How to Enjoy a Deaf Computer

by jackijinx

First order of business, if you haven't seen my latest review on Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits , give that a look, a comment, and a yay or nay, and then hit up the No New Games Podcast for the latest craziness of myself and the rest of the NNG team. Now back to our regularly scheduled blog post. As some already know, my sound card decided to die yesterday. While I mourned it's loss and o...

First order of business, if you haven't seen my latest review on Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits, give that a look, a comment, and a yay or nay, and then hit up the No New Games Podcast for the latest craziness of myself and the rest of the NNG team. Now back to our regularly scheduled blog post.

As some already know, my sound card decided to die yesterday. While I mourned it's loss and ordering a USB headset, I was scrambling to find ways to entertain myself online without utilizing sound. Easier said than done, babes. So here's what I found out.

Youtube: Captioned

Youtube is largely audio based, but thanks to the new captioning feature, I never have to listen again. Sort of. We know how well this feature has been implemented so far, so sometimes, old-fashioned large lettering is best. Best example of this? The How Not to Play Hitman series. Not the best thing on the net, but given my circumstances, it certainly has become close to it.

Another good thing for me to get back into now would be captioned JDramas and other obscure shows. Although I won't be able to hear the native words like I really want to, at least I'll be able to understand what's going on. Example from one of my favorite shows that happens to both not suck and be anime, Gyuagu Manga Biyori (Good Day for Gag Manga):

Reading: The Final Frontier

To preface this, I am by no means a hater of words. Just with so many other auditory ways to enjoy myself online, reading seems to take a backseat. So I've been going through old reviews, stories, and blogs to entertain myself. It's like the old days when people used their computers by candlelight. Specifically, I'm playing catch-up on Godzilla Haiku and re-reading some of my favorite Chokochoko articles (if queasy, don't click this).

Writing: It's Something

As already plugged, I finally got to finishing writing my review due to having so much less to distract me. Two days to write that sucker. Two. Days. That's a record for me, and I am proud to hold it. I've also started writing this lovely blog, though if you don't really know me or the people I'm writing to, it probably doesn't make too much sense. So I wrote a letter to you just to show my love. Also, you know, this blog that I just finished (the one you're reading).

Life Outside of Sound

So that seems to be it for me right now. Not sure when I'll be able to hear anything on my computer again. Maybe in three days (plus shipping and handling), which puts a serious damper on my Japanese learning schedule (which, by the way, going super smooth with over 40 kanji already/in the process of being learned in the last week and a half) and any possible Japanese online teaching I may do via the ears. In the meantime, I shall be continuing my summer backlog journey by venturing into Final Fantasy XII. Hopefully, I'll take less than a week this time.