Saturday, April 07, 2007

Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan

Demorez!  Is life?  No.  Demorez. We finally signed up for NetFlix.  I am not sure why we have been resisting.  Our first choice, Borat, took me aback:  I could not believe NetFlix used backup discs!  Is that legal?  Cheap ones too.  The only that made me suspicious is that the text appeared to be hand written.  Surely NetFlix would use machine labeling, and the text was quite neat, so maybe it was just an informal font?  But the “R” in BORAT was backwards, a trick that would certainly give me pause.&nbsb; And the disc read “widescreen” but how would that be a feature of a blank?  Unless that was meant to imply high quality from a brand, Demorez, that I had never heard from?  Their slogan was lame:  “Is Life? No. Demorez.”

So I am too naive.  The write up on the disk sleeve held the explaination:
Note: This is the actual studio-released DVD, not a DVD-R.

Good movie to rent.  Not as funny as I was expecting.  And I already knew Americans were that ugly.  Plus, no way do I need to see the naked fat man wrestling again.

Sunday, April 01, 2007

FCC seeks comment on their implementation of Section 504

I got this in email from NCD.  The Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau of the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) seeks comment on the Commission’s policies and practices under Section 504.

The actual on-line ECFS form is at URL:  http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/upload_v2.cgi
For 1. Proceeding enter:  03-123
For 13. File Number enter:  DA 07-1396

Somewhat remarkably, the FCC seems unable to post public notices in HTML.  Instead, they post inferior versions in Word, PDF, and plain text.  For further irony, the Word and PDF versions even include live hyperlinks.

If I could be bothered to comment myself, that is the kind of thing I would complain about.  Instead, I converted the damn thing to html myself.

Friday, March 23, 2007

DA-07-1396A1

FCC logo: USA Federal Communication Commission

Public Notice

Federal Communications Commission
445 12th St., S.W.
Washington, D.C.  20554
News Media Information:  202/418-0500
Internet:  http://www.fcc.gov
TTY:  1-888-835-5322

DA 07-1396
Released: March 23, 2007

The Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau seeks comment on the
Commission’s policies and practices under Section 504 of the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973

CG Docket No.  03-123

Pleading Cycle Established

Comments Due: May 22, 2007

The Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau (Bureau) initiates review of the Commission’s policies and practices under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504).1  Pursuant to Section 1.1810 of the Commission’s rules, this Public Notice seeks comment on the accessibility of the Commission’s programs and activities.2  The Commission’s rules mandate that it conduct a review of its current policies and practices in view of advances in relevant technology and achievability every three years.3

The Commission’s rules also require that the Section 504 Handbook4 be updated at least every three years.5  Therefore, the Bureau further initiates review of the Section 504 Handbook, which contains procedures for releasing documents, holding meetings, receiving comments, and for other aspects of Commission programs and activities to achieve accessibility.6

The Bureau seeks comment on the overall accessibility of the Commission’s activities and programs.  This includes, but is not limited to, the availability of sign language interpreters, physically accessible buildings and meeting spaces, Braille documents, assistive listening devices, Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART), captioning, and other forms of reasonable accommodation for access to Commission programs and activities.7  The Commission further seeks comment on the procedures set forth in the Section 504 Handbook.

Pursuant to sections 1.415 and 1.419 of the Commission’s rules,8 interested parties may file comments on or before May 22, 2007.  All comments must reference CG Docket No. 03-123.  Comments may be filed using:  (1) the Commission’s Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS), (2) the Federal Government’s eRulemaking Portal, or (3) by filing paper copies.  See Electronic Filing of Documents in Rulemaking Proceedings, 63 FR 24121 (1998).

  • Electronic Filers:  Comments may be filed electronically using the Internet by accessing the ECFS: http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs/.  Filers should follow the instructions provided on the website for submitting comments.
  • Paper Filers:  Parties who choose to file by paper must file an original and four copies of each filing.  If more than one docket or rulemaking number appears in the caption of this proceeding, filers must submit two additional copies for each additional docket or rulemaking number.
  • Filings can be sent by hand or messenger delivery, by commercial overnight courier, or by first-class or overnight U.S. Postal Service mail (although we continue to experience delays in receiving U.S. Postal Service mail).  All filings must be addressed to the Commission’s Secretary, Office of the Secretary, Federal Communications Commission.
    • The Commission’s contractor will receive hand-delivered or messenger-delivered paper filings for the Commission’s Secretary at 236 Massachusetts Avenue, NE, Suite 110, Washington, DC  20002.  The filing hours at this location are 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.  All hand deliveries must be held together with rubber bands or fasteners.  Any envelopes must be disposed of before entering the building.
    • Commercial overnight mail (other than U.S. Postal Service Express Mail and Priority Mail) must be sent to 9300 East Hampton Drive, Capitol Heights, MD  20743.
    • U.S. Postal Service first-class, Express, and Priority mail must be addressed to 445 12th Street, SW, Washington DC  20554.
  • Pursuant to section 1.1810(b) of the Commission’s rules, “Written comments shall be signed by the commenter or by someone authorized to do so on his or her behalf.  The signature of the commenter, or signature of someone authorized by the commenter to do so on his or her behalf, shall be provided on print comments.  Comments in audio, Braille, electronic, and/or video formats shall contain an affirmative identity statement of the individual, which for this purpose shall be considered to be functionally equivalent to a commenter’s signature.”9

A copy of this document and any subsequently filed documents in this matter will be available during regular business hours at the FCC Reference Center, Portals II, 445 12th Street, SW, Room CY-A257, Washington, DC  20554, (202)418-0270.  This document and any subsequently filed documents in this matter may also be purchased from the Commission’s duplicating contractor at their website, www.bcpiweb.com, or by calling 1-800-378-3160.  A copy of the submission may also be found by searching on the Commission’s Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS) at http://www.fcc.gov.cgb/ecfs (insert CG Docket No. 03-123 into the Proceeding block).

To request materials in accessible formats for people with disabilities (Braille, large print, electronic files, audio format), send an e-mail to fcc504@fcc.gov or call the Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau at (202)418-0530 (voice), (202)418-0432 (TTY).  This document can also be downloaded in Word and Portable Document Format (PDF) at: http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/dro.

For further information, please contact Diane Mason, Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau, Disability Rights Office, at (202)418-7126 (voice), (202)418-7828 (TTY), or e-mail at Diane.Mason@fcc.gov


1 See 29 U.S.C. § 794.

2 47 C.F.R. § 1.1810.

3 Id.

4 See Federal Communications Commission Section 504 Programs & Activities Accessibility Handbook (Section 504 Handbook).  The Section 504 Handbook is available in Word, PDF, Text, HTML and Braille at http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/dro/section_504.html.

5 See 47 C.F.R. § 1.1805.

6 Id.

7 See Section 504 Handbook at 2.

8 47 C.F.R. §§ 1.415, 1.419.

9 47 C.F.R. § 1.1810(b).

–FCC–


Appendix A

47 C.F.R. § 1.1810.  Review of Compliance.

(a) The Commission shall, beginning in 2004 and at least every three years thereafter, review its current policies and practices in view of advances in relevant technology and achievability.  Based on this review, the Commission shall modify its practices and procedures to ensure that the Commission’s programs and activities are fully accessible.

(b) The Commission shall provide an opportunity to interested persons, including individuals with disabilities or organizations representing individuals with disabilities, to participate in the review process by submitting comments.  Written comments shall be signed by the commenter or by someone authorized to do so on his or her behalf.  The signature of the commenter, or signature of someone authorized by the commenter to do so on his or her behalf, shall be provided on print comments.  Comments in audio, Braille, electronic, and/or video formats shall contain an affirmative identity statement of the individual, which for this purpose shall be considered to be functionally equivalent to a commenter s signature.

(c) The Commission shall maintain on file and make available for public inspection for four years following completion of the compliance review –

(1) A description of areas examined and problems identified;

(2) All comments and complaints filed regarding the Commission’s compliance; and

(3) A description of any modifications made.


Appendix B

47 C.F.R. § 1.1805.  Federal Communications Commission Section 504 Programs and Activities Accessibility Handbook.

The Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau shall publish a “Federal Communications Commission Section 504 Programs and Activities Accessibility Handbook” (“Section 504 Handbook”) for Commission staff, and shall update the Section 504 Handbook as necessary and at least every three years.  The Section 504 handbook shall be available to the public in hard copy upon request and electronically on the website.  The Section 504 Handbook shall contain procedures for releasing documents, holding meeting, receiving comments, and for other aspects of Commission programs and activities to achieve accessibility.  These procedures will ensure that the Commission presents a consistent and complete accommodation policy pursuant to 29 U.S.C. 794, as amended.  The Section 504 Handbook is for internal staff use and public information only, and is not intended to create any rights, responsibilities, or independent cause of action against the Federal Government.

Monday, January 22, 2007

Web 101: Link, don’t quote

What is it with Bloggers who don’t use URLs?  Chris H. quotes Jamal who quotes Vaugh who quotes Martin Belam who quotes Erica Sadun.  Each blog more obscure than the one before, this one the least trafficked of them all!  If any one of them had just pointed to TUAW rather than quoting out of context, readers would have been better served, and the subsequent blog discussions could have been informed rather than inflammatory.  I quickly tallied the first 62 comments and got an enlightened to jerk ratio of five to seven.  (Actually it was 25:35, I must have miscounted twice.)  For an open fanboy forum on a rather specialized topic, I don’t think this is a bad showing, even if several of the early comments are especially cringeworthy.