill was on ratings with him being the only deaf guy on the show. Here is what he said (with his permission to post it here provided that the entire email response is posted along with the internet link):

Hello

I think that Hamill had a part to play in it but there are always a number of factors that play into the ratings game.

I think the show as a whole has been doing well in the ratings department and appears to have the best ratings in the short history of the ultimate Fighter.

You are correct however, and Hamill has been a focus of not only that episode but the whole series.

Thanks again for the email and feel free to email anytime.

Goes to show that Matt made it all the more interesting on the TUF3 show and helped boost the SpikeTV ratings in more ways than one. Matt provided that crucial exposure to the audience that deaf people can do anything despite the continual crab theory against him by a few Deaf people who do not want him to succeed in the first place. Ah, the sweet smell of unity among the Deaf militants.

Go figure.

Congratulations Matt on helping people understand more about the issues of deafness. Speedy recovery and go for the wrestling gold in the 2008 Olympics (not Deaflympics, mind you people) in Beijing, China.

Check out all of my Matt Hamill bloggings.

Matt Hamill - First Deaf UFC Fighter? Blog #19

In last week June 1 episode on SpikeTV with Matt Hamill clearly being the focus of the show where he won his fight against Mike Nickels raked in a rating that surpassed the much touted and hyped NBA Game 5 of Mavs/Suns and NHL Game 7 of Sabres/Hurricanes on Thursday, June 1 from 10 - 11 PM ET/PT on the number of viewers.

NEW YORK, NY, June 5, 2006 – The Ultimate Fighter 3 on Spike TV continues to dominate Thursdays nights with the hard-to-reach Men 18-34 demographic. Despite the much hyped pivotal Game 5 of the NBA Western Conference Finals on TNT and Game 7 of the NHL Eastern Conference Finals on OLN, episode #9 of The Ultimate Fighter ®drew 903,000 M18-34 compared to TNT’s 858,000 and OLN’s 52,000 head-to-head from 10:00-11:00pm ET/PT on Thursday, June 1.

Despite Matt Hamill being out of the show due to injuries sustained during practice prior to his fight with Mike Nickels of which Matt won handidly basically with one good arm, it is without a doubt that Matt's presence during the TUF3 SpikeTV show has helped keep the tv audience intrigued and kept the ratings high enough beating out an NBA Western conference final!

The live finale of Season 3 of The Ultimate Fighter is Saturday, June 24 at 9:00pm ET/PT. There are three more TUF3 shows with the last one being live.

SpikeTV schedule:
Thursday, June 15th @ 10:00pm-Episode 11
Saturday, June 17th @ 10:00pm-Episode 11
Monday, June 19th @ 11:00pm-Episode 11

Thursday, June 22nd @ 10:00pm-Episode 12
Friday, June 23rd @ 9:00pm-Episode 12

Saturday, June 24th @ 9:00am-9:00 pm- Marathon
Saturday, June 24th @ 9:00pm - LIVE

Check out all of my Matt Hamill bloggings.

Matt Hamill - First Deaf UFC Fighter? Blog #18

Oh come on! Matt Hamill is out of the TUF3 competition due to injuries to his right elbow that he sustained in practice for his upcoming fight against Mike Nickels. Dana White, UFC president, said that Matt was still in the hospital so he was forced to drop Matt and try and invite two of the other fighters who lost earlier to come back to replace Matt. Even though Matt beat Mike Nickels. But the funny thing is that Tait and Kristian were both asked to replace Matt and both said no, much to Dana shock and surprise. He picked Tait and the last thing that Dana expected was to hear Tait refuse this rare offer. What was Tait's excuse? He said that he wasn't mentally there to do the fight looking like a very much bummed and totally depressed guy.

Ok, let me say this......boohoo Tait, who, in fact, was a personal bodyguard for Joe Rogan, of Fear Factor. Maybe Tait need to be a personal bodyguard for Smurfs?

Kristian, with his brightly colored neon pink hair who for god knows what why he did that, said that his head still hurts and lamented that he was embarrassed in front of television for losing. You know what's embarrassing Kristian? Saying "no" to Dana and whine about the embarrassment when you have a chance to redeem youself again in front of tv, again. Even if it means "embarrassing" yourself for losing. At least you would have had the guts and courage to do it again. Nah. Easy way out for you.

Mike Nickels, the guy who lost to Matt Hamill, couldn't replace him because of a broken nose. Imagine losing and then replacing Matt to go forward in the next TUF3 round.

Dana ended up with Ross, although weighing in at 185, where he stepped up to the plate when Dana asked him to replace Matt. He'll have to gain 20 lbs to make weight. Shouldn't be a problem with his eating style. Dana's says it's a weight that that Ross feels most comfortable with.

What an unbelievable show. This TUF3 show had more twist and turns than a soap opera. I'm sure the deaf community is absolutely disappointed about Matt being out of the competition but the TUF3 isn't over. If this twist and turns happened with Jesse replacing Noah when he quit for his girlfriend and Ross replacing Matt, perhaps Matt will somehow come back if one of the fighter gets hurt and he replaces him? Well, we did see Matt say "I'll be back" when he was loaded into the ambulance after his fight with Mike Nickels. Why did the editing team of TUF3 leave that one clip in?

We'll see.

At any rate I'll keep watching TUF3 and see how things go. In the mean time, I wish Matt all the luck for his upcoming 2008 Olympic (the real one) wrestling debut.


Check out all of my Matt Hamill bloggings.

Florida Police Abuse Power in Attempt to Stop Pro-Marriage Petitions Drive

Absolutely bizarre and totally surreal on how several Florida Sunrise Police Officers who tried to order Nathan Dunn, vice president of FFPC, to stop collecting petitions even though all matters were approved prior before and all petitions and displays were well within the boundary of law. Check out the pictures of these officers and their antics, and the story explaining the whole sordid affair. Those officers simply overstepped their authority when no laws were broken except that these officers were the ones doing the violations.

Hat tip: Dale.

Greater Independence for Deaf People with UbiDuo

The irony isn't too far from sComm, Inc, a wholly deaf owned company, with a goal too see that deaf people attain greater independency from the help of a deaf owned company in a town called Independence, Missouri.

From among the 200 deaf UbiDuo beta testers they found out very quickly it was something they couldn't live without. Even Jason Curry, CEO of sComm, Inc found that out as well that the UbiDuo is an indispensable communication device for business and personal use according to his interview with The Examiner newspaper.

"The problem with deaf people is they have been dependent on interpreters all their lives and this is the very first device that will give them the freedom to go anywhere without having to depend on an interpreter," he said.

He is marketing these dedicated wireless devices to businesses, government, employers of deaf people or who have customers who are deaf. Curry is deaf himself.

And how big could this UbiDuo get?

"I believe once the Ubi Duo gets intervened into the lives of people who are deaf or hard of hearing, I believe the landscape of communication is going to literally shift, in many ways," Jason said.

The UbiDuo's many features and functions make it an attractive communication device where many large businesses or companies will find it very useful in communicating with deaf clients, employees or customers. That's Jason goal and dream in hoping to see that deaf and hard of hearing people become even more independent than ever before with the help of the UbiDuo communcation device. It will truely become the ubiquitous device.

Next, be sure to watch Kokonut Pundits for more exclusive stories including two stories regarding liberating moments for two deaf women who had a chance to be one of the 200 beta testers of UbiDuo.


Previous blogs on UbiDuo and sComm, Inc.

US Government Approves UbiDuo!

The Ubi Duo

sComm to Debut a New Revolutionary Communication Device Today at DeafNation Expo

sComm, Inc Set to Debut Unique Communication Device for the Deaf at Expos Nationwide

sComm, Inc Received Their $1.3 Million NIH Award

sComm, Inc Wins $1.3 Million NIH Award

Matt Hughes is NOT SADDAM HUSSEIN!!

After my 8 day vacation and just got back a few days ago I was thrilled to see that Matt Hughes soundly beat Royce Gracie in the May 27 UFC 60 fight.

Hughes passed Gracie's guard and proceeded to unleash a vicious ground-and pound attack to the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu black belt. Hughes mounted Gracie's back, hooked his legs around Gracie's waist and landed 17 consecutive punches to the sides of Gracie's face and head. Referee John McCarthy saw enough and stopped the fight 4:39 into the first round on a TKO.

I need to see that video!

Out with the old, in the with the new MMA style which is lots of cross-training, strength, cardio and, of course, being young against the much older Royce Gracie who have stuck only to his own BJJ style.

A fellow UFC fan emailed me about the greatest Closed Captioned faux pas ever in the history of UFC captioning, or so I believe. I honestly somehow, in a facetious sort of way against rationality, believe that this "faux pas" closed captioning was done on purpose with malice when Matt Hughes was introduced to the crowd as "Saddam Hussein." The email sender, Dave, sent me a few pictures of the Tivo'ed shots of the CC faux pas.




What the hell was the Captioner doing or thinking when he/she did this? Does the Captioner hold a grudge against Matt Hughes? Who is this captioner? A former Iraqi soldier of Saddam Hussein? Or a secret Royce Gracie fan?

It is obviouis and quite plain that the name "Matt Hughes" does not sound like "Saddam Hussein." Nor when you read lips do they look alike either. So, why the Closed Captioned "error"?

Are you a Matt Hughes fan? What do you think of this Closed Captioned mistake? Do you think this captioning of "Saddam Hussein" was done on purpose? Can anyone find out the CC company who did the captioning for UFC 60 between Royce Gracie and Matt Hughes? Who the hell was the guy who did the captioning?

Spread the word. Will there be lots of angry Matt Hughes fans?

Hat tip: Dave. He's hearing but used the CC because his baby makes so much noise and doesn't want to miss what's being said.

P.S. I'll get to Matt Hamill in TUF3 from last week after watching the episode last night. Nice pummeling on Mike Nickels giving Matt Hamill the win.

Note: Previous blogs on Matt Hamill.

Matt Hamill - First Deaf UFC Fighter? Blog #20
Matt Hamill - First Deaf UFC Fighter? Blog #19
Matt Hamill - First Deaf UFC Fighter? Blog #18
Matt Hamill - First Deaf UFC Fighter? Blog #17
Matt Hamill - First Deaf UFC Fighter? Blog #16
Don't Forget. Matt Hamill is on SpikeTV Tonight
Matt Hamill - First Deaf UFC Fighter? Blog #14
Matt Hamill - First UFC Fighter? Blog #13
Matt Hamill - First Deaf UFC Fighter? Blog #12
Reminder, Matt Hamill vs Bisping Confrontation Tonite?
Matt Hamill - First Deaf UFC Fighter? Blog #10
Matt Hamill - First Deaf UFC Fighter? Blog #9
Matt Hamill - First Deaf UFC Fighter? Blog #8
Matt Hamill - First Deaf UFC Fighter? Blog #5
Matt Hamill -First Deaf UFC Fighter? Blog #4
Inside Pulse to Link to Kokonut Pundits on Series Blogging on Matt Hamill
Matt Hamill - First Deaf UFC Fighter? Blog #3
Matt Hamill, TUF3, UFC and Opening Your Mouth Too Wide with Hatred
Matt Hamill - First Deaf UFC Fighter? Blog #2
Matt Hamill - First Deaf UFC Fighter?


Check out all of my Matt Hamill bloggings.

RFK Jr - Rolling Stoned?

Ah, an article was recently produced in the Rolling Stone's magazine with the titled emblazoned "Was the 2004 Election Stolen?" Rehashing the same old conspiracy theory back in December 2004 that it was, again, the Republicans who helped steal (or prevented) the votes. So, what was the first red flag before I began reading it? What else but the author who wrote that piece, Robert F. Kennedy Jr, a rabid liberal. So, I read it anyway as much as I wanted to flatten my thumb with a hammer.

Now, some in the Deaf community such as the one in DeafDC.com who read the piece are absolutely convinced. Convinced I tell ya! (Did anyone read the Edison/Mitofsky report at all?) That the 2004 national election was indeed (in a deep, rumbling voice) stolen from John F. Kerry who would have been the next president (let me laugh for a moment here). Never mind the fact that RFK Jr mused about exit pollings and why it didn't reflect the voting results believing that exit polling is completely reliable. Reliable? Oh, please! And never mind the fact that RFK Jr never produced any proof that votes were actually stolen, just lots of citations and quotes. In my deaf/hh world, I'd rather see proof than to scream about some the same old rehashed conspiracy theory that reeks of denial that continued even from the bitter sweet 2000 national election when Bush won his first national election to become the next U.S. President.

Now, the biggest puzzle is how and when exit polls ever became an exact science? I know that mathematics is an exact science but exit polling is certainly not since it deals with many variables as to why people of opinions who don't mind coming forward or don't mind being approached by pollsters. But Robert F. Kennedy Jr. believes that exit polling has become accurate enough so that it should predict the correct outcome of any national election, here or abroad. Problem is that answering Exit Poll questions and the actual voting are two different things. There are many reasons why exit polls will not match voters turnout as reported in the Edison/Mitofsky Election System 2004 report prepared by the Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International:

The exit poll estimates in the 2004 general election overstated John Kerry’s share of the vote nationally and in many states. There were 26 states in which the estimates producedby the exit poll data overstated the vote for John Kerry by more than one standard error, and there were four states in which the exit poll estimates overstated the vote for George W. Bush by more than one standard error. The inaccuracies in the exit poll estimates were not due to the sample selection of the polling locations at which the exit polls were conducted. We have not discovered any systematic problem in how the exit poll data were collected and processed. Exit polls do not support the allegations of fraud due to rigging of voting equipment. Our analysis of the difference between the vote count and the exit poll at each polling location in our sample has found no systematic differences for precincts using touch screen and optical scan voting equipment. We say this because these differences are similar to the differences for punch card voting equipment, and less than the difference for mechanical voting equipment.

Our detailed analysis by polling location and by interviewer has identified several factors that may have contributed to the size of the Within Precinct Error that led to the inaccuracies in the exit poll estimates. Some of these factors are within our control while others are not.

It is difficult to pinpoint precisely the reasons that, in general, Kerry voters were more likely to participate in the exit polls than Bush voters. There were certainly motivational factors that are impossible to quantify, but which led to Kerry voters being less likely than Bush voters to refuse to take the survey. In addition there are interactions between respondents and interviewers that can contribute to differential non-response rates. We can identify some factors that appear to have contributed, even in a small way, to the discrepancy. These include:

• Distance restrictions imposed upon our interviewers by election officials at the state and local level

• Weather conditions which lowered completion rates at certain polling locations

• Multiple precincts voting at the same location as the precinct in our sample

• Polling locations with a large number of total voters where a smaller portion of voters was selected to be asked to fill out questionnaires

• Interviewer characteristics such as age, which were more often related to precinct error this year than in past elections

We plan further analysis on the following factors:
• Interviewer training and election day procedures
• Interviewing rate calculations
• Interviewer characteristics
• Precinct characteristics
• Questionnaire length and design

We also suggest the following changes for future exit polls:
• Working to improve cooperation with state and local election officials
• Improvements in interviewing training procedures
• Changes in our procedures for hiring, recruiting and monitoring interviewers

Even with these improvements, differences in response rates between Democratic and Republican voters may still occur in future elections. However, we believe that these steps will help to minimize the discrepancies.

If exit polls are "accurate" as RFK Jr have been saying in his article throughout, then why the needed improvements on exit polling suggested by Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International?

Always a caveat in any exit polling as everybody knows except for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. who expouses the credibility of Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International's exit polling as being "accurate" by citing Mexico's election results in conjuction to its "accurate" exit polling results. Is it any wonder that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. never, not once, put down the very caveats placed visibly at the beginning of the report by the Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International?

Now, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. never once produced any evidence to the fact that 357,000 voters in Ohio were prevented from casting their ballots or have their votes counted -- enough so to have put John Kerry in the White House. No proof but numerical references to citations and quotes.

Let's see NPR from last week that discussed the very same topic but a week earlier before the article came out:

May 22, 2006 · Marc Rosenbaum, a senior editor at NPR and one of the guys who pays lots of attention to polls, just got back into town from a conference on polling and sent this in:

One last thing: There also was a session called, "Who Really Won the Election 2004?" This was an opportunity for the cyber-active bloggers who think the Ohio vote was somehow fraudulent to present their best case. They didn't. Their presentations were confusing, if not incoherent to this listener, and they all seemed to boil down to one complaint: namely, that the vote totals didn't match the exit polls. The problem with that argument is that if you can give good reasons why the exit polls were wrong in Ohio (and there are many), their entire complaint disappears.

I think it all boils down to the fact that we have a "Rolling Stoned" Robert F. Kennedy Jr whose major premise is based on a supposedly very accurate exit polling results and the mismatch against the voting results which suggest "inexplicable discrepancies" between exit polls and actual vote counts that brings up this whole voters fraud conspiracy theory brouhahahaha.

RFK Jr's article is all wet. Be sure to flush it after you're done reading it.

I'm Back

Yes, folks. I'm back. And no, Kokonut Pundits didn't go down. Took my family to southern California to visit Disneyland, Disneyland California Adventure, Sea World, San Diego Zoo, Chinatown and met up with a few good friends, especially the famous Richard Brklacich, owner of Deaf Republicans website, to discuss business and pleasure at the enjoyable Rainforest Cafe at the Downtown Disney District area.

Richard and I first met up at the Disney's Paradise Pier hotel where I stayed for 3 nights with my wife and 3 daughters. We all introduced ourselves to Richard and he was able to meet my three lovely daughters. Richard and I then went over to the Downtown Disney District area to visit the ESPN Zone Sports Arena (a cool place!) bar to better acquaint ourselves with each other prior to going over to the Rainforest Cafe. We all enjoyed a good dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. It was an expensive dinner but was well worth it for my kids.

Richard, me and my wife talked into the wee hours at the Disney's Paradise Pier hotel bar area. We all had a good time talking and swapping stories that lasted 6 hours. Although another person, important to the Deaf Republican organization, couldn't show up. He was down with the flu. Drats. Won't say who but he's well known even during the DPN days. Anyway, Richard is a cool, down to earth guy who is, btw, quite knowledgeable on many subjects, including deafness issues. My treat next time if Richard wants another shot of hard liquor.

It was an 8-day vacation starting with a trip on an Amtrak train from El Paso, Texas to Los Angeles and back on the return trip. My kids loved it. First time on a train where we sat up on the upper part of the double decker train and saw the sights in New Mexico, Arizona and California along the way. We had our breakfast and dinner on the train while desert scenery whizzed by. We all had fun. We all got tanned visiting the parks. And most importantly, my kids had a great time and will remember this for a long, long time.

However, the city of Los Angeles? Sucked big time. Never did like big cities. The fraffic. The hoards of people crowding each other. The terrible smog where you can't even see 1/2 mile ahead of you. Disneyland parks were fun. Los Angles? Terrible. Sorry if you feel offended but I'm not a city person. I'd rather have clean air in my lungs.

Now, I'll need a few days to catch up on news. I didn't even touch the internet for 8 days. So, lots have happened since then. The good news is that Matt Hamill won the fight (even with a very sore arm) - Shelly has more on the scoop about Matt during my absence. I'll review the fight tomorrow in a rerun and see how badly Nickels' face was bloodied up by Matt's pounding. And I'll review what's going on with the Gallaudet protest and whatever news I'll find I'll certainly blog about it.

I'll be back. Bigger and better.