Calling electronic nerds on the tin-can!

[abifae]

Yeah, I think we English-speaking types are more easily offended than most other ethnic groups.

very much so. and we're so rude and offensive if someone can't understand english.

basic rules for speaking to those without much english:

1. shouting does not make the words easier to understand! it makes it much harder, in fact.

2. speak a little slower and avoid slang.

3. keep the language simple (5th grade level, like writing a newspaper article versus a college thesis. i have issues with this ). say sad instead of disconsolate.

4. be friendly. if i was in another country trying to speak their language, i'd be more comfortable knowing they were friendly amused, and being patient, than anything else.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Those are great tips, abi. I find it interesting what you say about shouting making the words harder to understand, I had never thought about that.

 

[abifae]

Those are great tips, abi. I find it interesting what you say about shouting making the words harder to understand, I had never thought about that.

Thanks

I have trouble processing words. And shouting blurs the sounds. Also it's quite simply stress inducing.

Actually, I cannot hear a word I am not expecting. So when people reply very differently than I expect, I cannot make sense of their words at all. My roommate, when I ask him to repeat, almost always talks LOUDER. I keep trying to explain it's context issue, not volume, but he's mostly deaf so in his head "what?" translates straight to "louder!".

After speaking to me and my faerie godson for years, I imagine Auntie would deal quite well with non english speaking foreigners LOL!!!

 

[DrakeMaiden]

I bet that is really frustrating, abi! I completely understand how shouting would be stress inducing (making processing harder), but I hadn't really thought before about how shouting can also make distinguishing individual sounds harder.

Sounds like you and your roommate should start using sign language to communicate!

 

[Icu4dzs]

Yes...axe murderers all seem to have jamming devices of some sort

I have been with Sprint for about 10 years. I now have a blackberry, but that is WAY more technology than you might want to be bothered with. They have simple pay as you go phones you might want to look in to.

Anyone here tried Virgin Mobile? I hear bad stuff about Cricket.

Cell jammers are highly illegal for us regular humans to possess but did find a circuit online and thought it would be fun to build so I could take it to the grocery store where all the giant hogs blocked the Twinkie aisle while yapping away oblivious to their surroundings. I never built it because of complications of the multiple frequency modes but did build a universal TV remote that would power down just about 90% of all TVs made and was a real blast when sitting in a tavern shutting off sports games at a pivotal moment.

As said before only Virgin mobile works out by me and believe they use Sprint's towers, I do use a Verizon usb cell modem for my internet but had to install a 30 foot outside cell antenna for it to work.

Please tell me where you got the 30 foot tower that makes Verizon work better. I live in what is obviously the most remote area of the planet.

Cell signals on my farm are abysmal and I am only 9 miles from town where there is a tower. Now there is a tower only a few miles away but that doesn't seem to help either. I am willing to try nearly anything because my cell phone rarely has signal strength to use when I need it most.

Verizon says the signal is "not available" in my area. I have difficulty with that. First they tried to tell me that my cell phone "software was too old" and I would have to "reprogram my phone" (translate=wipe everything off of it) and re-program it. Nothing doing. I have numbers on that which are probably not replaceable.

I am a HAM operator so I have a HF antenna set up outside but I doubt it interferes with anything because I have my radio disconnected.

Any suggestions here?
Thanks
Trim

 

[xpc]

This is what I use and is connected to my Verizon cell modem which is kept stationary and plugged into the computer.

Antenna I bought and is mounted to a ten foot pole on top of my 26' roof. I also needed an extra 50' of lead in wire.
http://www.wpsantennas.com/301101-wilsoncellulardual-bandtruckermirrormountcellphoneantenna.aspx

You will need a cellphone adapter too and can be a real pain to figure out which one you need
http://www.wpsantennas.com/sierra-wireless-cellular-modem-antenna-adapters.aspx

As far as updating your phone it is best to do it now or copy all the important info off of it asap, there is no guarantee that it will turn on the next time you need it. Without a doubt all electronics will fail and the way they let you know is by refusing to turn on. They seem to have an issue with toilet water too.

Two things that always astonished me when people brought computers or TVs in for repair was saying it was working perfectly yesterday, and the frantic business owner saying all of his data and customer records is on a 10 year old broken computer and never once backed it up.

So I will reiterate - once you turn off any device pretend that all the data on it is gone because it very well might be.

 

[abifae]

I bet that is really frustrating, abi! I completely understand how shouting would be stress inducing (making processing harder), but I hadn't really thought before about how shouting can also make distinguishing individual sounds harder.

Sounds like you and your roommate should start using sign language to communicate!

we should. i used to be fluent. haven't used it extensively since high school though. but i'd taken three years (half of which in college level courses) to be a translator.

yeh... watch tv and listen closely to words spoken. some are harder to distinguish, based on speed, diction, pitch, and volume.

the area easiest to catch words is a steady pace, not fast enough to blur words together, and a lower pitch. contralto for females, tenor on males. neat huh?

i'm really good at speaking to my elderly mostly deaf callers at work. lol.

 

[Blackbird]

Alright XPC, I got the MagicJack, so don't be surprised if you receive phone calls from me in the middle of the night now.

 

[Wildsky]

3. keep the language simple (5th grade level,

These days, you might confuse some high school kids if you spoke at 5th grade level!

 

[MsPony]

BB you're so cute, don't worry about different languages!! I live in a hispanic town (49% white, 49% hispanic) and am as "gringo" as you get. I work customer service so it can get frustrating. Actually, most of my best customers are the ones who speak spanish lol. Also most of the gardeners or ranch/stable workers here definentely welcome trade. I definentely think you should check out who's around you

Now as for phones, yay for Magic Jack! I am one of those people who prefers to be plugged in, I'm typing on my blackberry if you start getting more need for phone stuff, look into pay-as-you-go. Verizon works better in my area, but you'll have to check around in yours. Don't wprry abput fancy stuff if you don't need it, if you're in college, facebook does help though. I had professors start groups and put notices on there as well. That or FB chat your project partner real quick! I think its truly because they try and get in touch with facebook junkies...